Beckham drops hint about Inter Miami third shirt for 2024

Inter Miami will have the opportunity to don a third shirt in the 2024 season with its new main sponsor. Major League Soccer reserves this right to the teams that sell the most kits. With Lionel Messi moving to the south Florida club, it unsurprisingly catapulted up shirt sales among MLS clubs. Fans in the United States and around the world were ready to pay for both official and counterfeit shirts in the 2023 MLS season after Messi moved.

Now, Inter Miami President and co-owner David Beckham provided an idea of what Inter Miami’s alternate strip could look like. In addition to the traditional black shirt and pink shirt, Inter Miami supporters may add blue to their closets.

In a video with Classic Football Shirts, David Beckham said he petitioned the club to bring in a blue shirt that he loved. While looking at a blue Michael Owen Real Madrid kit from the 2004/05 season, Beckham said he and the club considered using it as inspiration.

“I love this blue,” Beckham said about the Real Madrid kit. “We thought about replicating it for our third kit in Miami. I just love this color, I thought it was beautiful.”

The homages to old-school shirts do not stop with Real Madrid, though. Beckham said the collars on the kits harken back to classic kits. In particular, Beckham said a Napoli kit from the 1980s encouraged him to bring back collars on kits.

“I went through the archive of different shirts for the last 40, 50 years and just kind of took bits from each of them,” Beckham said.

New Inter Miami third shirt could continue that tradition

By taking advice from previous kits, Beckham created an identity with Inter Miami. Although he admitted he is somewhat biased as he is in the club’s hierarchy, he said the fans like the pink and black character of the club. Next season, it will continue the trend of having a pink shirt and a black shirt. However, a third shirt will bring a new vibe to Inter Miami.

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MLS seldom gives clubs the opportunity to debut a third shirt. Last season, just four teams had third shirts in MLS. The New York Red Bulls, NYCFC, Atlanta United and Toronto FC had third kits that vastly differed from their traditional looks. In 2021, no teams had a third kit.

Despite Messi’s arrival this past summer, Adidas designed alternate shirts when he was still a player with PSG. Therefore, Inter Miami did not have a design as people would not be as interested in the club’s shirts. With the Argentine active with Inter Miami, and shirts selling fast, it can have the chance to sell a new kit.

Third shirt coming, and it will be a different color

Pieter Brown of Futbol Miami TV said there will be a third kit, and it will be a different color. While the host of the Inter Miami YouTube channel did not share the specific color, that at least shows the option is coming. He says Inter Miami hit a certain benchmark last season to unlock the ability to sell a third kit.

“In MLS, you are allowed to have a third kit if you X number of jerseys,” Brown said. “The highest selling jerseys, those teams get to sell a third jersey. Inter Miami will be one of those.”

Inter Miami is cashing in on the success of Lionel Messi joining the club. The third jerseys will give Messi fans a new chance to buy some of his merchandise. The third kit, according to Brown, will be ready by February for the new MLS season.

PHOTO: IMAGO.