Game on: David Beckham announces Miami club to rival Orlando City

David Beckham is bringing his soccer talents, and an MLS franchise to South Beach.

The British soccer legend held a press conference in Miami on Wednesday that included MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade county Mayor Carlos Gimenez to announce that he has exercised his option to buy an MLS franchise.

Even though Beckham's future club won't start taking the field for several more years, with a lot more work to be done -- securing a stadium deal being the top priority -- it set the ball rolling for an MLS rivalry in Florida when Beckham and his club finally get the chance to meet on the field with Orlando City Soccer, Major League Soccer's 21st club that will begin play in 2015.

"I think people maybe were hoping we were going to have the team name [Wednesday], hoping we were going to have the stadium locked down. Those things take time," Beckham said. "The first big decision we have to make, which we'll make in the next couple of months, is the right investors. We have a lot of good people that are coming in to be a part of this and want to be large investors in this franchise."

Shortly after the announcement was made official, Orlando City SC was quick to tweet out the picture above, starting the friendly in-state rivalry a few years early.

"It's always good to have rivals in soccer, but they're not going to be the only one there." Beckham said of Orlando City. "They're not just going to be our only rivals that we'll have. We're going to have rivals around the league, but it's always nice to have someone close to us."

Sure, this rivalry might not start out with the same spice and passion as with others in the league, like the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers, and New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union, but in time, Orlando vs. Miami will be one of the top rivalries worth circling on the calendar, no matter who you're rooting for.

And if the first photo didn't get you fired up about what's soon to come on the pitch, we'll always have this photo that @OrlandoCitySC tweeted out no long after the first photo:

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MLS To Orlando Is Something That Can Only Be Beneficial

When you think of Orlando, Florida, you probably think of Disney -- one of the largest tourist destinations in the United States. The Orlando Magic might also come to mind -- and NBA franchise that's celebrating it's 25th year in the league.

Now you can add one more thing to your list: Major League Soccer.

Last Tuesday, Orlando and  the Orange County Commissioner's Office agreed to help fund a new $84 million downtown multipurpose stadium, which pretty much did all but seal the deal to bring the MLS to Orlando -- hopefully by the 2015 season.

With the move, Florida will be getting it's first MLS franchise since the league shutdown two teams, the Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Miami Fusion in the early-2000's. Orlando City Soccer will be the only MLS team in the southeast, and is sure to draw a large following.

"That was an entirely different era," MLS President Mark Abbott said of the failed Florida franchises. "That was over a decade ago. Both the country and the league have changed significantly over that time."

This is a move that Florida soccer fans have been asking for, and it's what they're finally going to get.

Orlando is a city that has a passion for the sports they have, and soccer is one of the sports that they are willing to show up for.

When Orlando City hosted USL Pro Championship game at the Citrus Bowl in September, more than 20,000 people showed up to support the Lions to their second USL championship in three years since beginning play in Orlando.

"When they drew 21,000 fans for the USL Pro Championship game, that really woke up not just us in the MLS, but it really woke up the world of soccer," said MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche.

Orlando City already has a loyal fan base, and Lions President Phil Rawlins is hoping that the team can build on that, and turn the club into something more then just another MLS franchise.

"Our goal is to build a truly global soccer brand. I believe in less than 10 years we will be counted as one of the more significant brands in the world of soccer, not just in the U.S.," Rawlins said. "That's because we have this opportunity of 57 million visitors annually to Orlando."

And Orlando has an advantage over most team because of the tourism that their city attracts. Millions upon millions of people come to Orlando each year, and maybe a good handful of them will go see a game. Maybe they buy a shirt, scarf or jersey while they're at the game. They go back to their homestate, or country and advertise the team worldwide.

So not only is the team benefiting from the worldwide attraction, but the city will benefit from a little more traffic coming for the games.

Orlando City has a deal in-place with the MLS to guarantee the MLS All-Star Game coming to Orlando within the first five years of the new stadium opening -- there's a heavy load of incoming soccer fans.

The new stadium will also host about five US Men's international matches, bringing in a great deal of US supporters.

And coming up in November, the US Women's National Team with take on the Brazilian National Team at the Citrus Bowl -- there's your load of international traffic.

Soccer is undoubtably the world's most popular sport, and it's growing wildly in the US. In a 2011 Poll by ESPN, results showed that soccer is actually the second most popular sport in the US, behind only football, in the age 12-24 demographic.

Sometimes you can look at the decisions people make and say, "Gosh, that was a dumb idea." But in this case, approving the deal for a new soccer stadium to help bring the MLS to Orlando was one of the smartest moves any government has made in a long time.

We are the purple and red. MLS, here we come.

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Orlando Showed That They Deserve To Host The MLS

Across the globe, there's no denying that soccer is the world's favorite sport. In the United States, it's taken a long time for soccer to be recognized in the ways that sports fans see football, baseball and basketball, but there's no doubt the sport’s popularity is growing rapidly.

With a lot of buzz surrounding the US Men's National Team as it prepares to compete in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil next summer, Major League Soccer is beginning to add on expansion teams, with Florida in mind as the possible landing spot for one of four projected teams to enter the league by 2020.

Of the likely locations in the Sunshine State for this possible team to land, Orlando seems to be the primed spot. And to that, I say this: bring it on!

The City of Orlando easily proved it’s worth Saturday night when over 20,000 loyal supporters showed up for Orlando City Soccer's 7-4 win over the Charlotte Eagles in the USL PRO Championship game.

Coming into the match, Orlando City has a mission to get at least 15,000 fans to attend the championship match, in hopes to show city and county leaders how much the team's support has grown. They more than exceeded their goal, as they had to open up several upper level sections of the Citrus Bowl due to a high demand for tickets for the game.

"Yeah, we've had a week to prepare for this and our fans have been absolutely unbelievable. The media campaign for 15,000 and we've blown through that, expected as much as 20,000 here tonight, and I think that sends a huge message to Major League Soccer. That this city is ready for the next level of soccer here in Central Florida," said team president Phil Rawlins.

Bringing home the championship trophy, Orlando City hopes that it'll show the top-guns at the MLS that they deserve to be a part of America’s fastest growing professional sport, while also building support to construct a new $85 million soccer stadium in order to meet the demands an MLS franchise would need to meet.

In my opinion, $85 million would be a small price to pay in order to continue to build the quickly growing reputation that Orlando, Florida has gained up over recent years as an uprising sports city.

Taking home a championship, and having already signed off the plans for the new stadium that is still awaiting approval by top Orlando officials, Orlando City Soccer is ready bring another pro-team to Central Florida.

Yes, it's true; Florida once hosted a pair of MLS teams -- Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion -- in the early-2000’s, and both of those clubs quickly folded because of terrible financial support. But times are different, and Florida is now considered by many to be a soccer hotbed, as the game of soccer is growing to irresistible numbers.

In a state dominated by nine teams of the four major North America sports, it's time to add a team for the rising fifth. I'm not just thrilled about the idea of planting an MLS franchise here; I'm rooting for it more than anything.

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