Miami Freedom Park stadium construction site in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, November 20, 2025. The stadium is due to open in Spring 2026 for the MLS season.
adiaz@miamiherald.com
If you’ve taken a flight in or out of Miami International Airport lately, or driven by, you have probably seen how quickly Miami Freedom Park stadium has arisen from a pile of dirt to the future 25,000-seat home of Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates.
It was announced on Thursday that the team will play its inaugural MLS home game at the new stadium on April 4 at 7:30 p.m. against Austin FC.
Stadium officials say the project is on schedule and the team will finally have the permanent Miami home David Beckham envisioned when he announced plans to launch an MLS club in 2014.
To give Inter Miami a construction cushion, the team will kick off the 2026 MLS season with five consecutive road games, starting with the season opener Feb. 21 against Los Angeles FC at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which opened in 1923, hosted two Olympics and holds 77,500 fans.
That marquee game will feature Argentine legend Messi against South Korean star Son Heung-min, who is considered the greatest Asian player of all time after a standout career with Tottenham in the English Premier League.
Miami Freedom Park is not as big or iconic as the Coliseum, but it will boast the largest canopy in Major League Soccer, a tensile cable overhead covering that will shield fans from the elements and is the signature architectural and engineering achievement of the stadium.
Tensioned cables, steel masts and a flexible membrane are used to create a lightweight canopy over all the seating areas.
Over six weeks, a team of 700 to 800 workers were part of a massive lift operation during which they raised 1,400 tons of cables and clamps into place using 96 hydraulic jacks. The elevated cable net system holds another 1,300 tons of steel and supports the canopy, which measures 330,000 square feet.
Miami Freedom Park stadium construction site in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, November 20, 2025. The stadium is due to open in Spring 2026 for the MLS season. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
“If you look up, everything you see is basically a global team across three or four different continents that worked over 20 months to put this all together,” said Graham Oxley, vice president of Miami Freedom Park. “I joke that it’s kind of like my Messi. It embodies us as a club because we’re the most ambitious club out there…We on the stadium side went for the most ambitious canopy there is, and we delivered.”
Asked to explain why that roof is Messi-like, Oxley smiled and said: “It’s not cheap.”
He then said that the engineering, innovation and collaboration needed to construct the cable net canopy makes it special. One of the few soccer stadiums with a similar roof construction is Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Installation of the canopy cover is scheduled to begin in a few weeks.
“This milestone marks another step forward in bringing Miami Freedom Park to life,” said Devon McCorkle, President of Miami Freedom Park. “The stadium’s canopy is a remarkable architectural and engineering achievement—designed to provide shade from the sun, protection from rain, and to capture the sound and atmosphere that define every match and concert. Beyond its function, it will stand as a signature architectural element of the district and an iconic landmark visible to those flying into or departing from Miami.”
The canopy will help hold in the sound of Inter Miami’s most rabid fans, which should make for a better game atmosphere.
“In Fort Lauderdale, our supporters, La Familia, go 90 minutes, drums, flags, banners, songs, etc. and the sound goes up and out; whereas here the sound is going to travel all the way around the stadium, which will really build a fortress and create an incredible experience for our players,” said Chris Allan, Inter Miami Vice President of Fan Strategy and Experience.
Construction worker Jhacson Saavedra on the job at the construction site at Miami Freedom Park stadium in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, November 20, 2025. The stadium is due to open in Spring 2026 for the MLS season. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
The $350 million stadium is the centerpiece of a 131-acre development that will include a 58-acre public park, youth athletic fields, entertainment-based retail and attractions, restaurants, hotel and office space.
“We have an extraordinary future ahead; I feel an immense amount of pride to be able to kick off the 2026 season here in our new stadium,” said Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas.
“It’s a dream come true. I can’t wait to open our new home; it’s going to be epic. I’m looking forward to debuting our new home with the Inter Miami fans, to hear the chants, the anthems, to see our flags, to be able to hear that passion here that means so much to our city. I’ve always wanted Inter Miami to be a reflection of our city, of the passion that exists in this city.”
Team owners Mas, his brother Jose and David Beckham autographed one of the stadium beams and the team’s motto: “Freedom to Dream” is also inscribed in the beam.
“When you build a stadium with this level of ambition you want an experience for the fans and you want an experience for the players,” Beckham said. “We’re thinking about every single element that goes into this stadium. It’s going to be a unique experience, and we can’t wait to welcome people in.”
For information on Miami Freedom Park tickets, go to https://www.intermiamicf.com/tickets/mfp
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Michelle Kaufman
Miami Herald
Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.
