Orlando City sale completed as Wilf family takes over, sells minority stake to Orlando Magic owners

Minnesota Vikings owners Mark, Zygi and Lenny Wilf officially became owners of Orlando City Soccer Club on Wednesday after completing a sale — which includes the Lions, the Pride, Exploria Stadium and an academy system — from Flávio Augusto da Silva. Mark Wilf will assume the role of chairman and governor of the club.

The purchase price was not disclosed, but reports from The Athletic place the transaction at $400 million to $450 million.

The new ownership group includes a familiar name. The DeVos family, owners of the Orlando Magic, have purchased a minority stake in the soccer club from the Wilfs.

“We’re really excited to come in here with a lot of respect for the foundation that’s been established with Orlando City and the Orlando Pride,” Mark Wilf said. “The success they’re experiencing this year is really exciting. ... I love being part of the sports business and soccer especially.”

For Mark Wilf, this week marks the conclusion of a yearslong process of pursuing a goal of soccer club ownership.

Soccer has been a mainstay in Wilf’s life — he grew up watching Pelé play for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s, then went on to raise four youth soccer players of his own.

The Wilf family has been chasing an MLS franchise since 2015 when they made an unsuccessful bid for the league’s expansion franchise in Minnesota.

Six years later, the new ownership group is ready to make its mark on the American soccer landscape.

The DeVos family has been a cornerstone of the Orlando sports community since they purchased the Orlando Magic for $85 million in 1991. The team was transferred from patriarch Richard DeVos to his children in 2005, and Dan DeVos has been point in leadership as chairman of the Magic.

The Wilf and DeVos families have known each other for several years, and Wilf said the ownership addition was a natural step for both sides.

As minority investors, the DeVos family will mainly fulfill an advisory role, providing insight and helping the Wilfs integrate into the Orlando community. They will not hold a voting position on the board and will not serve in a daily operational role.

Both families hope the partnership will allow Orlando City and the Magic to collaborate in the future.

“We’re fortunate to have them as a partner,” Wilf said. “I know they’ll be helpful in unique ways throughout our journey. ... We weren’t looking necessarily, but certainly this is a unique and rare opportunity to have a partner with such integrity and a positive reputation with Orlando sports and the community.”

Major League Soccer came to Orlando in 2015 when Augusto da Silva paid a $70 million expansion fee for the club. When a push for a publicly financed soccer-specific stadium in Orlando faltered, he privately financed a $155 million effort to build what is now Exploria Stadium in 2017.

Augusto da Silva previously sold off minority ownership stakes for cash infusions to support the club. In order to close the deal with the Wilfs, he needed to reconsolidate the club to allow the new ownership group to assume control of the full scope of the Orlando City portfolio.

After eight years as Orlando City owner, Augusto da Silva also relinquished his spot on the club’s Board of Directors with the completion of the sale. But the former owner said he wanted to set the club up for success as he hopes to remain a fan and friend of the club in the future.

Augusto da Silva expressed confidence in the Wilf and DeVos families’ ability to further the growth of Orlando City.

“The best thing to do is give them freedom to take the best decisions,” Augusto da Silva said. “They’re very professional. They are already involved in professional sports in the NFL and also in the NBA, so they are people that know how to take the best decision. So the best thing for me is to be a friend, to be available if anything is necessary in order to help the club to succeed. But I trust this is the best ownership I could find. They are willing to invest and manage the club for the best in the future.”

Although it’s early in their tenure, the new ownership group already identified distinct areas of the club in which it hopes to increase investment.

Wilf said the new ownership group plans to increase financial support for the Lions’ academy system. This could include broadening the ages of athletes eligible to join the academy, which would allow the club an earlier start to begin molding players.

“We’re working with Luiz [Muzzi] and Alex [Leitão] to look at the Academy situation and make sure we give it the investment it needs,” Wilf said. “That’s a long-term investment to make sure the club is successful. The future of our franchise and also the future of our sport is to invest in young people, in their skills and making sure they’re successful, and that will definitely be a priority.”

The Wilfs are also eager to make an impact on women’s soccer through investment in the Orlando Pride.

The family specifically sought out Orlando due to the prospect of working with both men’s and women’s clubs. Under Augusto da Silva, the Pride already received the top level of resources in the NWSL, which includes a separate training facility in Sanford.

Wilf said the new owners plan to continue this effort to elevate the Pride and the NWSL.

“We have some of the greatest female athletes on our squad,” Wilf said. “The Orlando Pride is one of the great franchises in sports, and we want to build on that. We know young people want to have the opportunity to support sports, and there should be an equal footing for that kind of support. We want to be supportive of that with the Pride.”

Although the new ownership group has a vision for the future, Wilf emphasized that changes won’t come quickly. The Wilfs are conscious of the midseason focus for both teams — who are currently on track to both qualify for the playoffs for the first time in club history — and don’t want to disrupt this environment.

As a result, the family doesn’t plan to make any major front-office changes before the offseason for both teams, using the next four to five months as an analysis period.

As ownership moves forward, Wilf said he also hopes to incorporate feedback and advice from fans into the club’s future plans. Wilf met with members of the club’s three supporters groups — the Ruckus, Iron Lion Firm and Black Swans — during previous visits to Orlando.

“We’re in the midst of an exciting season,” Wilf said. “We just want to continue to show full support to our teams. That’s where our focus is — to make sure we’re going to win on the pitch and be successful and get our fans engaged in their community.”

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Julia Poe at jpoe@orlandosentinel.com.