David Beckham could be forgiven for casting an envious glance downtown.
The Manchester United great was seeking sporting success with Inter Miami. Instead, it is the city's basketball and ice hockey teams making all the headlines.
The Heat are in the NBA finals and the Panthers are contesting the Stanley Cup finals. Inter Miami, meanwhile, have lost five straight MLS games, are bottom of the Eastern Conference and are without a manager having sacked Phil Neville last week.
Miami is abuzz with sporting chatter and the soccer team are on the periphery, enter Lionel Messi to shift the narrative. It's a city that possesses teams in the four major American sports, with baseball and NFL also represented. The Heat are kingpins while the Panthers' journey this season has propelled them into the limelight and allowed them to capitalise on attracting fans in a way the soccer team would love to.
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"To have two teams from the same city go on deep runs in the playoffs, in two different sports, at the same time, is pretty unusual and so there really has been a buzz about the place," explains Simon Evans, a journalist for Reuters News Agency and based in Miami.
"A win for the Heat would simply solidify their status as the main team in Miami. But for the Panthers it would really establish them as a presence in the South Florida sporting landscape. I think they have won over a lot of people who never watched the NHL before and created a new fanbase.
"They have struggled for crowds at times, given ice hockey obviously isn't a traditional sport in Florida, but people have really got behind them and they have been packing out the arena and people who never watch NHL have been cheering them on in the sports bars.
"We will see how long that popularity lasts for because, it is very rare for a sports team to keep winning for years in American sports."
What the Heat and the Panthers have managed, to a degree, is to unite a diverse population.
"One of the things you hear from people about Miami is that because so many people grew up elsewhere, there isn't really a sense of community, or people just stick with their own local enclaves," added Evans. "But when it comes to sport, everyone is behind the same teams, enjoying the same success. It's great to witness.
"People know about the large Latin community, particularly the Cuban community, but there are people from all over the US and all over the world living here. I live in an area with a large Russian and East European population for example and they have been caught up in the excitement, as have people from the Caribbean and so on."
Away from the action, there is a sense of but on the court and the ice, there has been plenty of the sporting narrative that sells. Both the Heat and the Panthers were the lowest seeds in their respective conferences and so both have caused post-season upsets. Throw in talent, teamwork and a tenacity and it's a winning combination.
"If I were to look for something they both have in common it really is their never-say-die attitude," said Evans. "They've had late comebacks to win games throughout their runs and both just seem to have that winning combination of togetherness and determination allied, clearly, with an abundance of talented players."
There is talent in the soccer ranks too, but it's not yielded success. Alejandro Pozuelo and Gonzalo Higuain fired the team to the play-offs last term but both departed in the off-season. Optimism surrounded the arrivals of forwards Leonardo Campana and Josef Martinez but goals have been in short supply, with just 15 in 16 league games.
Results have perhaps not tallied with performances but the decision by Beckham to axe Neville, a close friend, typifies the rut the Herons have been in. The 2022 campaign was something of a breakthrough campaign and, allied with off-the-pitch aims, raised expectations for Inter Miami to take the next step.
Beckham brought glitz and glamour, the move for Lionel Messi adde further razzmatazz and could perhaps turn the dial back towards soccer. But for now, the club are still searching for the right formula. They play out of town while work on a soccer-specific stadium continues and their aim to attract a new fanbase is a trickier sell without success to tempt supporters.
"They haven't been getting hammered but 11 defeats in 16 games wasn't what anyone was expecting after reaching the playoffs last term," added Evans.
"The crowds aren't bad, around 15,000 at most games and you have to remember that the team are playing in Fort Lauderdale which can be an hour's drive from some parts of Miami.
"The plan is to move to a new stadium in Miami, near the airport, called Miami Freedom Park, a 25,000 venue which is typical of the modern 'soccer-specific' stadium in MLS and should be ready in 2025.
"The aim is to attract a young, urban, fan-base from Miami but the team is going to have to be more competitive to attract that 'new' crowd. Obviously if the reported attempt to sign Messi comes off, well, that could change everything."
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