Miami Fusion

The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best season was 2001, when they won the Supporters' Shield with the best regular season finish. In 2002, after four years of lackluster ticket sales and revenues, MLS contracted the Fusion along with its other Florida-based team, the Tampa Bay Mutiny. The Fusion played their home games at Lockhart Stadium. History Early history Major League Soccer announced a South Florida team in 1997 as one of its first two expansions, along with the Chicago Fire. Miami businessman Ken Horowitz served as owner, the first new investor to join Major League Soccer since its founding in 1995. The team's name, the Miami Fusion, was announced on July 8, 1997, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City ahead of the MLS All-Star Game. The Fusion debuted in the 1998 MLS season, playing in the renovated Lockhart Stadium, considered a forerunner to the league's later soccer-specific stadiums. The Fusion started their inaugural season strong. Led by star midfielder Carlos Valderrama, the Fusion drew 20,450 to their first game at Lockhart Stadium against D.C. United, showing off the possibilities of a more intimate venue designed especially for soccer. Another 3,000 were turned away by police. However, interest waned through the year along with the team's middling performance on the field. The Fusion replaced head coach Carlos "Cacho" Cordoba with Ivo Wortmann after game 19, and the team managed a playoff spot, losing to D.C. By the end of the year their average attendance had dropped to 10,284.