{"id":5770,"date":"2026-06-30T13:37:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5770"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:37:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:37:37","slug":"celebrity-backed-lafc-sells-majority-stake-in-struggling-swiss-soccer-club-grasshopper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5770","title":{"rendered":"Celebrity-backed LAFC sells majority stake in struggling Swiss soccer club Grasshopper"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
FILE – Los Angeles FC co-owners, Shaun Neff, left, and comedian and actor Will Ferrell, right, walk off the field before the Vancouver Whitecaps and LAFC play Game 2 of a first-round MLS playoff soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (Darryl Dyck\/The Canadian Press via AP, File)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

ZURICH \u2014 The stellar ownership group of Major League Soccer team LAFC sold its majority stake in struggling Swiss club Grasshopper after three straight seasons fighting relegation.<\/p>

Read more Live updatesSupreme Court to issue rulings on birthright citizenship, transgender athletes in women\u2019s sports<\/a><\/p>\n

The record 27-time Swiss champion from Zurich was sold to multi-club ownership operation Bridge Football Group, which also has teams in lower-tier divisions in Italy and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

The sale was described by LAFC as a \u201cstrategic realignment of its international development network\u201d which will now focus on Austrian team Wacker Innsbruck, the club said in a statement late Monday.<\/a><\/p>\n

Grasshopper fans protested with an expletive banner at a home game<\/a> in April urging a sale by LAFC, whose owners includes entertainment executives Peter Guber and Mark Shapiro, Will Ferrell and Magic Johnson.<\/p>

Read more False hope and schadenfreude: Familiar feelings for Germany after another World Cup flop<\/a><\/p>\n

The club in FIFA\u2019s home city does not own its Letzigrund stadium, a storied track and field venue which is shared with FC Zurich. Grasshopper has struggled in the 12-team Swiss league since winning its last title 23 years ago, and its most recent Swiss Cup win was 13 years ago.<\/p>\n

LAFC bought Grasshopper in January 2024<\/a> from the Chinese owners of Wolverhampton, which was relegated from the English Premier League in May.<\/p>

Read more Altitude unlikely to affect Ecuador when it faces Mexico at the Azteca<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stellar ownership group of Major League Soccer team LAFC has sold its majority stake in struggling Swiss club Grasshopper after three straight seasons fighting relegation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrity-backed LAFC sells majority stake in struggling Swiss soccer club Grasshopper - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5770\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrity-backed LAFC sells majority stake in struggling Swiss soccer club Grasshopper - 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