The NFL might still be hashing out the details of their return to Los Angeles, but there will definitely be a new football team in LA come 2018. However, it will be the soccer kind. The Los Angeles Football Club held a press conference today to unveil their new logo and team colors, and to introduce Will Ferrell as a new part owner of the team, reports ESPN.
"This is not a joke" Ferrell told the crowd as he announced his involvement with the team. Ferrell has a long history with soccer, playing it as a child "in the mean streets of Irvine," and in college, not to mention his turn as a children's soccer coach in the 2005 film Kicking and Screaming. In fact, it was at a children's soccer game where he got the gig with the LAFC—Ferrell's kids play on the same team as LAFC part owner Tom Penn, who brought the comedian on board.
"This is not a joke."Will Ferrell announced as #LAFC co-owner. pic.twitter.com/IJKJ7sEWzF
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 7, 2016
Ferrell is one in a long list of the LAFC's famous owners. Magic Johnson, Tony Robbins, Mia Hamm, and Nomar Garciaparra all have a stake in the team. Speaking on the pressures of team ownership, Ferrell told the crowd, "I've never been part-owner of anything, though I'm still part-owner of an '84 Toyota Camry with my brother." What Will Ferrell lacks in executive experience, he makes up in knowledge of the local market, though—fter spotting some LAFC fans that drove in from Palmdale, Ferrell mused, "If we're already reaching out to Palmdale, you know we're in good shape."
Also unveiled at the press conference were the team colors and classy new logo. LAFC players and fans will be wearing black and gold, colors the team says represent the "success, urban texture and glamour" of LA. There's also a "flash" of red to represent the fact that the football club is in the "heart" of Los Angeles. The LAFC logo is an elegant black and gold crest with a nod to the Art Deco architecture of Los Angeles.
The Deco logo should fit right in when emblazoned on the LAFC's new stadium right next door to the LA Memorial Coliseum, which opened in 1923 at the height of the Art Deco era. The $250-million, 22,000-seat, open-air stadium and adjacent soccer museum are planned for the site of LA's aging Memorial Sports Arena in Exposition Park. Officials are still hammering out a starting date for construction, but both the stadium and the Los Angeles Football Club will be making their debut in 2018.
· Will Ferrell joins LAFC as part-owner as new MLS team unveils logo and colors [ESPN]
· WILL FERRELL, MIA HAMM GARCIAPARRA AND OTHER LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB OWNERS REVEAL OFFICIAL CREST AND NEW CLUB COLORS [LAFC Press Release]
· Here Are Shiny New Renderings for LA's Soccer Stadium in Exposition Park [Curbed LA]