“We have a lot of relationships with the ownership group. We’re probably zero or one degree of separation between myself and everyone in the ownership group.” —Steven Sugarman, chief executive of Banc of California, which signed a naming-rights deal for LAFC’s new stadium. His brother is the son-in-law of LAFC’s executive chairman, Hollywood producerPeter Guber. […]
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Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Business: LAFC inks naming-rights deal for stadium
Los Angeles FC has signed a naming-rights deal with Banc of California for its new stadium. The deal was announced during a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday morning at the site thatformerly housed the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Terms of the deal were not announced: Bloomberg reported that it runs for 15 years and is valued at $100 […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Tim Penn
“This is precious real estate and this is a precious place.” — Los Angeles FC president Tom Penn, making his case to the Los Angeles City Council, which unanimously approvedplans for the MLS club’s privately financed $250-million stadium in Exposition Park. Construction on the 22,000-seat stadium to be built next to the Coliseum on the […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: John Thorrington
“I just see endless possibilities with a blank slate. It’s much better to do that than reboot a system that might not be exactly what you want.” — John Thorrington, LAFC executivevice president, on building the 2018 MLS expansion team from the ground up. It’s starting with a team of 12-year-olds, the youngest age allowed […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Will Ferrell
“I’m going to be cold and distant, and show up at very inopportune times, and shout, berate players in the middle of games, that sort of thing.” — Comedian Will Ferrell on whathis approach will be as part-owner of MLS expansion franchise Los Angeles FC. (Men in Blazers)
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Will Ferrell steals show at LAFC unveiling
Thursday’s unveiling of the official crest and colors of the the Los Angeles Football Club at Union Station included Mia Hamm and her husband, Nomar Garciaparra, as well as executivechairman Peter Guber and managing partner Henry Nguyen, all part of the ownership group, and city officials, but the person who stole the show was actor […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
More TAM means more pressure across the board for MLS clubs
By Ridge Mahoney (@ridgemax) Just a few days after the 2015 MLS season ended with Portland winning its first league title, the landscape for2016 already looks dramatically different. Despite the fact that less than half of the teams used Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) to bolster their rosters after the mechanism was officiallyannounced in July, MLS […]
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LAFC hires Thorrington to handle soccer side
LAFC named former MLS midfielder John Thorrington as its executive vice president of soccer operations, its first hire on the soccer side for the club that will join MLS in 2018.Thorrington, who will manage player and personnel decisions for LAFC, served as special assistant to executive director Bob Foose at the Major League Soccer Players […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
With all its marketing might, why did LAFC take safe route?
By Ridge Mahoney (@ridgemax) The next expansion team in Los Angeles won’t play a real game forthree more years, and yet already it is infused with anticlimax, not to mention redundancy. Los Angeles Football Club, or LAFC, has been promoted from “placeholder” name to the real thing. Theofficial announcement came Tuesday and didn’t carry much […]
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MLS rumor mill: LAFC chasing Cristiano Ronaldo
It’s a measure of progress made by MLS that teams that haven’t even taken the field are supposedly chasing the world’s biggest stars. Months ago, Portuguese internationalCristiano Ronaldo was said to prefer his next club be in MLS — Los Angeles, New York, or Miami were the cities cited by SI.com — and Los Angeles […]