The stadium for Miami’s planned professional soccer team will be in downtown Miami, David Beckham, the former superstar player backing the team, said Wednesday.

Flanked by the mayor of Miami-Dade County and the commissioner of Major League Soccer, Beckham said at a news conference that county officials “promised” him the stadium would be downtown. Beckham formally announced he was exercising his option to buy an MLS franchise, a right he acquired in 2007.