Orange County Soccer Club has been taking care of business.
The Irvine soccer team has raised $600,000 from investors, says it will soon announce a six-year deal with its official restaurant partner Taqueria Hoy, and CBS Los Angeles television station KCAL 9 is airing five of its away games, that the station will supplement with features about the team.
“It’s going to bring a new audience to us and deepen relationships with our core fans,” Dan Rutstein, OCSC’s head of business relations, told the Business Journal.
The team has also signed a new apparel deal (see story, page 8) and it kicked off the current season with its first sold-out home opener game in team history.
Player Transfers
OCSC last October launched an investment program in the U.S. that gave fans the chance to become stakeholders in the team.
The club raised over $600,000 from nearly 1,500 people in four months, which Rutstein said has partially been used to invest in young local talent.
The club continues to seek out young players as part of its business model of developing and transferring them to major European soccer teams, he said.
In January, the team acquired 17-year-old goalkeeper Duran Ferree from San Diego FC for this season.
OCSC also signed teenage midfielders Ryan Ayoub and Ben Norris along with goalkeeper Juan Santana to United Soccer League Pro contracts, making them eligible to play on OCSC’s reserve team.
“We’ve got some really talented young players who are being looked at and we hope to help them fulfill their dreams with a transfer to Europe,” Rutstein said.
Branded Stadium
Investors’ funds have also been used to help make its venue, Championship Soccer Stadium in the city of Irvine-owned Great Park, “look and feel more like home,” Rutstein said. OCSC last year reached a deal with the Irvine City Council to stay at the stadium for five more years.
Since then, OCSC has boosted its branding and advertising with a sign that reads, “Home of Orange County Soccer Club,” with images of the players emblazoned across the front entrance.
And OCSC branding continues inside the dressing rooms, Rutstein said.
“It doesn’t sound like that big of a deal because most stadiums have this, but we’ve never been able to have branding here,” he said.
OCSC nearly lost the stadium two years ago after winning the USL Championship final in 2021.
At the time, Irvine City Council was considering leasing the space to the reserve team for Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy, but relented in the face of pushback from local fans.
Local Sponsorships
OCSC signed a five-year extension with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in March to be the club’s exclusive healthcare provider.
Rutstein said the team’s doctor for this season, James Suchy, has worked with National Football League teams in the past.
Hoag’s logo is featured on the team’s new uniforms as part of the deal.
The agreement, first established in 2017, is the club’s biggest and longest sponsorship deal to date, according to Rutstein.
“All of our deals at the moment are multiyear deals, and I think that says a lot about the faith the business community has in us,” Rutstein said.
Styles of Play
Orange County Soccer Club’s new uniforms honor Orange County and its fans.
OCSC in January announced a three-year partnership with Danish sports apparel brand Hummel to become the team’s official apparel partner.
The club chose to switch from Adidas to Hummel for “more creative freedom,” President of Business Relations Dan Rutstein told the Business Journal.
OCSC is the fifth United Soccer League club to partner with Hummel, according to OCSC.
OCSC and Hummel have collaborated on three kits, or soccer uniforms, so far.
Its black kit, called “County Roads,” is named after a song fans sing at home games that’s modeled after John Denver’s song “Country Roads.”
The kit has a map of Orange County on it with “Your County, Your Club” written on the inside of the collar.
“We wanted to use the shirts to tell a story,” Rutstein said.
The two other kits include the “Classic Kit,” which features the team’s official orange and black colors, and a goalkeeper kit that comes in light blue and purple.
The three jersey designs go for $100 each on OCSC’s website.
This year, the club has sold five times as many kits as it has in previous years, Rutstein said.
OCSC released a new kit recently in time for its match against Loudoun United FC in the U.S. Open Cup tournament.
It’s named “Magic of the Cup,” after an old English expression about the Football Association Challenge Cup.
