When world-class soccer player Lionel Messi takes to the field at Inter Miami CF’s new stadium in spring 2026, he will be playing under an iconic roof secured with high-strength steel cables from Fatzer in Romanshorn. The privately owned Miami Freedom Park, managed by club owner David Beckham, comprises a 25,000-seat stadium and a sprawling 131-hectare site. Fatzer is supplying over 600 tons of cables from Romanshorn for the roof construction – manufactured with the utmost precision and designed for extreme loads in Florida’s hurricane region.
New Inter Miami CF Stadium
Inter Miami CF’s new stadium marks the beginning of a new era for the Major League Soccer club. The construction project in South Florida was developed from scratch—including a park, hotel, offices, restaurants, and shopping areas—and is intended to serve as a cultural center for the region. The striking roof, which spans the entire stadium, is both an architectural highlight and a technical masterpiece. It was implemented by Enclos Tensile Structures (ETS), a leading provider of membrane and facade structures.
For the supporting structure, ETS relied on the expertise and experience of Fatzer, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-strength steel cables based in Switzerland. A total of 536 cables with diameters ranging from 10 to 140 millimeters support the impressive membrane structure. Together, they weigh over 609 tons. The construction is designed to meet not only aesthetic but also functional requirements – especially with regard to wind loads and hurricane safety.
Swiss precision under hurricane conditions
The project was also a technical and logistical masterpiece for Fatzer. It was the first time that a rope with a diameter of 140 millimeters had been used in a roof construction of this size – and only the second time in the company’s history. The manufacture of such a cable requires the utmost precision: 488 individual wires were stranded in 15 layers to achieve a minimum breaking force of 2,000 tons. The end connections – more than 1.5 meters long and weighing over a ton – were specially developed for this project to safely transfer the enormous forces.
“Although we regularly supply high-strength steel cables for stadium roofs, this project is exceptional in terms of its technical complexity, dimensions, and logistics,” says Martin Bechtold, CEO of Fatzer.
Logistics services from Romanshorn, Switzerland
Precise planning and smooth processes were crucial for transporting the assembled ropes overseas. During the summer months, more than 40 trucks left the factory in Romanshorn to transport the ropes to Florida by sea and, in some cases, by air freight. Each rope was individually packaged, labeled, and documented to ensure error-free assembly on site.
Similar ropes already in use in Las Vegas and Guangzhou
The project in Miami is not an isolated case. Ropes from Romanshorn are also being used in other international stadium projects. High-strength steel ropes from Fatzer were already used in the construction of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in 2020. After the Raiders moved from Oakland to Nevada, one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in the US was built in just 36 months. Ropes were also recently delivered to Asia: the newly developed 140 mm rope is also being used in the Guangzhou Football Park currently under construction in China.
Fatzer’s production facility is located in Romanshorn. From here, ropes are delivered all over the world.