David Beckham is trying to recruit Miami Heat star LeBron James as one of his investors in the Major League Soccer team he plans to launch in Miami.
“The two have had several secret meetings in the past few weeks,” a Miami source told me. “LeBron would be to the soccer team what Jay Z was to the Brooklyn Nets.”
Jay Z and Beyoncé were courtside regulars at the Barclays Center until the Brooklyn-born rapper had to sell his share in the Nets last fall when he opened his Roc Nation Sports talent agency. Fans were surprised to learn that, for all the hoopla around it, his stake was a measly 1/15 of 1 percent of the team.
Similarly, billionaire developer Steve Ross brought in Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, Venus Williams and Serena Williams as investors in his Miami Dolphins.
Beckham is said to have put about $100 million of his $300 million net worth into the venture.
Said my source: “Beckham doesn’t need LeBron’s money. He wants him to create excitement and buzz.”
The soccer stud could also use the talents of LeBron’s marketing partner Maverick Carter, whose LRMR firm has signed the biggest star in college football, Johnny Manziel.
In March — when Beckham announced he had landed the Miami soccer franchise with “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller and Bolivian billionaire Marcelo Claure — he admitted, “LeBron is a friend, so we speak as friends about what we’re doing, but we’re also speaking as great businessmen.”