HOMESTEAD, Fla.(AP) – Former San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginobili is investing in a $280 million sports and education complex planned for Homestead, Florida, a project envisioned as a “next-generation” growth, according too the group behind it.
The Sports Performance Hub aims to combine high-level athletic training with academic pursuits, and will include a 10,000-seat stadium for Miami FC.
- Manu Ginobili is part of a group developing the Sports Performance Hub in Homestead, Florida.
- The privately financed project will include a stadium for miami FC, training facilities, a boarding school, and more.
- The complex is slated to open in March 2028.
- Local officials have praised the project as a potential economic benefit for the area.
Ginobili, who won an NBA championship with the Spurs in 2014 after losing to Miami the previous year, cited the areaS growth and multicultural character as factors in his investment. “You don’t have to be blind to see the growth that Miami has experienced in the last 20 years,” he said,recalling his first visits to the city in 2002. “It has become not only a center for Latin America, but a world center.”
The Sports Performance Hub: A Comprehensive Facility
The Sports Performance Hub will be a multi-faceted campus, featuring a 10,000-seat stadium for Miami FC, which plays in the United Soccer League. Plans also include sports training facilities, a basketball facility, a boarding school, a hotel, and academic buildings, all on a single site.The project is privately financed and is scheduled to open in March 2028.
Riccardo Silva, co-owner of Miami FC, and former soccer players Juan Sebastián Verón and DarÃo Sala are also partners in the venture. Veteran sports executive Nick Sakiewicz was recently appointed as the project’s CEO. Sala emphasized the group’s commitment to community engagement, stating, “If you look at the background of each member of the management team…they all give somthing back to the children, to the community.”
Silva explained the decision to locate the complex in Homestead, 35 miles south of downtown Miami, citing greater opportunities for development in the area. Homestead is located at the southern end of Miami-Dade County and is already home to the Homestead-Miami Speedway, which hosts NASCAR events, and the Homestead Championship Rodeo.
Why It matters
The Sports Performance Hub represents a notable investment in South Florida’s growing sports and education landscape. The project’s emphasis on integrating athletic training with academics could create a unique habitat for student-athletes, attracting talent from around the world. The development also reflects a broader trend of professional athletes investing in ventures that combine their passion for sports with business and community development. Local officials, including Mayor Steve Losner, anticipate the facility will provide “long-term benefits to our local economy.”
“That’s the essence of what SPH is,” said DarÃo Sala,emphasizing the project’s focus on giving back to the community through clinics,camps,and charitable events.
Documents presented to city officials detail plans for the first phase of construction,which include tennis and pickleball courts,walking trails,and playgrounds,followed by the addition of advanced training facilities and performance technology centers.
