Selling premium seating usually starts with something a buyer can see: a finished suite, a sightline, a game-day atmosphere. For Michael Lienert, two formative projects required the opposite. Working with Legends Hospitality in Los Angeles, he sold premium inventory for a club that had not yet played a match and later for a stadium still under construction.
Those two projects, Los Angeles Football Club and the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium, shaped the approach to revenue, leadership, and team building that he later brought to larger roles in Detroit and Chicago. Both started from close to a blank slate, and both required selling long-term value rather than an existing product.
Michael Lienert and LAFC Before the First Match
Lienert joined the LAFC effort during the club’s early formation, as one of its first hires. The club had no match history, no established fan base, and no stadium in operation. Premium sales in that setting meant helping define what the club would become.
Michael Lienert’s early work with LAFC placed him at the intersection of sales and brand building. Each conversation with a prospective partner involved describing an organization that existed mostly in plans, in a city with no shortage of established sports and entertainment options.
Selling an Identity Along With a Team
For Lienert, the work went beyond moving inventory. The team was helping to create an identity, a brand, and a fan base from scratch, and premium clients were being asked to buy into that identity before it had taken shape on the field.
That context changed the nature of the sale. Instead of pointing to a record or a tradition, the pitch had to rest on vision and on the credibility of the people delivering it.
Premium Sales Years Ahead of Banc of California Stadium
The assignment included selling premium seating, partnerships, and hospitality experiences years before Banc of California Stadium opened. Buyers were making premium commitments tied to a venue they could not yet walk through.
The team sold through its entire premium inventory well ahead of opening and secured a number of marquee founding partners. Those outcomes came from a sales process built around trust with corporate partners and high-net-worth clients rather than around a finished product.
Vision, Storytelling, and Long-Term Value
Pre-opening sales called for a different method, one that Michael Lienert built around three elements: vision, storytelling, and long-term value. Vision explained what the club and stadium would be. Storytelling made that picture concrete enough for a buyer to act on.
Long-term value tied it together. A premium commitment made years in advance had to make sense over the life of the agreement, which placed the emphasis on durable relationships rather than a single transaction.
A Second Build Phase at SoFi Stadium
Lienert then moved to Legends Hospitality’s work with the Los Angeles Chargers and the SoFi Stadium project, where he led suite sales during another critical build phase. The Chargers had recently relocated from San Diego and were building a premium client base in Los Angeles from a relatively clean slate.
Michael Lienert and the SoFi Stadium suite sales effort centered on long-term suite leases. He led a team responsible for those sales and for building a multi-year pipeline through strategic relationship development and targeted outreach, applying many of the same principles that had guided the LAFC launch.
Building Infrastructure Alongside a Pipeline
The SoFi project added an operational dimension. Along with selling, the team built the sales and operational infrastructure needed to support a large venue at scale.
That combination of pipeline development and infrastructure work gave the Los Angeles years a wider scope than sales alone. It involved preparing the premium program to operate once the doors opened.
What the Pre-Opening Years Taught Michael Lienert
The lessons Michael Lienert drew from pre-opening sales carried into everything that followed. The Los Angeles projects taught him how to build from zero, how to create demand, and how to structure premium offerings that resonate with clients at a high level.
Those principles shaped the next stages of his career with the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Fire FC, and Legends, where he served as General Manager of Vue Orleans in New Orleans. Today, he applies the same relationship-first approach to commercial, land, and residential real estate with Brandt Real Estate in Michigan.
About Michael Lienert
Michael Lienert is a Michigan-based revenue and partnerships professional whose sports business career includes work with Legends, LAFC, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Fire FC. He now works with Brandt Real Estate across commercial, land, and residential markets and holds a Michigan Real Estate License and a Michigan Life and Health Insurance License. Readers can learn more about Michael Lienert through his professional profile.
