Footlab World, an indoor and outdoor soccer training center co-founded by famed footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, will soon open its first U.S. location in Santa Ana this spring.
It’ll be the largest venue for Footlab at more than 165,000 square feet.
The company, which counts two locations in Portugal, one in Dubai and another in Kazakhstan, has been preparing to enter the U.S. market ahead of major sporting events.
“We know that the World Cup is coming, so 2026 is going to be a huge year for the U.S. in terms of soccer,” Chief Operating Officer Paulo Almeida told the Business Journal.
Footlab is opening a location in partnership with Stake Investors, a real estate investment firm operating across markets in Mexico and the U.S.
“We chose Santa Ana because it’s one of the most fastest growing cities in soccer sports and is strategically located,” Andres Cuenca, chief executive officer of Stake Investors, told the Business Journal.
Footlab isn’t just stopping there.
It has plans to open additional venues in Toronto, Hong Kong, London, Bahrain and Oslo in the coming years.
Emerging Soccer Hotspot in OC
Footlab’s debut adds to a trend already taking shape in Orange County.
Toca Football Inc. is a similar business concept in Costa Mesa and calls itself the largest operator of indoor soccer centers in North America, with 39 facilities.
The company, founded by former U.S. soccer pro Eddie Lewis, also has a Topgolf-inspired soccer entertainment concept called Toca Social. It raised $35 million last year to expand to the U.S., starting with Dallas.
According to Almeida, what sets Footlab apart from competitors is its global community.
Players at the OC location will be able to compete with other players in Europe, the Middle East and Asia through global rankings.
“It’s not the facility or the location,” he said. “It’s the ecosystem that we are building that will connect all players from all parts of the world through Footlab.”
Another differentiating factor is the size of its facilities.
Almeida said there will be something “for everyone” at the new OC location, whether it’s indoor training activities for players, a bar for parents or party rooms for birthday celebrations.
“We want football to be a platform for the community and to be open to everyone,” Almeida said.
In line with this mission, Footlab is working with local institutions to bring kids with disabilities and from underprivileged backgrounds to play soccer at Footlab, Almeida said.
European Training Tech
Footlab is bringing its European training methodologies to the U.S. as part of its global expansion.
The company developed its own technology from scratch and owns all the IP for it, Almedia said.
One of the company’s shareholders is 7EGEND, a Portuguese tech company that was acquired and rebranded by Ronaldo in 2017.
Every player who goes to Footlab receives a bracelet that collects data from various activities, which is added to a player’s profile so they can track their improvement.
There are individual training stations that measure skills such as a person’s speed, kicking power and vertical jump.
There are also group activities that test who can score the most goals in outdoor street soccer and footvolley, which combines elements of beach volleyball and soccer.
Andres said that the OC location will have a studio to record some of the plays and stream it through YouTube and other social media.
Bridging the Gap
Footlab was founded in 2018 by Ronaldo, a Portugal-born forward known for his goal-scoring ability, and his former teammate Rui Costa. Ronaldo is also the sport’s first billionaire, according to Fortune.
“We created Footlab in Lisbon because we realized that there was a huge gap in the market between these younger generations and our generation,” Almeida said.
“There are so many things nowadays that we need to fight for their attention. We have Netflix, online gaming, so based on that, we started to think what could we do to bridge the gap between these younger generations and soccer.”
Almeida has been part of the tech world within the sports industry for 15 years and has been involved in projects with FC Porto, Portuguese league clubs in Spain, and now Ronaldo.
He was a senior consultant and executive advisor at 7EGEND, then named Thing Pink, for nearly a decade before it was acquired by Ronaldo. Almeida currently serves as COO of 7EGEND.
