Inter Miami CF

Expansion

In November 2012, MLS commissioner Don Garber confirmed the league's renewed interest in placing an expansion franchise in Miami, after the Miami Fusion folded following the 2001 season and an expansion bid led by Miami-based Bolivian telecom entrepreneur Marcelo Claure and FC Barcelona failed in 2009. A Miami expansion team led by Barcelona and Marcelo Claure, a Bolivian businessman based in the city, announced an expansion bid in October 2008, with plans to begin play in 2011. In March 2009, the league and Barcelona announced that Miami was no longer a candidate due to local market conditions. Additionally, MLS expressed concerns about Miami's lack of fan interest in an MLS franchise, the fact that USL team Miami FC was not doing well,^[] and the plan to use FIU Stadium relegating the team to a secondary tenant in a college football stadium with an artificial surface. However, Garber said that Miami would be an expansion target in the future. Claure later joined David Beckham's group of investors for the Miami expansion bid that was accepted by the league in 2014.

When David Beckham, whose business manager Simon Fuller had the idea of giving him an option to purchase an expansion team at a price of $25 million when he joined the league in 2007, ended his playing career in April 2013, the MLS held discussions with Fuller about several expansion targets, including Miami. That same year, other investors, including Italian financier Alessandro Butini and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross expressed interest in owning a Miami franchise as well. In 2013, Fuller and Beckham discussed plans to buy an MLS soccer team in Miami

In 2013, when David Beckham was interviewed by CNN, he thanked Fuller for the ground breaking ^[]MLS deal he had negotiated back in 2007 and specifically the clause that Fuller had insisted on inserting to the player's benefit: “When I signed my contract six, seven years ago, my manager Simon Fuller actually got a clause in the contract that enabled me to have a franchise at the end of my playing career”. In his December 2013 State of the League address, Garber had identified Beckham and Fuller as potential owners in Miami. Later that month, on December 17, Miami-Dade County commissioners voted unanimously to allow Mayor Carlos A. Giménez to negotiate with the Beckham-led group on a new stadium in downtown Miami. The league announced that Beckham exercised his option on February 5, 2014, and that Miami Beckham United, the investment group led by Beckham, Fuller and Claure, would own an expansion franchise in Miami, assuming that financing for a stadium could be agreed upon. In presentations to officials and potential investors, the ownership group used "Miami Vice" and "Miami Current" as working titles for the club. After its initial stadium proposals fell through, Commissioner Garber reiterated in August 2014 that the expansion would not be approved until a downtown stadium plan was secured and it was only after Fuller introduced Beckham to the Jorge and José Mas, that the plan was green lit. In an August 2014 Q&A session, deputy commissioner Mark Abbott said Miami would be the 23rd team as long as a downtown stadium deal could be reached. Beckham bought Fuller out in May 2019.

On January 29, 2018, the Miami Beckham United group (consisting of Beckham, Claure, Fuller, Masayoshi Son [founder and CEO of SoftBank] and Jorge and José Mas, the Miami-based leaders of telecommunications and construction company MasTec) four years after the ownership's original announcement of pursuing a team, was awarded the twenty-fifth MLS franchise and was set to launch in the 2020 season. The announcement represented part of a larger MLS expansion that would increase its number of teams to 26 by 2020 and 30 after that. Since Beckham's original announcement of his intention to place a team in Miami in 2014, Orlando City SC, New York City FC, Atlanta United FC, Minnesota United FC, Los Angeles FC, and FC Cincinnati have all begun MLS play. Paul McDonough was hired as sporting director effective August 4. The team's ownership group was later renamed Miami Freedom Park LLC. They announced Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, shortened to Inter Miami CF, as the club's official name on September 5, 2018. MLS returned to the South Florida area in 2018, when Inter Miami CF was announced. On January 29, 2018, the Miami Beckham United group, four years after the ownership's original announcement of pursuing a team, was awarded the twenty-fifth MLS franchise and launched in the 2020 season, playing on the site of Lockhart Stadium at the new Chase Stadium. Former Fusion coach Ray Hudson would go on to work as a color commentator for Inter Miami, while former Fusion player Chris Henderson is the club's current Sporting Director.

On December 30, 2019, former Uruguay national team player and C.F. Monterrey manager Diego Alonso was announced as the club's inaugural head coach. On February 14, 2020, Pizarro left Monterrey for Major League Soccer expansion side Inter Miami, following a protracted dispute between the clubs about the activation of his release clause, rejoining head coach Diego Alonso for a third time, his coach at both Pachuca and Monterrey. The following day, despite not officially being announced as a signing for the club, Pizarro scored the first goal for Miami in a 2–1 preseason friendly loss to Philadelphia Union. That same day, Monterrey filed a complaint with FIFA against Pizarro and Inter Miami for improper contact between the player and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham while Pizarro was still under contract with Monterrey. FIFA's investigation was still on-going when news of the complaint broke on March 4.

Early years (2020–2023)

Inter Miami's first MLS game was played on March 1, 2020, losing 1–0, away to Los Angeles FC. Designated Player Rodolfo Pizarro scored the first goal in Inter Miami history the following game on March 7, in a 2–1 loss to D.C. United. Their first home match was supposed to be on March 14, 2020, against LA Galaxy, Beckham's former club. The match has since been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 23, 2020, Inter Miami recorded their first franchise victory, 3–2 over Orlando City SC. On January 7, 2021, Diego Alonso left by mutual consent. On January 18, 2021, England Women's manager Phil Neville was appointed as the new head coach, and Seattle Sounders FC's Chris Henderson as chief soccer officer and sporting director. On March 23, 2021, it was announced that Kieran Gibbs would join Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF when his contract with West Brom expired in the summer. On February 23, 2023, Gibbs and Miami mutually agreed to terminate his deal at the club. He subsequently joined the club's broadcasting team. On August 13, 2020, Matuidi signed for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami on a free transfer. He made his club debut on September 6, in a scoreless home draw against Nashville in the MLS. In January 2022, Matuidi was left off Inter Miami’s roster for the 2022 season. On December 23, 2022, Matuidi announced his retirement from professional soccer after an 18 year long career. On January 26, 2022, Romeo Beckham made his non-competitive senior debut for Inter Miami during a 4–0 pre-season win against Club Universitario de Deportes.

In 2021, the Mas brothers finalized a buyout to take over majority ownership of the team from Claure and Son. On May 28, 2021, MLS announced that it would sanction Inter Miami CF, owner Jorge Mas, and former sporting director Paul McDonough for violating roster rules during the 2020 season. The club had signed Blaise Matuidi and Andrés Reyes using targeted allocation money (TAM) to comply with salary cap requirements and avoid using its three Designated Player slots, but were found to have exceeded the TAM maximum of $1.61 million per player. MLS fined the club $2 million and reduced its allocation dollars by $2.27 million for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, while Mas was fined $250,000 and McDonough was suspended from league activities through the end of the 2022 season. In May 2021, Inter Miami had to pay a $2m fine for breaking MLS rules, as Matuidi was the fourth designated player in the team rather than the permitted three. Prior to the announcement, Matuidi was reclassified as a Designated Player by taking the slot occupied by Matías Pellegrini, who was loaned to Inter Miami CF II after his contract was bought out by the club. On July 19, 2022, Inter Miami had a friendly game match with the FC Barcelona losing to 0-6. On September 18, 2020, Higuaín signed for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF. On his debut, he missed a penalty and then started a fight as Miami fell to a 3–0 defeat to the Philadelphia Union. On October 7, Higuaín scored his first goal for Miami, a late free kick in their 2–1 win against the New York Red Bulls. On July 31, 2022, Higuaín scored another free-kick for Inter Miami, and then netted two more goals to complete a first-half hat-trick in 27 minutes against FC Cincinnati in a 4–4 draw. Higuaín retired at the end of Inter Miami's 2022 MLS season; his last game was in the first round of the MLS playoffs, ending in 3–0 away loss to New York City FC.

On January 20, 2022, it was announced that Leonardo Campana would join Major League Soccer club Inter Miami on a season-long loan. He made his debut for Inter Miami on February 26, 2022, starting in a 0–0 draw versus Chicago Fire FC. Campana scored his first goal for Inter Miami on March 6, 2022, their only goal in a 5–1 loss to Austin FC. Campana was named MLS Player of the Week for Week 6 of the 2022 season on April 11, 2022, for his hat trick against the New England Revolution. Campana signed with Miami on a permanent basis on January 20, 2023. He occupies a Young Designated Player roster slot and is signed through the end of the 2025 season, with a club option to extend through 2026. On September 15, 2023, Inter Miami CF announced its signing of forward Leonardo Campana to a contract extension through the 2027 Major League Soccer (MLS) season, with an option for 2028. On January 18, 2023, it was announced that Josef Martínez had been traded to Inter Miami. Martínez made his 2023 Inter Miami season debut in a match against CF Montréal on February 25, 2023, ending in a 2–0 win.

DeAndre Yedlin joined Inter Miami on February 2, 2022, on a four-year contract with an additional one-year option. "It's almost a DP signing for us, really, in terms of his quality," Head coach Phil Neville said. "He's played at the top, top level in the top soccer nations in the world. So we hope his experience, his quality, his leadership, and the fact that he's American I think is really important. We have a young, new team and we want experience in there as well." Yedlin stated "I know when I was in MLS, [defending] was a weakness in my game," after the move was announced. "Not only 1-v-1 but positionally. But now I'm coming back, being in a lot of different situations and a lot of different formations, playing different positions to a point now where I'm a lot more comfortable in those situations. I think I'm a lot better defender now than I was when I left."

Lionel Messi era (2023–present)

On June 1, 2023, Inter Miami announced that the club had parted ways with Neville. At the time, the club was placed last in the Eastern Conference. Four days later, then seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi announced his intention to join the club as a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain, turning down an offer to play for Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal and ruling out a return to FC Barcelona. Messi signed his Designated Player contract on July 15, 2023, joining the team through the 2025 MLS season. Argentine and former Barça manager Gerardo Martino was appointed as the head coach of the club on June 28 and joined Miami the following month.

Messi formally joined the team, alongside former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, at an unveiling ceremony on July 16. Five days later, another of his former Barcelona teammates, Jordi Alba, also signed for Inter Miami. Following Messi's arrival, resale ticket prices for his first games with the club increased by over 1,000%. Inter Miami became the top selling team across all sports on e-commerce retailer Fanatics, while Messi broke the record for most shirt sales in 24 hours. The average price for tickets to Miami matches on reseller StubHub increased five-fold to $161 on average. After the arrival of Messi, only basketball giants LA Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors could claim to best the MLS outfit's haul of 15.4m followers on Instagram in the United States. Inter Miami was named one of the top Google searches of 2023. Forbes made Inter Miami its second MLS club to reach the billion-dollar valuation at $1.03 billion, a 72 percent bump from 2023. Asensi said the club will make north of $200 million in revenue in 2024, far beyond the team’s revenue figures in 2022, which was reported to be between $50 and $60 million. Inter Miami was also invited to compete or participate in the Copa Libertadores. On July 17, 2023, Messi's unveiling presentation gained over 3.5 billion views worldwide.

Messi and Busquets made their debuts on July 21, 2023, at home in a 2–1 win over Cruz Azul in the 2023 Leagues Cup, with both players coming on in the 54th minute. Messi scored the winning goal from a free-kick in stoppage time, ending Miami's 11 game winless streak. On August 19, in the 2023 Leagues Cup final against Nashville SC, Inter Miami lifted its first-ever trophy, winning 10–9 in penalties after a 1–1 draw. Following the Leagues Cup win, Inter Miami qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time in the club's history; the team will start in the round of 16.

On August 23, 2023, in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, Inter Miami beat FC Cincinnati in penalties 5–4 after a 3–3 draw in extra time to go into the final on September 27, where they lost against the Houston Dynamo FC 2–1, after Messi was unable to play.

On August 26, 2023, Messi, Busquets and Alba marked their first appearances in the MLS against New York Red Bulls, which ended in a 2–0 victory. Both players being brought in as substitutes in the 60th minute, and Messi netted the concluding goal. On September 16, 2023, Inter Miami were defeated for the first time in the Messi era without Messi or Alba playing against Atlanta United FC, being defeated 5–2, ending their 12-match unbeaten run. On October 7, 2023, Inter Miami were defeated by FC Cincinnati, despite Messi being subbed on in the 55th minute. This result eliminated them from making the MLS playoffs. The Decision Day match between Inter Miami and Charlotte FC was held on October 21, 2023. Inter Miami were defeated 1–0, despite having Messi in for the entire match. This match marked the first time for Inter Miami that Messi played on artificial turf and wore away colors.

On October 30, 2023, Inter Miami became the only MLS team to have a current player win the Ballon d'Or while at the club, when Messi secured his 8th award. Because of this, Inter Miami CF held a friendly match with New York City FC named Noche d'Or. Messi's eighth Ballon d'Or was presented at DRV PNK Stadium while the team lost 2–1.

In November 2023, Inter Miami were going to visit two Chinese Super League teams, Qingdao Hainiu F.C. and Chengdu Rongcheng F.C., in friendly matches as part of the club's first ever international tour. However, it was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances in China.

In the summer of 2023, plans were made for Suárez to join Inter Miami for a reunion with former FC Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba. However, his contract with Grêmio did not allow him to join the club. In October, Inter Miami's head coach, Gerardo Martino, said that the club was planning on the possible arrival of Suárez in 2024, having had an analysis of the 2024 season with and without Suárez. By November, multiple reports indicated that Suárez was set to join Inter Miami on a one-year deal with an option for a further year. On 22 December 2023, Inter Miami officially announced Suárez would join the club for the 2024 season. In December 2023, Inter Miami signed striker Luis Suarez with a one year Contract with an option for a further year.

In 2024, Inter Miami began their first seven preseason matches of the year, going against the El Salvador national team, FC Dallas, Hong Kong XI, Vissel Kobe, and Newell's Old Boys, as well as participating in the Riyadh Season Cup against two Saudi Pro League teams being Al-Hilal and Al Nassr. However, there was a massive controversy with the Hong Kong match as Messi was not active for the match due to an injury which caused fans to demand refunds and attack promotional posters of Messi. Messi would be active in the match against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo two days later, which also caused many Hong Konger and Chinese fans to accuse Messi of skipping out of the Hong Kong match in order to embarrass the local government as well as holding racist views against Hong Kongers and Chinese people due to China and Japan having had very strained relations. The Argentine Football Association and Chinese Football Association paused their partnership as a result of the fallout.

On February 23, 2024, Federico Redondo completed his transfer to Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, signing a contract that extends through the 2027 season, with an option for the club to extend it through 2028. He joined the club under the U22 Initiative, brought in as a season-ending injury replacement for another U22 Initiative player, Facundo Farías. The transfer was contingent upon the successful receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and P-1 visa, formalities necessary for players moving between countries and competing in the United States, respectively. Considered to be a classy and promising young player in the media, his playing style, reading of the game, height, and physique have led pundits to liken him to his father, Fernando, as well as Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets.

On March 4 of 2024, DeAndre Yedlin announced his move to FC Cincinnati.