David Beckham talks Messi, Ronaldo Inter Miami rumors on The Tonight Show
By Matt Moore
David Beckham addressed rumors that his MLS team Inter Miami CF is chasing down soccer superstars Ronaldo and Leo Messi.
It’s not everyday that we hear soccer talk on late night television, nevermind MLS talk. But that changes when you have David Beckham, one of the sport’s icons, now owning his very own team in Miami.
After a seven year process, Inter Miami CF is set to make its MLS debut this weekend. Beckham is a co-owner along with businessmen/entrepreneurs Marcelo Claure, Masayoshi Son, Jorge Mas, and Jose Mas.
The team is another chapter in the long and beneficial relationship between Beckham and MLS. The Englishman joined the American soccer league in 2007 and won two championships with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The team even dedicated a statue to Beckham outside the stadium that provided one of the best moments in recent late night TV memory.
A Beckham-led franchise attracts a lot of attention and the fact the team is based in Miami doesn’t hurt either. Is Beckham’s starpower and the allure of Miami enough to bring some big name soccer stars to the team? That was the question on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Beckham had to address:
Who exactly started the rumor of Cristiano Ronaldo and/or Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami is hard to say. But it wouldn’t be a terrible guess to suggest it came from Beckham himself. What better way to build hype around a brand new team than to suggest the sport’s two most popular players could join?
It wouldn’t be the first time Team Beckham pulled a stunt like this. When he signed with LA Galaxy, his media handlers “leaked” that the move to MLS would net Beckham an absurd $250 million. That number made headlines the same way the “rumors” of Ronaldo and Messi coming to Miami have this week.
Once Beckham caught the attention of Fallon and the Tonight Show audience by name dropping the two most famous soccer players on the planet, he came back down to Earth. In reality, Inter Miami should finish around the middle of the pack in the MLS standings. But more importantly, it will bring pro soccer to a region full of passionate and knowledgeable fans.
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Still, David Beckham knows where soccer sits in the minds of most American sports fans. Coming on The Tonight Show to promote MLS and Inter Miami was a smart move. Name dropping Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi was an even better one.