Who owns Inter Miami? Does David Beckham own US football club - ownership explained

Inter Miami are closing in on a deal to sign World Cup winner Lionel Messi in arguably the biggest transfer story in the history of Major League Soccer.

The MLS side appear to have beaten off competition from Messi’s former club Barcelona, along with a host of teams from the Saudi Arabian Premier League.

Messi is a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner who is hailed as one of the all-time greats in European football but what can the Argentinian forward expect from his new club Inter Miami and who is the owner of the football club? Here is everything you need to know.

Who are Inter Miami?

Inter Miami is a professional football team which competes in America. The club was founded in 2018 and they have been playing in the MLS since 2020.

The team is nicknamed The Herons and they play their home games at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale Florida. The ground was built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium and it holds a capacity of around 18,000.

Who owns Inter Miami?

David Beckham is the public face of Inter Miami as club president and he is a co-owner of the football club.

Beckham enjoyed an incredible football career which saw him represent the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, England and AC Milan.

The former England captain, like Messi, made the move from Europe to the MLS and he is known by fans of the league for his time with LA Galaxy.

Beckham was one of the founding members of Inter Miami but he’s not the only member of the ownership group. The retired footballer works closely with Jorge Mas who is the club’s CEO and managing owner, while his brother Jose Mas also plays a role as co-owner.

The Mas brothers are local businessmen and the pair own a Miami-based construction and engineering company called Mastec which was founded by their father.

What is Inter Miami’s history?

Inter Miami entered the MLS in the 2020 season with huge expectations due to their wealthy backing and they hoped to follow in the footsteps of successful teams such as Atlanta United (founded in 2017) and LAFC (founded in 2018).

Miami have signed a number of big names in recent years including former Juventus star Blaise Matuidi and Messi’s Argentina team mate Gonzalo Higuain but both struggled to find form on the pitch.

Who is the manager of Inter Miami?

Inter Miami have had two permanent managers since they were founded which include former Uruguayan footballer Diego Alonso and former Man United and Everton footballer Phil Neville.

The MLS side finished 10th out of 14 teams in the Eastern Conference during their inaugural season in 2020 and dropped to 11th the following year under new manager Phil Neville.

Beckham’s former Man United team mate enjoyed his best season in 2022 when he guided the team to a 6th place finish - before falling short in the round of 16 in the play-offs.

Neville’s time at Miami came to an end on 1 June 2023 after a poor run of form in the MLS which saw them lose 11 of their opening 16 games. Since then the team has been managed by Argentine Javier Morales on an interim basis, while they continue their search for a new manager.