As Major League Soccer (MLS) continues its exponential growth, so does South Florida’s very own Inter Miami CF. Probably the most popular MLS team around the globe today, Inter Miami has yet to reach its full potential, but it sure seems to be on the right track.

After making the playoffs for the first time in the 2022 season, Inter Miami started the 2023 campaign with high expectations. However, following back-to-back home wins to start the season, Inter Miami currently has a 5-6 record with 0 draws.

While the team’s results haven’t been what fans expected, with a brand new stadium coming in 2025, rumors of multiple stars coming to South Beach, one of the best youth academies in the country, and a brand popularizing itself around the world, it is hard to look past the success the recently established club has seen off the field. 

Being founded in 2020 by a worldwide soccer and media superstar David Beckham, Inter Miami immediately joined the league making headlines. In a highly marketable city as well, the South Florida club was bound to be a success. Out of the top 25 jerseys sold by MLS clubs on soccer.com, five feature the pink and black crest. The club is also the second most popular MLS club when it comes to social media success. Having over one million Instagram followers, Inter Miami are second to only LA Galaxy, who sit at nearly one and a half million.

While this success has turned Inter Miami into a major brand not only in the MLS but in the world, the team in itself has yet to find its true culture and build its connection with its fans. Out of the eleven expansion MLS franchises founded in the past ten years, Inter Miami sits dead last when it comes to attendance. Even though it has improved by 35% from last year, the average of 17 thousand fans per game puts Inter Miami at the 22nd spot out of the 29 teams league wide. This is an improvement from a team that was at the bottom of that list in 2022, but still disappointing.

This disappointing attendance is highly to blame on the team not having a designated home. While the club still works in its stadium out in the 305, Inter Miami has played its first four seasons in DRV Pink Stadium. The Fort Lauderdale stadium, with a capacity of just over 19 thousand, is a renovated project of the old Lockhart Stadium, long time home to the old Fort Lauderdale Strikers. 

Playing its home games in Fort Lauderdale and not Miami has stalled the club’s progress, but this is soon to change with the Miami Freedom Park coming soon. The 25 thousand seat soccer-specific stadium is expected to be inaugurated in the 2025 MLS season and will bring the Herons a home in the Magic City.

“Miami is a city that attracts stars, and the new stadium will bring another spotlight to the team and the city,” Inter Miami CF II defender Kevin Gorbell told The Torch. “Everyday you hear talks and stories about Messi and other stars who could one day come to Inter, but I think all of that is gonna be difficult until the team moves from Fort Lauderdale to Miami itself.”

Gorbell, 18, has played on Inter Miami’s youth academy for the past four years, and recently signed a contract with the club’s second team and MLS Next Pro affiliate, Inter Miami CF II. Gorbell is one of the many players who represent the Herons’ youth academy and development system, and told The Torch how it has impacted him on and off the field. 

“Inter has helped shape me into the person and player I am today. Ever since joining the academy in U15, I have been more dedicated than ever,” Gorbell explained. “Our coaches motivate us every single day, and every practice feels like a game with everybody fighting for a spot. They have taught me life lessons I will keep with me, and really helped [me] become the best version of myself, which at the end of the day is one of the main goals of the academy.”