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.
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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