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
Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History
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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.
It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.
So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.
We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).
10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)
After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.
9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)
How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.
8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)
This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.
Sports
UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional
No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.
During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.
“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”
Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.
“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”
South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.
The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.
Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.
“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.
South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.
The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.
Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.
Sports
Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America
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Cristiano Argento has been tearing up opponents in the ring for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as he worked his way up the ladder to get a few shots at some gold.
But the path to get to one of the most prestigious pro wrestling companies in the U.S. was long and a path that not many wrestlers have taken.
Argento was born and raised in Osimo, Italy – a town of about 35,000 people located on the east side of the country closer to the Adriatic Sea. He told Fox News Digital he started training in a ring at a boxing gym before he got started on the independent scene in Italy. He wrestled in Germany, Sweden, France and Denmark before he came to the realization that, to become a professional wrestler, he needed to make his way to the United States.
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Cristiano Argento performs in the National Wrestling Alliance (Instagram)
He first worked his way to Canada to get trained by pro wrestling legend Lance Storm. He moved to Canada, leaving most of his friends and family behind and without a firm grasp on the English language.
“At the time, my English was horrible. I didn’t speak any English at all,” he said. “But I was with my friend, Stefano, he came with me and he translated everything for me. I probably missed 50% of the knowledge that Lance Storm was giving to us because I was unable to understand. I was only given a recap and everything I was able to see. I’m sure if I was doing it now with a proper knowledge of English, it would have been a different scenario.
“Eventually, I moved back to Italy after the training and I said, OK, now, I want to go to the U.S. So, I studied English more properly, and eventually I got my first work visa that was in Texas. I was in Houston for a short period of time. I trained with Booker T at Reality of Wrestling. I got on his show, which was my debut in the U.S. That was awesome. I eventually got a new work visa in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I currently live since 2017. Since then, my wrestling career, thankfully, kept growing, growing, growing and growing until now wrestling for the NWA. One of the bigger promotions in the U.S.”
Argento said that his family thought he was “nuts” for chasing his pro wrestling dream.
He said they were more concerned about his well-being given that he was half-way around the world without anyone he knew by his side in case something went sideways.
“My family, friends, everybody was like why do you want to move to the opposite side of the world not knowing the language, not knowing anybody, by yourself, to try to become a professional wrestler? And I was like, well, we have one life, I love, and that’s what I’m gonna do,” he told Fox News Digital. “Eventually, my family was really supportive. But when I first said, ‘Hey, mom and dad, I want to do that.’ They looked at me like, ‘Are you nuts? Are you drunk or something? What are you talking about?’ And I said, no that’s what I want to do. And they knew I loved this sport because in Italy I was traveling around Europe, spending time in Canada training, so they started to understand slowly that’s what I want to do with my life. They were proud of me.
Cristiano Argento works out in the gym. (Instagram)
“They’re still proud of me. I think more like the fact that you’re gonna try that, that it’s hard than more like you’re gonna leave us. The fact like, oh, my son is gonna go on the opposite side of the world for a six-hour time difference and we’re gonna see him maybe, when, like, I don’t know. Not often. I think it was more that. And for me too, it was really hard. It was heartbreaking not being able to see my family every day or every month. Like once a year if I’m lucky. I think that was the biggest part for them because of concern or that I was here by myself and if I have any issue or any problem, I didn’t have nobody. So they were scared. Like, you get sick, if you have a problem, anything, and they’re not being able to be here next to me. But they were really supportive since day one.”
Argento is living out his dream in the U.S. He suggested that the moniker of the U.S. being the “land of opportunity” wasn’t far from what is preached in movies and literature – it was the real thing.
“I was inspired by people who came to the U.S. and made it big,” Argento told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. was always like the land of opportunity. That’s how they sell it to us and this is what it is. I feel like, in myself, that was true because anything I tried to do so far I was able to reach a lot more than if I wasn’t here. I’m not yet where I’d like to be but I see like there’s so many opportunities in this country. Not just in wrestling but like in any business to reach the goal. I’m really happy of the choices I did here.
National Wrestling Alliance star Cristiano Argento poses in Times Square in New York. (Instagram)
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“But my big inspirations were big-time actors who moved to the country, who didn’t know English, with no money, no support system. I had one dream, I have to go right there to make it happen and I’m gonna go and do it and I’m gonna make it happen. So those people were always the biggest inspiration even if it wasn’t in wrestling, just how they handled their passion, how they pursued their dream without being scared of anything, how far you are, how alone by yourself … You don’t know the language, you’re like, let’s go, let’s do it.”
Outside of the NWA, Argento has performed for the International Wrestling Cartel, Enjoy Wrestling and Exodus Pro Wrestling this year.
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