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David Beckham is now retired from his illustrious 20-year soccer career and with his last game played in Paris, he is the most honored player in the sport’s history. The guessing game of wondering what he’s going to do next is leaning toward his owning a MSL franchise in the U.S. His last contract included the option for owning a team and though he has other location options, Miami appears to be his location of choice. Orlando, Florida has been pushing hard to get the Florida franchise, but even though it has the draw of Disney World, Miami has the international traffic that has grown up with soccer.
Although Beckham’s team played their last game on May 26th, he was already in Miami by May 31st attending a Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers game as guest of Marcelo Claure, who made his billions in the wireless industry. Claure was instrumental in the effort to bring a team to Miami in 2009. An accidental friendship? Probably not.
Of course, should Miami soccer become a reality, the team’s owner and players would need homes, which should have Miami agents all aflutter. It is now rumored that David and Victoria may be interested in buying South Beach’s Versace Mansion. In fact, it could be the perfect celebrity couple, celebrity mansion match. It’s certainly large enough for entertaining on a grand scale in a more unique than average atmosphere, and would be a perfect background to photograph Victoria’s clothing line. The children could build sandcastles on the beach or swim with mom and dad in their own gold-lined swimming pool. As the kids grow up and start running around the house, the place is so big no one will notice the commotion. Yes, it could be a perfect match. With the Versace Mansion bankruptcy auction only a short time away, Beck and Posh don’t have much time to ponder, but their interest seems to indicate that a decision on team location isn’t very far away.
In a new little twist that has come to light, as the house has lounged on the market, talk of negligence recently came up when it was discovered that current owner, Peter Loftin, was carrying only $6 million of insurance on the property. Though he has controlling interest in the mansion, interestingly Jordache Jeans owner, the Nakash family, holds the note and apparently were not happy campers over the lack of coverage. So as auction time approaches, the mansion is now the owner of a new $40 million insurance policy – $32.3 million on the structure and $7.7 million on personal property. With Loftin’s financial woes, the mansion has gone from being originally listed for $125 million, then down to $75 million with no takers, and is now going to bankruptcy auction on September 17th with a starting bid of $25 million.
