Cristiano Ronaldo has had a long rivalry with Leo Messi on the soccer pitch.
But when it comes to running indoor soccer training facilities, the Portuguese superstar’s big rival might turn out to be OC’s Eddie Lewis.
Business Journal readers might know Lewis—a former national team player for the U.S.—as the founder of Costa Mesa-based Toca Football Inc., which bills itself as the largest indoor soccer center operator in North America. Toca raised $35M in funding earlier this year as it embarks on expanding an entertainment and dining business line, dubbed Toca Social.
Ronaldo, along with former Portuguese teammate Rui Costa, is reported to be an early backer in Footlab, a company that calls itself “the world’s first indoor football measurements, performance and training park.”
Footlab only has a handful of locations to its name, including a spot in Lisbon and several in the Middle East, where Ronaldo now plays professionally.
The company has North American expansion in mind, and OC is expected to hold its first U.S. franchise, according to its website.
Footlab’s inked a deal for space in Santa Ana, real estate data indicates. Keep an eye on the Business Journal for more details going forward.
U.S. soccer fans fondly remember the 2002 national team, which included Lewis, beating Rui Costa’s heavily favored Portugal on their way to the World Cup quarterfinals. The U.S national team also tied the Ronaldo-led Portuguese team in the 2014 World Cup.
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Grabbing the naming rights for the Miami Marlins’ baseball stadium a few years ago hasn’t provided too many home runs for Irvine mortgage lender loanDepot (NYSE: LDI) of late.
The Marlins were 62-100 last year and stood at about 5 games under 500 as of last week, with no hope for the postseason.
The lender can thank “Phillies Karen” for bringing some attention to loanDepot Park this season.
A viral video of an unidentified woman aggressively confronting a father and son at a Sept. 5 Marlins game after a Phillies home run, and taking the home run ball from them, became one of the biggest news stories in MLB in recent months.
LoanDepot founder Anthony Hsieh, who returned to the CEO role at the $1.4-billion valued company a few months ago, has homes both in OC and Miami. He recently sold a mansion he owns in Las Vegas for $25 million, marking the priciest home sale in that area for 2025.
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Good luck keeping up with OCBJ Director of Digital Jackie Moe, who’ll be completing her last leg of the 6-race World Marathon Majors next March when she runs the Tokyo Marathon. She’s also an ambassador for next May’s OC Marathon, which will mark her 20th 26-miler.
Moe also edited Runar Gundersen’s just-released book, “The Man Who Ran New York,” detailing the life of the Norwegian who finished the NY Marathon 43 times.
Moe says her best finishing time is 3:30 (set at the OC race). That’s only 5 minutes off the fastest-ever OCBJ marathon time, set by a former editor-in-chief more than 25 years and 25 pounds ago.
