Sports
Amid rising MLS popularity, should its teams gamble on bigger stadiums?
Major League Soccer was born 28 years ago in cavernous NFL stadiums. Three seasons later, the league was averaging 14,312 fans a game in venues built to house five times that many.
At most games it was so quiet you could hear each team’s profits drop.
So with the league on the verge of bankruptcy in 2002, clubs began building their own soccer-specific stadiums with smaller grandstands, wider fields and a much better atmosphere. Less than a decade later, more than half the teams played in soccer-specific homes, most with fewer than 26,000 seats. And thanks to that change, MLS not only survived, but began to thrive.
Now, however, with soccer exploding in popularity across the U.S., is the league beginning to outgrow those humble surroundings?
“We don’t think so,” said Camilo Durana, the executive vice-president for properties and events at MLS.
The numbers tell a different story. On Thursday, when the Galaxy and LAFC renew their rivalry at the Rose Bowl, the game could draw as many as 75,000 people, the second-largest crowd in league history behind only the 82,110 the two teams drew at the Rose Bowl last July. That’s more than three times the number of fans they can fit into their soccer-specific stadiums, yet it’s just the crest of a very big attendance wave sweeping through MLS.
A little more than halfway through the season, the league is stretching at the seams, having already drawn more than 6.73 million fans, a jump of more than 7% from this time last year. Twenty-five of the 29 teams are drawing larger crowds than they did last season, while nine teams, including LAFC, are playing to 100% of their stadium’s capacity. Five matches have drawn more than 65,000 people.
Yet while the attendance growth has been impressive, Duran said it’s important to look at more than just the numbers.
“The soccer-specific stadiums provide a lot more than just capacity,” he said. “It’s better sight lines. The camera angles provide a much better broadcast experience. Our clubs can actually own the facility and dictate the schedule. All that delivers a much better experience.
“They can also make decisions on the type of seating available to fans. Standing sections have been wildly successful. That has helped us in the last 24 months to drive attendance up.”
The cozy confines also drive up demand for tickets. The listed attendance for BMO Stadium, where LAFC plays, is 22,000 but the team, which has a season-ticket base of 18,000 and a long waiting list, regularly draws more than that, creating an intimidating atmosphere for visiting teams.
As a result, no team has a better record at home than LAFC since it entered the league in 2018.
LAFC fans show their support during a game against Inter Miami at BMO Stadium in September.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Soccer specific doesn’t have to mean small, however, nor does it mean giving up things like safe-standing sections.
When Nashville SC owner John R. Ingram prepared for his team’s entrance into MLS in 2020, he predicted that soccer attendance would swell and wanted to marry the need for bigger venues with the ambiance of a small building.
“His view was, ‘I want to build this for to where the game’s going, not where it is.’” Ian Ayre, the club’s chief executive officer, related.
The result was Geodis Park, which opened in 2022 with a capacity of 30,000, making it the largest soccer-specific stadium in the league. Two seasons later, Nashville’s average attendance of 28,605 in fifth-best in MLS, trailing four teams that play in NFL stadiums.
“We have 24,000 season-ticket holders and we’ve been sold out of premium [seating] since Day 1,” Ayre said. “So I think we made the right decision. Maybe we need to be bigger.”
Teams with a more modest season-ticket base have chosen to take high-demand games to nearby football stadiums. The San José Earthquakes, who play in PayPal Park, with 18,000 seats, the smallest stadium in the league, have drawn more than double that by playing LAFC at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium and the Galaxy at Stanford Stadium. And Sporting Kansas City attracted 72,610, the third-largest crowd in MLS history, in April when it moved its game with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami — who have combined to drive much of the attendance increase — from tiny Children’s Mercy Park (18,467) to Arrowhead Stadium.
“It does speak to the growth of soccer, the growth of our league and how special it is to be able to do that,” said Galaxy president Tom Braun, who has been instrumental in putting together the two Rose Bowl games.
Still, Durana said MLS isn’t ready to move away from the stadium experience that drove the league to this point.
“The experience for fans is much more than just where they’re seated,” he said. “It’s the food options, what they’re seeing coming into the stadium, rituals that are built into the facility. So a move to a larger venue has a much greater impact on the fan experience.”
It can also be expensive. In most cases, because the MLS teams do not own the larger stadiums, they have to pay rent, give up concession, sponsorship and parking revenue and relocate season-ticket holders. Merchandise stores are different, if they exist at all, as are the food and beverage offerings.
“It’s impossible to co-exist in someone else’s venue,” said Ayre, whose team played its first two seasons in Nissan Stadium, the 69,000-seat home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
If the soccer-specific stadium feels like an old shoe for loyal supporters, the bigger venue may feel foreign and uncomfortable. The same can be said for the players, who have a strange locker room, a different field and a less-intimate atmosphere to get used to. Rarely does the home-field advantage carry over.
“There’s a bit of a gamble,” Braun admitted.
Galaxy fans cheer during a match against LAFC at the Rose Bowl on July 4, 2023.
(Alex Gallardo / For The Times)
In the case of LAFC-Galaxy, moving the game from Dignity Health Sports Park to a larger venue is probably a bet worth taking, though. Not only is the crosstown El Tráfico annually the most passionate rivalry in MLS, but this week there is more that just bragging rights on the line.
The Galaxy (11-3-7) and LAFC (12-4-4) come in tied for the top spot in the Western Conference standings. And while the Galaxy have lost just one of their last 11 matches dating to April, LAFC hasn’t lost in its last nine games, the longest unbeaten streak in the league.
Maybe this game will eventually need a stadium even bigger than the Rose Bowl.
“Dignity Health Sports Park is a special stadium and it’s the best experience in MLS,” Braun said, but “taking the game to the Rose Bowl is a special moment for the league. And it’s just representative of where our league started and where our league is going.
“I can’t say that necessarily big stadiums are the answer. At some point, maybe.”
You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.
Sports
Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit
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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue.
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June.
Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male.
Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling.
“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.
Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case.
(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital.
“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13.
Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters.
With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.
Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.
“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said.
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Sports
Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush
Myles Garrett is in a hurry to become the greatest pass rusher in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end set the single-season sack record in 2025 and has cracked the top 20 career leaders after only nine seasons.
“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.
Off the field, however, his urgency to get from point A to B is a problem. He’s accumulating speeding tickets at an alarming rate.
On Feb. 21, Garrett was handed his ninth speeding ticket since his NFL career began in 2017. He was cited for driving 94 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
The citation from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says Garrett was driving his green 2024 Porsche at 1:35 a.m., returning home after attending a Miami of Ohio basketball game in Oxford.
Body cam footage shows the officer telling Garrett that she kept the charge under 100 mph so that a court appearance wouldn’t be mandatory. Garrett reportedly still holds a Texas driver’s license — he attended Texas A&M — and told the officer that he did not have an Ohio license.
Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett wears a jacket displaying his girlfriend Chloe Kim before the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy.
(Lindsey Wasson / AP)
The officer wrote that the famously affable Garrett was “kind and cooperative,” and that drugs and alcohol were not a factor.
Garrett’s need for speed flies in the face of his persona. He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.
His girlfriend is two-time gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, for whom he wrote a poem he shared on social media: “You enrapture fools to kings, and exist without a peer, put on this Earth for many things, but our love is why you’re here.”
Verse hasn’t slowed his roll. On Aug. 9 he was cited for ticket No. 8, clocked at 100 mph in a 60-mph zone in a Cleveland suburb a day after the Browns returned home from a preseason game at Carolina.
Garrett’s seventh ticket followed a frightening crash in 2022. He flipped his gray 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S off State Road in Sharon Township and he and a female passenger were injured. He was cited for failing to control his vehicle due to unsafe speeds on what had been a slick roadway.
A witness told a responding police officer that Garrett’s vehicle went airborne, took out a fire hydrant and rolled three times. Garrett sustained shoulder and biceps sprains and was sidelined for the Browns’ game that week against the Atlanta Falcons. His companion was not seriously injured.
Cleveland television station WKYC reported that in September 2021 Garrett was stopped twice in a 24-hour period — for driving 120 and 105 mph. The infractions occurred on Interstate 71 in Medina County, where the speed limit is 70 mph, and he paid fines of $267 and $287.
A year earlier, Garrett was cited for driving 100 mph in a 65-mph zone of Interstate 77 — again while driving a Porsche — and paid a $308 fine. He accumulated his first batch of speeding tickets in 2017 and 2018, and the police reports recite similar circumstances: Garrett driving well over the speed limit, cited without incident, paid a nominal fine.
The piddly fines certainly aren’t a deterrent. Garrett, 30, and the Browns agreed to a four-year contract extension in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The deal pays the seven-time All-Pro more than $40 million a season and includes more than $123 million in guaranteed money.
He set the NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 last season, surpassing the 22.5 accumulated by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Garrett has 125.5 career sacks, averaging 14 a season, a pace that would enable him to break Bruce Smith’s career record of 200 in five years.
“That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get,” Garrett said. “That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”
Garrett has declined to discuss his driving habits.
“I’d honestly prefer to talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off the field other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” he told reporters after ticket No. 8 in August, referring to a charity appearance.
“I try to keep my personal life personal. And I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”
Sports
Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
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Former ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called late legendary college football coach Lou Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead.
“Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights.
Olbermann received scathing criticism in response to his post on X.
“You’re a scumbag that needs mental help,” one X user wrote to Olbermann.
One user echoed that sentiment, writing to Olbermann, “You’re the real scumbag here. Lou Holtz had more class, integrity, and genuine decency in his pinky finger than you’ll ever show in your lifetime.”
Another user wrote, “You’re a grumpy, lonely, Godless man. All the things Lou Holtz was not.”
Keith Olbermann speaks onstage during the Olbermann panel at the ESPN portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel July 24, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash.
After the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win, Olbermann heavily criticized the team for accepting an invitation from President Trump to the State of the Union address. Olbermann wrote on X that any members of the men’s team who attended the event were “declaring their indelible stupidity and misogyny,” while praising the women’s team for declining the invitation.
In January, Olbermann attacked former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler for celebrating a women’s rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for two cases focused on the legality of biological male trans athletes in women’s sports.
Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz listens before being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec, 3, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s still about you trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to succeed in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post.
In 2025, Olbermann faced significant backlash after posting (and later deleting) a message on X aimed at CNN contributor Scott Jennings, that said, “You’re next motherf—–,” shortly after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Holtz was a stern supporter of President Donald Trump, even saying in February 2024 that Trump needed to “coach America back to greatness!”
Near the end of Trump’s first term, shortly after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, Trump awarded Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.
After Holtz’s death was announced Wednesday, several top GOP figures paid tribute to the coach on social media.
Those GOP lawmakers included senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; representatives Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Steve Womack, R-Ark.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Indiana Gov. Mike Braun; U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon; and Rudy Giuliani.
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Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, addresses the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis July 26, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
At the time of publication, prominent Democrat leaders have appeared silent on Holtz’s passing, including prominent Democrats with a football background.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who worked as an assistant high school football coach; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was a recruiting target for Holtz in 1986 as a college prospect; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who played in the NFL; and Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Ill., who played football for the University of Illinois, have not posted acknowledging Holtz’s death.
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