Los Angeles Football Club

Los Angeles Football Club
(working name)
Full name Los Angeles Football Club
Founded October 30, 2014
Owners Tom Penn, Peter Guber, Henry Nguyen[1]
Executive Chairman Henry Nguyen
League Major League Soccer
Website Club home page

Los Angeles Football Club is the working name of an upcoming American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles that is expected to compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) starting in 2017. The team was announced in October 2014, after the league shut down operations of Chivas USA, which it had bought from the original owners that February.[2]

The ownership group is headed by venture capitalist Henry Nguyen, entrepreneur Peter Guber and former National Basketball Association executive Tom Penn.[3] The ownership group also includes businessmen Ruben Gnanalingam and Vincent Tan.[4] In addition, the club has a further 17 named investors including Magic Johnson, Nomar and Mia Hamm-Garciaparra, Chad Hurley and Tony Robbins.[4][5]

The ownership has sought input from fans to decide the permanent name and logo. On November 7, 2014, Nguyen expressed a preference for the name Los Angeles Football Club being permanent, describing it as "timeless" and saying "In the world, football means one thing. Maybe it speaks a little bit to our own vision and our own aspirations."[4]

Stadium

The ownership group has announced its desire to play in a new, $150 million 22,000-25,000 seat stadium in the greater Los Angeles area.[6][7] At the press conference following the club's announcement, the owners said they had yet to determine a stadium site, but hoped to break ground in early 2016 and be ready when the team began play in 2017. The team is considering the site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena as a potential site.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Leaders". lafc.com. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ Carlisle, Jeff (October 27, 2014). "MLS shuts down Chivas USA; new club, ownership to return in 2017". ESPN FC. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ "MLS officials to announce details of new franchise replacing Chivas USA". The Los Angeles Times. October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The inside story of how new MLS team LAFC went from dream to reality
  5. ↑ Mendola, Nicholas (October 30, 2014). "Los Angeles officially given new MLS team; Magic Johnson, Vincent Tan among investors". Pro Soccer Talk (NBCSports.com). Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ Angulo, Blair (October 30, 2014). "LAFC’s first order of business? Identifying a stadium site in Los Angeles". MLSSoccer.com.
  7. ↑ "MLS Wants Fans’ Help To Pick Team Name, Logo For New ‘LA Football Club’". CBS Los Angeles. October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Minnesota United's MLS expansion bid set to be accepted by league", SI.com, Brian Strauss, March 13, 2015.

External links