David Beckham’s plans to invest in a Major League Soccer franchise have been delayed according to commissioner Don Garber.
The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder was considering purchasing a franchise in the league as one of several options when he retires at the end of the season.
But Garber has announced those plans will be put on hold, after it emerged that Manchester City and the New York Yankees would be combining to form New York City FC.
“We’ve got some work to do on our next couple of teams,” Garber said.
“We’re pretty focused on taking a deep breath after this (New York) announcement and have got to figure out how to manage David’s interests and figure out what kind of expansion would still make sense for us.
“We still don’t have teams to the south of Washington DC and that represents 70 to 80 million people, which is bigger than the population of the United Kingdom, but we have got to figure that out and we have got to do it at the right time, with the right facility plan.
“David has spent some time looking in Miami and we have been looking at the market there as well but Miami is proving to be a difficult sports market in America in itself.
“It’s got a unique community, fabulous diversity which are all things I think are very positive for our sport but there are clearly weather issues there.
“We are a spring/summer sport and it gets pretty hot in Miami. We haven’t been able to make any progress on a stadium and facility plan, so we have got to spend some time on that.”
Garber is confident that the partnership between Manchester City and the Yankees can build on the success Beckham had in America.
And he was full of praise for the former England international’s impact on the sport in the country.
“David was great for us,” he added.
“Everything we asked David to do off the field, he did. He flew back from the opening ceremony of the Olympics and came to play that morning in our All Star game against Chelsea, which we won.
“David sort of transcends sport in so many ways and now he wants to transcend his playing career into a business career.
“David really believed in MLS, he elevated the appeal and popularity of our sport. He took if off the sports pages and pushed it into the popular culture scene and around the world and this new relationship (with Manchester City) will help to do the same thing.”
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