Major League Soccer has approved a new set of owners to partner David Beckham in Miami.
Jorge and Jose Mas, leaders of telecommunications giant MasTec, and Japanese entrepreneur and SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son have all been approved as owners of Miami's prospective MLS expansion club.
Fromer Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy star Beckham, Sprint CEO and Brightstar founder Marcelo Claure and entertainment entrepreneur and manager Simon Fuller were all already part of the ownership group.
Miami was left off a list of four cities for two available spots when MLS announced Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville, and Sacramento as expansion finalists in November.
The announcement left many to wonder if the project in Miami might be dead, but MLS made it clear in their release that the Florida city was still in play.
"The four ownership groups above were among 12 markets that submitted formal bids in January for a total of four expansion slots as part of the league’s expansion to 28 teams," the league release said. "Los Angeles Football Club, which kicks off in 2018, will be the league’s 23rd club, while expansion discussions continue in Miami."
Beckham has already received approval from Miami-Dade Country to purchase land to build the team’s stadium.
A clause in Beckham's contract with the Galaxy in 2007 gave him the option of one day creating a new MLS team for $25 million, a massive discount on the $150 million required for MLS expansion bids.