Rich Orosco: LAFC Executive, Julie Benz’s Husband, and Marketing Career
Many people first see Rich Orosco’s name beside actress Julie Benz, but his own career has been built far from an acting set. He has spent more than two decades in sports, TV, marketing, brand work, and community outreach.
Orosco helped shape the public identity of Los Angeles Football Club before the team played its first MLS game. Earlier in his career, he worked in senior marketing roles at Warner Bros. Television and CBS Paramount Television, and he also co-founded a clothing brand and worked in boxing.
His long marriage to Benz is part of the reason people search for him. His work in Los Angeles sports and media gives the story much more depth. Here is a clear look at his career, LAFC role, education, community work, and family life.
Quick Bio
| Full Name | Rich Orosco |
| Profession | Sports and entertainment marketing executive |
| Education | BBA in Marketing, University of Texas at Austin |
| Known For | LAFC brand and community leadership |
| Past Employers | Warner Bros. Television, CBS Paramount Television |
| Spouse | Julie Benz |
| Marriage Date | May 5, 2012 |
| Major Award | 2018 MLS Marketing Executive of the Year |
| Community Work | LAFC Youth Leadership Program, Bresee Foundation |
Who Is Rich Orosco?
Rich Orosco is an American marketing and brand executive with experience in sports and entertainment. He is best known in his field for his work with Los Angeles Football Club, or LAFC.
UCLA Anderson describes him as a veteran of entertainment, consumer products, and sports marketing. His career has included senior jobs in television marketing, work in boxing, a clothing business, and a major role in building the LAFC brand.
Orosco is also the husband of actress Julie Benz. She is known for roles in Dexter, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and many other film and TV projects, and the couple married in Los Angeles in 2012.
Education and the Start of a Marketing Career
Orosco earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin.
That field fits the career he later built because marketing in TV and sports is not just about ads. It also covers how a brand looks, what it stands for, how it reaches fans, and how people feel when they take part in it.
Early in his career, Orosco worked in brand management for Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment. His IMDb biography notes work tied to major names such as Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and Rugrats.
He later moved into TV marketing. That part of his work gave him experience with shows and media brands that had to compete for attention in a crowded market.
Senior Work at CBS Paramount Television
Orosco served as Executive Director of Advertising and Promotion at CBS Paramount Television.
UCLA Anderson says he worked on Entertainment Tonight, one of the best-known entertainment news programs on American TV. The job put him in a senior role around a long-running media brand.
Marketing a daily entertainment show is different from marketing a film or a sports club. The audience needs a reason to return, and the brand has to stay easy to spot while the stories change each day.
This stage of his work added more experience in TV, media, and audience habits.
Warner Bros. Television and the Launch of TMZ on TV
Orosco later worked as Vice President of Marketing at Warner Bros. Television.
According to UCLA Anderson, his work there included the marketing launch of TMZ on TV. The TV show grew out of the celebrity news brand that had already become a major online name.
A launch like that asks a marketing team to do more than promote a new title. It has to help viewers understand what the show is, why it is different, and where it fits in their daily habits.
The Warner Bros. role added another large media company to Orosco’s background. It also came before his later move into sports, where the bond between a brand and its fans can be even more personal.
Business and Boxing Work
His work did not stay inside large TV companies.
Orosco co-founded Exley, an American-made menswear brand. UCLA also lists him as a former co-general manager of the Los Angeles Matadors in the World Series of Boxing.
Those two roles may look very different, but both involve building an audience around an identity. A clothing brand has to stand for something people want to wear, and a sports team has to give fans a reason to care before, during, and after an event.
That mix of work became useful when a new soccer club arrived in Los Angeles.
Building LAFC Before the First Match
LAFC hired Orosco early in the club’s life.
The Los Angeles Times reported that he was one of the team’s first hires. He served as executive vice president of brand and community while the club was still building its identity.
That timing is important. He did not join a team with decades of history. LAFC had to create a name, look, fan culture, and place in a city that already had many major sports teams.
The club chose a local approach. Instead of treating fans only as buyers, LAFC spent time meeting supporter groups and building ties across Los Angeles.
Orosco later described that plan as going “grassroots, block by block.” The idea was simple: build real ties with people first, then let those ties help shape the club.
Why Community Became Part of the Brand
For LAFC, brand work and community work were closely linked.
The Los Angeles Times wrote about the club’s early effort to let supporter culture grow from the ground up. Orosco and the team worked with fans before LAFC had played its first league match.
That choice helped create the strong supporter culture now tied to the club. The 3252, LAFC’s independent supporters union, became a major part of the match-day feel at the stadium.
Orosco has said the club wanted to be true to Los Angeles. That meant thinking about the city’s mix of cultures, neighborhoods, work ethic, and love of soccer.
The goal was not to copy a European club or another American team. It was to build something that felt local.
MLS Marketing Executive of the Year
LAFC’s first MLS season came in 2018.
At the end of that season, Major League Soccer honored several parts of the club’s business team. LAFC announced that Rich Orosco had won the 2018 MLS Marketing Executive of the Year award.
The club said the award recognized his leadership and his impact on building the LAFC and MLS brands in the Los Angeles market.
That honor came after years of work before the first game. By then, the club had already built a strong visual identity and a loud, active fan base.
It gave Orosco a clear industry mark for the role he played in that growth.
His Role With LAFC Today
Orosco has continued to hold senior brand leadership roles with LAFC.
UCLA Anderson has listed him as Executive Vice President for Brand and Community, and more recent business directories describe him as a senior brand executive with the club.
His work has also reached into education and leadership. UCLA notes that he has been a guest speaker at schools such as UCLA, USC, MIT Sloan, Emerson College Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, and California State University Long Beach.
That makes sense for someone whose career crosses TV, products, sports, and community work, and he can speak about brand building from more than one industry.
Community Leadership Beyond Match Day
Orosco’s public work also includes youth and nonprofit efforts.
He is a co-founder of the LAFC Youth Leadership Program. UCLA Anderson also lists him as board chair of the Bresee Foundation Youth Center in Los Angeles.
Bresee works with young people and families in central Los Angeles. Its own staff and board page identifies Orosco as an LAFC brand leader and notes his role in the youth program.
This part of his work matches the community focus he brought to LAFC. The idea is not only to bring people into a stadium. It is also to build links with the city outside game day.
Rich Orosco and Julie Benz
Rich Orosco and Julie Benz began dating before their 2012 wedding.
People reported that the couple married on May 5, 2012, at the John Sowden House in Los Angeles. They had become engaged in 2011.
Their wedding date fell on Cinco de Mayo, and coverage of the event noted Mexican touches that honored Orosco’s heritage.
The couple has stayed together while working in very different parts of the entertainment world. Benz’s career puts her in front of the camera, while Orosco’s work is built around brands, fans, strategy, and community.
In May 2025, Benz marked their 13th wedding anniversary with a public post and called marrying him the best decision of her life, according to People.
A Career Built Around How People Connect
The strongest thread in Orosco’s career is not one company or one sport. It is the idea of connection.
At CBS Paramount and Warner Bros., he worked on TV brands that needed loyal viewers, while Exley gave him experience building a product brand. In boxing, he worked with a sports property, while at LAFC he helped create a club identity tied closely to its city and fans.
The work changed, but the core skill stayed similar, and he had to understand why people care and how a brand can earn a place in their lives.
That is why his LAFC career feels like a natural next step rather than a sharp change from TV.
Final Thoughts
Rich Orosco has built a long career in marketing, media, sports, and community work. His resume includes Warner Bros. Television, CBS Paramount Television, boxing, fashion, and a major role in the growth of LAFC.
His marriage to Julie Benz is part of his public story, but it does not explain his career. His work helped shape how a new Los Angeles soccer club introduced itself, found its fans, and built a culture around the city.
For more helpful profiles of people working behind famous names and major brands, explore the Biography section on LakewoodScoop.co.uk.