MLS bigger than MLB in 10 years - LAFC owner (2024)

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MLS bigger than MLB in 10 years - LAFC owner? ›

3 sport in 10 years - LAFC owner. Los Angeles FC lead owner Larry Berg has predicted MLS will surpass Major League Baseball in popularity during the next 10 years and Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas added it will be of higher quality than the Premier League or La Liga by 2045.

The managing owners of the club are Brandon Beck, Larry Berg, and Bennett Rosenthal. Los Angeles FC also has a variety of other part-owners, such as Will Ferrell.

The ownership group at LAFC, also includes minority stakeholders Will Ferrell, former Lakers star Magic Johnson, USWNT legend Mia Hamm and Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan.

Attendance at MLS games has been steadily increasing for eight consecutive years (excluding 2020/2021 due to COVID restrictions). In 2019, MLS games had an attendance of 8.6 million. In 2023, they were on track to close the year with game attendance at 10.9 million.

Johnson's LA sports team ownership trifecta was cultivated in 2014 when he acquired stakes to become part owner of both the WNBA's Sparks and LAFC in MLS. LAFC was an expansion club when Johnson bought in, and its $1 billion valuation now ranks as the highest in MLS.

The LA Galaxy are owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group – created by Philip Anschutz.

Los Angeles FC (LAFC) has held off competition from Inter Miami to remain Major League Soccer's (MLS) most valuable franchise for 2024, with Forbes estimating the California-based team's value at US$1.2 billion.

Location, ownership, Beckham

David Beckham, who co-owns Inter Miami, may have tempted Messi with a potential ownership stake in the club. If so, Messi's contract would resemble Beckham's own 2007 contract with LA Galaxy, which allowed him to later purchase the Inter Miami expansion team for $25 million.

Now Rosenthal has something else to celebrate—Forbes estimates that LAFC is worth $1 billion, just nine years after it joined MLS for an expansion fee of $110 million, making it the league's first billion-dollar franchise.

Although American football does not have a substantial following in other nations, the NFL does have the highest average attendance (67,254) of any professional sports league in the world. MLS has the second highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S. (21,789), followed by MLB with an average of 18,900.

Is MLS watched more than MLB? ›

MLB drew 64.6 million, an average of 26,843. ABC and ESPN televised 34 MLS games last year that averaged 343,300 viewers, while the league averaged 443,000 on Fox, 138,000 on FS1 plus 254,000 for Spanish-language broadcasts on Univision and UniMás.

No, the National Hockey League (NHL) is generally more popular than Major League Soccer (MLS) in the USA in terms of viewership, attendance, and overall fan engagement.

Ferrell took part in Soccer Aid 2012. In 2016, he became a part-owner of Los Angeles FC, which competes in Major League Soccer.

Type: Investment Company with focus on movie theaters, restaurants, real estate, & more. Fun fact: Magic Johnson Enterprises was the only franchisee in the history of Starbucks, owning 125 across the country.

David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (/ˈbɛkəm/ BEK-əm; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City.