The Los Angeles Football Club will be honored at Tuesday’s Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting for its contributions to the South Los Angeles community and record-setting inaugural season.
Team President and co-owner Tom Penn and Chief Business Officer Larry Freedman will receive a scroll from Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose Second District includes Banc of California Stadium, where the Major League Soccer team plays.
The team established the LAFC Foundation last year to implement programs in underserved schools and neighborhoods, with a focus on South Los Angeles. More than 7,000 tickets have been distributed to residents of the community, and Banc of California Stadium includes 125,000 square feet of publicly accessible plazas and open space, according to Seth Burton, LAFC’s vice president of communications.
Banc of California Stadium was built under a project labor agreement which guaranteed local hiring and area wage standards. More than $70 million was spent on the construction workforce, which achieved its goal of 40 percent local hires of the more then 3,000 workers who were employed during its construction, which was completed last year, Burton said.
More than $25 million was invested into communities within 10 miles of the stadium, Burton said.
LAFC had 57 points during its inaugural 2018 season, the most by an MLS expansion team on a 16-9-9 record. It is off to a 2-0-0 start this season.
LAFC sold out all 17 regular-season matches and its lone playoff match last season and both games this season at the 22,000-seat Banc of California Stadium in Exposition Park.