James Keston is the owner of USL soccer team Orange County SC.

The Californian club, which plays in the US second tier, is renowned for its trailblazing nature on and off the field - they are renowned for their player development and have sent more players to Europe than any other American team in recent seasons. They won the championship in 2021 and consistently compete on the field with this youth-development-focused model.

Off the field they have many innovative commercial deals, and recently completed a US fan fundraise initiative that was very successful, they also launched one for the UK market too.

In this episode we talk about -

- What made James buy a soccer team?

- How does the club make money?

- What are his return expectations from the investment?

- The big opportunity in the player transfer market

- Importance of management in sports team's success

& lots more

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction to James Keston and Orange County SC

(03:30) James' background and how he purchased Orange County SC in 2016

(06:07) Restructuring the team after acquisition

(08:34) Player development approach

(11:17) Club revenue streams

(13:21) Differences between owning a team in MLS vs USL

(15:37) Expected returns and investment in a sports team

(19:15) Motivations for owning a sports team

(20:54) 2020-2021 championship season

(23:22) Importance of management in sports team success

(25:03) Coaching decisions and hiring process

(29:10) Long-term goals for Orange County SC

(31:29) Potential MLS ambitions

(33:09) Closing remarks and ownership rounds

Links:

⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs -https://podcast10x.com

Orange County SC website -https://orangecountysoccer.com

UK fundraiser -https://europe.republic.com/orange-county-sc

Orange County SC on Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/orangecountysoccer/

Orange County SC on LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/company/orangecountysc

🎙️Hosted by Prashant Choubey

Follow Prashant on X -https://x.com/ChoubeySahab

Follow Prashant on LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab

For sponsorship or guest appearance requests, write to prashantchoubey3@gmail.com

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Sports10x - What It's Like Owning A Soccer Team? - James Keston, Owner, Orange County SC

VC10X - Startups, GTM, Investing, Venture Capital, Asset Management, Private Equity, Family Office