Beckham, who retired in 2013, announced Wednesday that he would be exercising his long-held option to buy into a Major League Soccer franchise in Miami, whose last pro soccer team, the Miami Fusion, disbanded in 2001.

"I'm going to work hard for this city and this team," said Beckham, 39, dressed in a crisp grey suit in the wilting Miami humidity.

"Everything I do is personal, and I want to make this my team."

Beckham was joined for the announcement at the Perez Art Museum by MLS commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Both men have been in talks for months with Beckham and his financial partners, British entertainment mogul Simon Fuller and Bolivian billionaire Marcelo Claure.