Who else but Lionel Messi could score Inter Miami’s first goal at their brand new stadium?
David Beckham proudly oversaw his vision come to life when Inter Miami faced off against Austin FC in the freshly built Nu Stadium.
The stadium itself is reported to have cost around $350 million, however the entire Miami Freedom Park campus will cost approximately $1 billion to construct with several features beyond the stadium included, similar to what Manchester United have proposed for their new ground.
The development will feature the sparkling new 26,700-seater stadium, a 5,000 space parking lot, a 750-room hotel, a retail village, 58 acres of public parks and community soccer fields.
Inter Miami insist the new stadium has been entirely privately funded and required no city money to complete construction.
That’s almost entirely true with the exception of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis allocating $8 million in public funding to complete a road around the stadium.
Even though Messi scored Inter Miami’s first goal at the new ground, he didn’t actually score the first goal.
Guilherme Biro of Austin FC actually scored the very first goal in the stadium’s history with a header in the sixth minute of play.
Messi, who actually has the East Stand in the new stadium named after him, was not the only major star in attendance on the night.
Club owner Beckham was joined by his wife Victoria and two of their children – Cruz and Romeo.
Beckham addressed the fans before kickoff: “We believed in Miami. And Miami believed in us.”
“We had no name. We had no fans. We had no stadium. Today, I stand in our new home, we are champions of the MLS and we have the best player in the game playing here in Miami.”
Ronaldo Nazario, a team-mate from Beckham’s time at Real Madrid, also attended the game that eventually ended 2-2. Luis Suarez equalised for the home side late on.
Beckham eventually left the Spanish capital to finish his career in the MLS. As part of that deal, he was given an option to become a part-owner of a franchise for a discounted fee of $25m.
He chose Miami and 13 years ago his dream for the new stadium began. He announced the plans three years ago and now, Inter Miami have played their first game inside Beckham’s vision.
