Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday directed $8 million to help with a stadium project for the Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.
The money, which will come from the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund, will be used to construct a road around the planned Miami Freedom Park, a 25,000-seat soccer stadium close to Miami International Airport.
DeSantis said the road work will help create construction jobs, relieve future traffic in the area and potentially increase tourism in a new business district.
“The soccer games are going to be one thing,” DeSantis said during a news conference at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, where the team currently plays home matches. “There’s going to be other events at the stadium, and then there’s going to be businesses around there. People may not even want to go to a game, maybe just want to go out to dinner. This is going to be an attraction.”
Inter Miami recently announced a delay in building the new stadium and will stay at Chase Stadium through the 2025 season.
The state budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 includes $75 million for the Job Growth fund, which is designed to provide money for infrastructure projects and job-training programs.
Thursday’s announcement was DeSantis’ fifth use of the fund this fiscal year, totaling $23.2 million.