Ruben Gnanalingam to invest in MLS team

[Roller]

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan and American basketball great Magic Johnson are among a group of investors that has been awarded new Major League Soccer franchise Los Angeles Football Club.

The investment group also includes QPR co-owner Ruben Gnanalingam and former US women's football star Mia Hamm.

The new team will enter MLS in 2017 alongside an expansion team in Atlanta.

The LA club's managing partner Henry Nguyen said: "We believe this team can become a globally-recognised brand."

Earlier on Thursday Tan, who also owns FK Sarajevo in Bosnia, told BBC Sport he was going to be "minority partner" in the new franchise.

"That's my personal, private investment," he said. "I believe the MLS will be a good investment."

Tan, who also revealed he is seeking to invest in another unnamed European club, said he remains committed to Cardiff, who he bought in May 2010, despite their relegation from the Premier League last season.

Tan said: "I enjoy investing in a football club and I believe that you can make money in a football club.

"I didn't really start off well investing in football, I wasn't that lucky.

"But there are a lot of clever owners who make money every year so I now understand the business so much better.

"I joked that I invested so much money in Cardiff and it is my tuition fees to learn the football business."

On Monday, Major League Soccer announced Chivas USA, which struggled for a decade to gain a foothold in Los Angeles, were folding.

The brand identity of the new LAFC, along with coaching staff, will be announced at a later date, according to the MLS website.

With a strong soccer fanbase, Los Angeles also is home to the four-time MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy - one of the original members of the league and the club at which David Beckham made 98 appearances between 2007 and 2012.

With the addition of the new Los Angeles club, MLS will become a 22-team league in 2017 as the new expansion team in Atlanta will also begin play that year.

Two more expansion teams will be added by 2020.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29839081

[Macmoish]

Thanks Roller. Interesting in a number of ways

[londonranger]

How do you pronounce Gnalingnam.

[londonranger]

Maybe its Welsh since he went for Cardiff So mac, whats so interesting?

[Macmoish]

MLS
- 35 Minute Video - www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/10/30/diverse-talented-and-smart-ownership-group-key-lafcs-future-success

Diverse, talented, and smart" ownership group key to LAFC's future success
October 30, 2014
Blair Angulo
LOS ANGELES — The newest MLS club in Los Angeles, for now known as LAFC, is still more than two years away from playing its first MLS match, but the ownership group could already get a full pick-up game going.

Twenty-two names make up the decorated list of owners for LAFC, which was officially launched at a press event in Hollywood on Thursday afternoon, and the vast majority of them were in attendance.

Front and center was Henry Nguyen, the club’s managing partner, who was joined on stage by Executive Chairman Peter Guber and President Tom Penn. The trio was introduced by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who “scarved” the three, draping brand new LAFC scarves around their necks.

READ: MLS awards new team to Los Angeles

The LAFC ownership group also includes, among others, NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, two-time US World Cup champion Mia Hamm Garciaparra, six-time all-star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, and business strategist and best-selling author Tony Robbins, as well as a host of executives from the financial, sports, and entertainment industries.

“I get to be the mouthpiece of an incredibly diverse, talented, and smart group of owners,” said Nguyen, the managing general partner of IDG Ventures Vietnam, a private equity firm. “I can tell you, the type of track record and brainpower, experience and intellectual capital they have is astounding. That gives me great confidence that we’re going to be able to build a really terrific club.”

Nguyen, a Harvard graduate who also obtained a medical and a business degree from Northwestern, said he intends to relocate to Los Angeles in an effort to make the development of the club his top priority. Soccer, he said, has been part of his life since his youth days in the Washington, DC, area.

“Soccer is what ignited my passion in sports,” he said. “My first live sporting event was an old NASL game: The Diplomats versus the Rowdies at RFK (Stadium). And that turned me into a huge soccer fan. I’d wake up Sunday mornings watching Soccer Made in Germany on PBS, learning about the Bundesliga, hearing Franz Beckenbauer’s name over and over.

"For me, sports has been a huge part of my life, as a fan, as an athlete, and even as a business. In recent years, living and working in Vietnam, we’ve had a sports organization, starting with an academy and a professional basketball team. But all of that just whet my appetite for this."

PHOTOS: LAFC shows up all around Los Angeles

Guber, the chairman and CEO of the Mandalay Entertainment Group, has produced some of Hollywood’s great films, including Rain Man, Batman, and The Color Purple. In sports, he is the co-owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers, and he sees the LAFC ownership group’s potential for connecting with the local community.

“We’ve assembled a team that is second to none,” Guber said. “It’s an impressive team. [Now] we have to get people to believe we’re going to be there a couple years from now, to believe we’re going to be competitive, to believe we’ll be fan engaged and be in the community. We can do that.”

The ownership group also includes many co-owners with ties to the global soccer industry. Ruben Emir Gnanalingam is a co-owner of English Premier League club Queens Park Rangers. Vincent Tan is the majority owner of English Championship side Cardiff City and FK Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Larry Berg and Bennett Rosenthal are co-owners of Italian Serie A club AS Roma.

“When you wire together Henry and his partners over in Asia, Peter and his links here, and Tom’s experience,” Commissioner Garber said, “this is a group that will help us achieve our strategy and help us have a very, very strong rival for the LA Galaxy.”

Penn, a former assistant general manager of the Portland Trailblazers and NBA analyst for ESPN, will be responsible for the nuts and bolts of building the club, or, as Guber put it, “wrangling all these cats and get their words, feet and time working together.”

“I am so thrilled,” Penn said. "To be part of this sport, in this city, at this time, is awesome. With a blank slate and with this group of partners, it’s just a privilege and an honor to be a part of it.”

Penn, who lives in Portland, Oregon, and will also be relocating to Los Angeles fulltime, related the story of his “emotional transformation” from a basketball executive to a soccer fan.

"I went to a Timbers game with my family,” he said. "When you hear the Timbers Army, 5,000 strong, singing in unison the whole game, and you see your kids look at you with those eyes like ‘This is unbelievable,’ that’s when I go, ‘Wow! What is this sport becoming in America?’ We have the chance to do that here, at this time, in this city."

Nguyen said: “In the last several months, just being able to extensively work together and collectively bring together such a terrific ownership group has been such a fulfilling part of this experience up to this point. But this is only the beginning of the beginning of the beginning.”

www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/10/30/diverse-talented-and-smart-ownership-group-key-lafcs-future-success

[Macmoish]

ESPN

MLS unveils new Los Angeles franchise set to begin play in 2017
ESPN FC's Taylor Twellman and Alexi Lalas discuss the announcement of Major League Soccer's latest club, Los Angeles FC, and what impact their powerful owners might have within the MLS.

Major League Soccer on Thursday announced its approval of a new team to be based in Los Angeles.

The new franchise, known for now as Los Angeles Football Club, follows the closing of struggling L.A. team Chivas USA, which MLS officially shut down on Monday.

MLS plans for LAFC to debut in 2017 in a new soccer stadium in the Los Angeles area that will be built specifically for the team.

"We are thrilled to welcome Henry Nguyen, Peter Guber, Tom Penn and their owner partners to Major League Soccer," MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. "This visionary ownership group will chart a course that will further elevate the sport in this great city and, combined with a new state-of-the-art stadium, accelerate us down the path toward becoming one of the top soccer leagues in the world."

The team is owned by a group led by venture capitalist Henry Nguyen, Mandalay Entertainment Chairman and CEO Peter Guber, and former NBA executive and current ESPN analyst Tom Penn.

Also part of the ownership group are a sizable number of well-known figures from the sports and business world. Included are two owners of English football clubs, Cardiff's Vincent Tan and QPR co-owner Ruben Gnanalingam, as well as Roma's Larry Berg and Bennett Rosenthal.

In addition, the group involves former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson, former U.S. women's national team star Mia Hamm and her husband, former baseball player Nomar Garciaparra, self help guru Tony Robbins, Golden State Warriors president Rick Welts, Youtube co-founder Chad Hurley and Dick Clark Productions chief Allen Shapiro, among others.
The ownership of Los Angeles Football Club met with MLS commissioner Don Garber on Thursday.

At a news conference on Thursday, Nguyen said he sees big things ahead for the future of MLS.

"We're coming in at a point in time where we're on a rocketship," Nguyen said. "The MLS, it's a terrific league, incredibly well managed, incredible ownership and we're really proud to be a part of that now.

"We really believe we can take the game of soccer in America to where the MLS, really I see no reason why even within a decade's time it can be one of the top football leagues in the world."

Chivas USA was controlled by the owners of Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara, and Garber said earlier this week that the decision to specifically target the Hispanic market led to the club's downfall.

Conversely, Nguyen said LAFC would attempt to appeal to all fans.

"We want to be a football club that's inclusive," he said. "We want to bring all our fans together. We want that fanbase to represent the wonderful diversity of Los Angeles. I look at that as an incredible strength."

www.espnfc.us/major-league-soccer/story/2118659/mls-unveils-new-los-angeles-franchise-set-to-begin-play-in-2017

[Macmoish]

Major League Soccer awards new team to Los Angeles
October 30, 2014
MLS Communications



Prominent Ownership Group led by Entrepreneur Henry Nguyen
and Sports and Entertainment Industrialist Peter Guber;
also Includes Earvin Johnson, Mia Hamm Garciaparra, Tony Robbins, among others

LOS ANGELES (October 30, 2014) – A new era for Major League Soccer in Los Angeles began today as MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced that a new team has been awarded to an ownership group led by entrepreneur Henry Nguyen, sports and entertainment leader Peter Guber, and sports veteran Tom Penn. The new club is scheduled to debut in 2017 in a new soccer stadium in the greater Los Angeles area built specifically for the team.

“We are thrilled to welcome Henry Nguyen, Peter Guber, Tom Penn and their owner partners to Major League Soccer,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “This visionary ownership group will chart a course that will further elevate the sport in this great city and, combined with a new state-of-the-art stadium, accelerate us down the path toward becoming one of the top soccer leagues in the world.”

WATCH: Don Garber discusses the creation of LAFC

The Managing General Partner of IDG Ventures Vietnam, Nguyen is the managing partner of the new MLS club. A native of Vietnam who moved to the United States as a toddler, Nguyen graduated from Harvard University and earned his MD and MBA from Northwestern University Medical School and the Kellogg School of Management.

“We believe this team can become one of the most outstanding clubs in Major League Soccer and a globally-recognized brand,” said Nguyen.

One of the most respected entrepreneurs in the sports and entertainment industry, Guber is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, the owner and co-executive chairman of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and co-owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers. Guber will serve as executive chairman of the new MLS club.

“The business of sports and entertainment is all about winning on the field and providing an exciting product that will develop a passionate and loyal fan base,” said Guber. “The Los Angeles market has millions of soccer supporters, and we know that this new team can fulfill the promise of success on the field and provide a great experience for our fans.”

Along with Nguyen, Guber and Penn, the new team’s ownership group includes: Ruben Gnanalingam, co-owner of the English Premier League’s Queens Park Rangers, Vincent Tan, owner of the Football League Championship’s Cardiff City and FK Sarajevo of the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, former Los Angeles Lakers star, Chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises and an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mia Hamm Garciaparra, U.S. women’s soccer great, Tony Robbins, America's #1 life and business strategist, best-selling author, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Nomar Garciaparra, former Major League Baseball star and SportsNet LA baseball analyst, Larry Berg, senior partner at Apollo Global Management and a co-owner of AS Roma, Allen Shapiro, CEO of Dick Clark Productions and managing partner of Mosaic Media Investment Partners, Chad Hurley, co-founder and former CEO of YouTube and the founder and CEO of MixBit, Rick Welts, President and COO of the Golden State Warriors Basketball Club, Bennett Rosenthal, co-founder and senior partner of Ares Management and a co-owner of AS Roma, as well as Kirk Lacob, Mark Leschly, Mike Mahan, Irwin Raij, Paul Schaeffer, Brandon Schneider, Jason Sugarman and Harry Tsao. A few additional prominent owners are expected to be added to this list shortly.

“Today is day one and time for us to focus on developing a world-class stadium for the club to play in and for fans to enjoy,” said Nguyen.

The new Los Angeles team’s brand identity, along with the front office, coaching and administrative staff will be announced at later dates.

One of the most fervent soccer fan bases in North America, Los Angeles also is home to the four-time MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy. An original member of the League, the Galaxy play their home matches at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.

“Los Angeles is a diverse, vibrant market with millions of soccer fans, and we look forward to an intense rivalry between the Galaxy and Los Angeles Football Club,” added Garber.

Moelis & Company LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Major League Soccer.

With the addition of the new Los Angeles club, MLS will become a 22-team league in 2017 as a new expansion team in Atlanta will also begin play that year. Two more expansion teams will be added by 2020.

www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/10/30/major-league-soccer-awards-new-team-los-angeles

[Macmoish]

The website
lafc.com/#Originals


Interest it's currently called Los Angeles FOOTBALL Club