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LAFC President John Thorrington on Red & Gold: “Found great allignment” with Bayern Munich

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It was another dramatic El Trafico between the LA Galaxy and their upstart rivals Los Angeles FC. As is often the case when the two teams meet, there was drama and goals; this time, it was LAFC who would win the match 3-2, securing their first-ever victory at Dignity Health Sports Park. Another notch in LAFC’s belt, as they are slowly usurping their rivals as the most progressive club in Major League Soccer. After all, LAFC are not just the current champions; their recent partnership with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich to set up Red & Gold Football also made international headlines.

Club Comparison

Bayern Munich

Los Angeles FC

Bundesliga

MLS

€856.00m
Market Value
€50.80m

First Tier
League Level
First Tier

€149.00m
Expenditures 24/25
€7.88m

Vincent Kompany
Managers
Steven Cherundolo

Full Club Comparison

“The cooperation with Los Angeles Football Club gives us the chance to develop talent internationally within our own system,” Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said in a club statement when the deal was officially announced in early April.  “In the future, we will be able to offer our young players a career path that is even better tailored to them and thus a better transition into our professional teams and professional soccer. This makes FC Bayern more attractive as a youth development club.”

CEO Oliver Kahn, in the meantime, underlined that the cooperation with LAFC will further strengthen Bayern’s presence in the United States—a key market, especially with the World Cup hosted in North America. “The fact that the 2026 World Cup will largely take place in the USA, where we already have an office in New York, makes Los Angeles even more attractive,” Kahn said. “I expect a boost in quality and young talent in Major League Soccer, which will positively impact our partnership.” 

LAFC President Thorrington: “We had numerous conversations with clubs globally”

But what is beyond the official statements made by Bayern Munich? “We’ve had numerous conversations with clubs globally, even before we started playing in MLS, and what was different about this was the scope and scale of the partnership,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said exclusively to Transfermarkt after El Trafico. 

Relaxed after his side’s victory over the Galaxy, the 43-year-old took the time to speak to Transfermarkt about the cooperation with Bayern Munich, in-depth details of Red & Gold Football, and the separate investment in Austrian club Wacker Innsbruck. “Obviously, we each play a different role given who they are and who we are in our place in the global landscape, but for us, we found great alignment from the first conversation with them as to what we feel we can achieve together through Red & Gold Football,” Thorrington said when asked why LAFC aligned themselves with Bayern. 

Although Bayern are one of the biggest brands in world football, the crucial part of this partnership appears that it was struck between equals, with both clubs owning 50% each of the joint venture. Furthermore, although Red & Gold Football will have its headquarters in Munich, some of the staff will also operate full-time out of Los Angeles. “There will be staff that we have co-hired together, and then there are a few key employees in each company that will either be on the board or that will provide strategic direction for the joint venture.”

Red & Gold Football: “Our version of vertical integration and multi-club ownership”

“It is different but not entirely dissimilar to what you’ve seen and what we hope will evolve into our version of vertical integration and multi-club ownership,” Thorrington said. As Bayern stressed in the original announcement, both clubs aim to increase the opportunities for young players. “As we grow and progress, finding the right locations for these players where right, we can help guide their development by providing them minutes at the highest level that they can possibly play,” Thorrington said. “That might be LAFC. One day that might be Bayern Munich. And then hopefully a few steps in between.” 

Those steps in-between will be clubs identified and purchased by Red & Gold Football. Transfermarkt understands that there have been conversations with clubs in South America, and Uruguay, in particular. Thorrington did not confirm or deny rumors regarding any clubs in South America, but the LAFC boss did confirm that the goal will be to have a number of clubs part of the network. 

“Exactly what ownership structure control will look like will probably vary on a case-by-case basis,” Thorrington said. “But the medium- and the long-term plan is to have a global network of partners around the world that serve the interests of the network and provide opportunities for young talent to play at the highest levels possible.” Furthermore, both clubs still might approach clubs separately, like LAFC have just done with Wacker Innsbruck. On the Friday before El Trafico, LAFC announced their intentions to invest in the Austrian fourth-division club. That investment was approved by Wacker’s members earlier this week.. 

Bayern Munich deal underlines LAFC standing at the new benchmark in MLS

While completely separate from the Red & Gold Football venture, the deal further highlights that LAFC see themselves very much as equals in the Red & Gold Football joint venture. And indeed, the Los Angeles-based club is on a path to becoming the most recognizable and successful brand in North American soccer, supplanting the status of their local rivals LA Galaxy. Bayern Munich, too, have been aware of LAFC’s rise to power and their growing presence in California, a market identified as a soccer hotspot by the decision-makers in Munich. That balance in power is also reflected in the decision-making process at Red & Gold Football, where both clubs will have a 50% on the board. Both Bayern and LAFC would also equally participate in any further club added to the network. 

Thorrington, in fact, stressed that Bayern will not have control over day-to-day decisions made at LAFC. “What I would say as part of the network is we are here, we are moving towards the same ultimate ambition that the players reach the highest levels within this network,” Thorrington said. “There are similarities between how our clubs play, and so we do speak about our game model, our profiles of players, and there’s a lot of overlap there. But it’s not like Oliver Kahn will now call me and tell me what LAFC is going to do. It is nothing like that at all. But that will be the case for clubs, academies, or any other partners that we co-govern within the network.”

Bayern’s U19
The biggest talents at a glance
 

LAFC, however, do believe that being in a partnership with Bayern will help with the recruitment process. After all, any young player playing in the LAFC academy will now be a part of a network that includes Bayern Munich. And Thorrington believes that there are plenty of young players playing for LAFC now that could eventually make the jump to the Säbener Straße. 

Bayern and LAFC: Partnership is not a one-way street

But what exactly will happen if Bayern have identified a young LAFC player? “I think we would work together again for the benefit of the player, and depending on where the player’s potential may be, it would be on a case-by-case basis, but we see this as advantageous for the players within the network that we have multiple levels of involvement at clubs in which we can help guide the player’s career,” Thorrington said. 

Thorrington also stressed that the partnership is not a one-way street. Talented Bayern players looking for playing time could very well find their way to Los Angeles to play competitive minutes in MLS. “Then we could conceivably see them coming on loan here,” Thorrington said.

Furthermore, Bayern and LAFC might also sign a player who could one day play in the Bundesliga but, as a stepping stone, would first gain valuable minutes in MLS. “There are various possibilities if once we progress in advance from where we are now,” Thorrington added. Both clubs are now in a process where they are trying to understand the assets available. “I have been to Munich and seen their youth teams, and similarly, they have been here to see our young players,” Thorrington said. “We do think that there will be fairly regular movement of players even if not even just for training opportunities and experiences for the players that were going to get up and running in the very near future.”

LAFC Academy
The biggest talents at a glance
 

With all that in mind, Bayern Munich and LAFC seem to be heavily committed to creating a multi-club partnership, not too dissimilar to those put together by Red Bull or the City Football Group. That partnership also seems to go beyond the usual marketing-oriented loose partnerships that have been created by football clubs in the past. For Bayern, this is a major investment in the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic football markets. For LAFC, in the meantime, this further underlines the club’s ambitions to become the flagship club in Major League Soccer.