Michael Lienert
Entrepreneur & Business Development Leader
Michigan
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Entrepreneur. Business Developer. Builder.
Expanding the Platform
After more than a decade operating at the senior level in professional sports and entertainment, Michael Lienert made a deliberate pivot — not away from what he'd built, but outward from it. He now holds a Michigan Real Estate License and a Michigan Life and Health Insurance License, anchoring a diversified business platform built on the same relationship-first philosophy that defined his sports career. You can explore his broader professional profile on his LinkedIn profile.
The transition is not accidental. The skills that allow someone to close a multi-year suite lease or structure a founding partnership with a Fortune 500 company are directly transferable to real estate investment, financial planning conversations, and business development in any industry. Michael has spent years developing those skills under pressure — and is now deploying them across a wider canvas. His approach to translating sports-industry experience into real estate reflects that same disciplined, long-term thinking.
The Foundation
Michael began his career in Los Angeles, joining Legends Hospitality to help build Los Angeles Football Club from the ground up — before the club had played a single match. As one of the first hires, he was tasked with selling premium seating, partnerships, and hospitality experiences years in advance of the stadium opening. That required leading with vision and storytelling rather than results, building trust with corporate partners and high-net-worth clients around something that didn't yet exist.
The result: LAFC sold through its entire premium inventory well ahead of opening and secured a roster of marquee founding partners that helped establish the club as one of the most successful expansion franchises in professional sports. That experience shaped everything that followed — including a move to the Chargers and SoFi Stadium project, where Michael led suite sales during another critical build phase. His philosophy around relationship capital traces directly to those early years in Los Angeles.
Detroit & Chicago
From Los Angeles, Michael moved into senior roles with organizations in Detroit and Chicago. His background includes leadership connected to the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Fire FC, where he was responsible for overseeing premium sales, partnerships, private events, and broader revenue strategy. In each role, he combined strategic leadership with hands-on execution — managing teams, building pipelines, and delivering consistent performance across multiple business lines.
He also served as General Manager of Vue Orleans in New Orleans with Legends, overseeing a one-of-a-kind hospitality venue and managing operations at scale. That range of experience — from expansion club launches to established franchise operations to standalone venue management — gives him a perspective on business building that few people in his field possess. His thinking on why sports executives make strong entrepreneurs draws directly from this breadth of experience.
Roots & Formation
Michael grew up in Nevada, where he was a High School Baseball State Championship pitcher and graduated as Valedictorian from Barstow Community College. Those early experiences instilled a competitive drive and a commitment to preparation that carried through his professional career. Whether it was building a fan base from scratch or structuring a complex long-term deal, the mentality was always the same: do the work before the result is visible.
He has since built professional ties across Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Reno, and Lake Tahoe — a national footprint that reflects both the scale of his career and the range of his relationships. His active presence across platforms like Instagram and X (Twitter) offers a window into how he thinks about business, lifestyle, and building something worth being proud of.
Beyond the Office
Outside of professional life, Michael values time with family, travel, and building meaningful connections — personally and professionally. He is based in Michigan with his partner, their dogs, and a deep appreciation for the outdoors. From the Daytona 500 to snowmobiling in the mountains, he brings the same enthusiasm he applies to business into everything he does.
He is also committed to giving back. A volunteer day at Navarro Farm with the Chicago Fire FC reflects a broader belief that community investment is inseparable from professional credibility. The relationships that matter most are not just the ones that close deals — they're the ones that make the work worth doing. His complete network and professional links are compiled at his Linktree page.