Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced LAFC, represented by Lead Managing Owner Bennett Rosenthal, Owner Will Ferrell, and Co-President & CBO Larry Freedman, as an Entrepreneur of the Year® 2024 Greater Los Angeles Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies.
LAFC was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs and other business leaders. Candidates were evaluated based on their ability to create long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to their purpose and the demonstration of growth and substantial impact, among other key indicators.
“We are honored and extremely grateful to be recognized as the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Greater Los Angeles,” LAFC Lead Managing Owner Bennett Rosenthal said. “I want to thank our Co-Managing Owners Larry Berg and Brandon Beck and Executive Chairman Peter Guber for their vision, expertise, and incredible friendship and partnership. I also must thank the rest of our ownership group for coming together to make our crazy dream of bringing a second soccer team to Los Angeles a success beyond what anyone thought was possible.”
LAFC launched as an expansion team in a crowded Los Angeles sports market in 2014, quickly building a brand that has evolved into one of the most respected in global football. Since beginning play in 2018, LAFC has climbed to the top of Major League Soccer both on and off the field through innovation and commitment to its core values of integrity, extreme ownership, and authenticity. The club won the 2022 MLS Cup and has earned more wins and points than any team in the league since its inception.
“This is a special award for our club,” said LAFC owner Will Ferrell. “It has been inspiring to see the way the community and the supporters in the 3252 have embraced this team from the very first day, and we look forward to many more incredible nights with them at BMO Stadium.”
The first MLS team to be valued at over $1 billion by Forbes, LAFC built and developed the state-of-the-art, 22,000-seat sports and entertainment venue, BMO Stadium, in the heart of Los Angeles, and has sold out every MLS regular-season and playoff game in the club’s history, while welcoming over 1 million fans for headlining concerts in 2023 alone.
“In just seven years since we first kicked a ball and opened our doors, it is incredible to see how LAFC and BMO Stadium have become industry leaders in the world of sports and entertainment,” LAFC Co-President & CBO Larry Freedman said. “We are excited to be recognized with this award, and to continue our mission of uniting the World’s City through the World’s game, bringing joy and being a force for good in Los Angeles.”
A Force for Good in L.A., LAFC continues to make a positive impact throughout Southern California, elevating the community through numerous programs such as food drives, clinics, blood drives, mentorship opportunities and more.
LAFC’s executives have led the club’s growth internationally by becoming strategic investment partners with Grasshopper Club Zurich (Switzerland) and FC Wacker (Austria), while also launching “Red & Gold Football,” a global soccer development cooperation with Germany’s FC Bayern Munich.
As a Greater Los Angeles award winner, LAFC is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 National Awards. The National Award winners, including the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award in June 2025.
Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.
Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs. They receive exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in more than 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.
In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ (Winning Women) program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network (EAN) to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally. The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the **Strategic Growth Forum**® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit **ey.com/us/eoy**.
About EY
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