Sports
Commentary: World Cup shows MLS still needs to achieve major goals to grow the game
Remember when we were sure the World Cup would suffer from all the issues that had everyone seeing red before the first ball was kicked?
And remember when we were certain soccer could never catch on in this country?
Despite controversies over visas and ticket prices and transportation, and in spite of consternation over expansion and new rules, the game has, as usual, proved too good to fail.
And we, the American people, have become unusually engrossed in it.
We’ve been tuning in on TV in record numbers and, even at exorbitant prices, helping to sell out our 70,000-some-capacity stadiums. Before group play was even finished, this tournament — staged also in Mexico and Canada — already outdrew the 1994 World Cup, which was hosted by the United States and set an attendance record of nearly 3.6 million.
We’ve been loving the healthy cultural exchange, and we’re being reminded that cultural barriers of traditional sports fandom can be breached.
So now, to keep our interest from drying out like a pitch on a hot summer day, the goal should be to keep the market saturated with soccer. That will take Major League Soccer tearing down all the walls.
It’s already turned the page on its calendar, adopting a summer-to-spring season format that will better blend with the global game.
Now MLS needs to make its games easier to watch, and to do its part to make the sport easier to play.
Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, left, celebrates with teammate Jonathan David after a 1-0 win over South Africa at the World Cup on Sunday.
(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)
While the proverbial iron is hot, it needs a strike like Stephen Eustáquio’s winning rocket in the 92nd minute of Canada’s 1-0 victory against South Africa on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Eleven players on the two teams were MLS representatives — including Eustáquio, who spent the last six months in LAFC’s midfield.
Goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, who played two seasons with LAFC and now plays for Orlando City, stopped the only shot he saw for his second clean sheet this World Cup, which saw the Canadians succeed in their first knockout stage appearance.
There’s been no avoiding MLS players in this World Cup. The greatest of them is piling up goals for Argentina: Lionel Messi, the Inter Miami superstar, is now the all-time World Cup goal-scorer (with 19).
MLS has set an attendance record too, with 45 players participating. It ranks as the league with the second-most players apart from the top five European leagues. LAFC had three current players in the mix.
But wait. Record skip. Before you celebrate the MLS’s contributions to this soccer spectacle, check with the VAR. Yep, without the 13 MLS players representing nations that rank 40th or lower in FIFA’s world ranking, there actually would be fewer than the 37 MLS participants at the World Cup four years ago.
A baby’s first steps are for celebrating, but three decades after the league’s formation, MLS is still searching for a giant leap. It’s still having a mean time of trying to make “fetch” happen for real.
It would help to make its games more readily available — not to the already converted, but to fans who didn’t even know what they didn’t know about soccer until the World Cup began in their backyards.
MLS has already brought MLS from behind Apple’s season pass paywall. And the league and streaming service also reportedly have agreed to a revised media rights deal that will end at the end of the 2028-29 season, three and a half years earlier than expected.
But the hat trick would be to remove the need to subscribe to streaming service to watch MLS games altogether, and then get those matches onto the networks people know to tune into for their sports.
Normalize watching American soccer.
And stop gatekeeping. MLS’s developmental programs are too restrictive and exclusive — they’re not developing more soccer players, they’re curtailing who can play.
It’s in the league’s interests, and the sport’s in this country, to encourage as many players to play as much as they can — including for their high school teams, which MLS Next bars.
They’ve got people in the tent; the goal should be to make them want to stay.
To make them want to join the world’s circus, not to let it pack up and move on, out of sight and out of mind, until it swings back through years from now.
Sports
Thekla embarrasses Stardom’s Starlight Kid after retaining AEW World Women’s Championship at Forbidden Door
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Thekla has had every reason to talk as much trash as she’s done.
She made her debut in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) last year and quickly moved up the ladder to win the AEW Women’s World Championship in a strap match against Kris Statlander in February. She’s continued to hold the title even when three opponents were thrown her way at Double or Nothing.
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Thekla enters the ring during the women’s pro-wrestling event “Stardom” at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 13, 2025. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
Thekla declared war on Stardom and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the buildup to Forbidden Door. She demanded that Stardom send its best to challenge her at Forbidden Door, and they obliged. Starlight Kid stepped up against the “Toxic Spider” and the two put on a great match in front of the pro wrestling audience at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
Thekla taunted Starlight Kid throughout the match and it appeared she got more than she bargained for at points during the match.
Starlight Kid wouldn’t stay down and gave every effort to bring the AEW Women’s World Championship back to Japan with her. Starlight Kid worked on Thekla’s knee toward the end of the match. But the champion would not quit.
Starlight Kid enters the ring during the Women’s Pro-Wrestling “Stardom” 15th Anniversary at Edion Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan, on Feb. 7, 2026. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
Thekla got out of the submission hold and avoided being pinned by mere seconds. Thekla was put to the test more than any other opponent she’s faced since becoming the champion.
The “Toxic Spider” hit two stomps and finally put away Starlight Kid to retain the title.
With Stardom president Taro Okada in attendance, Thekla continued her assault against Starlight Kid. Skye Blue and Julia Hart came out to support Thekla. Hart handed Thekla a pair of scissors and the champion ripped the mask off Starlight Kid’s head and spit in it.
Thekla taunted Okada with the mask and hit the wrestling executive with it.
Thekla enters the ring during the women’s pro-wrestling event Stardom at Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan, on March 8, 2025. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
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Thekla stayed the champion and added a trophy to her mantel.
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Golf humbles many, including those who are the best in the world.
Just ask J.T. Poston at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.
What started out as a chance to put a low score on the card at the 13th hole after getting greenside in two shots, Poston, the world No. 32 in the Official World Golf Ranking, posted a 12 in an absolute meltdown that derailed his entire day.
J.T. Poston plays a shot from the first tee during the first round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., on June 25, 2026. (Jordan Bank/Getty Images)
While Poston may not have been in contention, he wasn’t picturing himself at the bottom of the leaderboard by the end of the tournament, but the 12 was the main reason behind finishing 6-over and 1-over on the tournament for 69th place out of the remaining 72 that made the cut.
So, what exactly happened to Poston?
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Well, the 13th hole began with a perfect tee shot that found the middle of the fairway. Then, his second shot found a greenside bunker, but professionals sometimes don’t mind finding those bunkers because of how great their short game is. A good bunker shot and Poston has a chance at birdie on the par-5.
But things went awry from there, as the bunker shot came out quite short, leaving him with a chipping situation. Again, professionals understand that’s not the end of the world, with a chance at par after a solid chip.
The nightmare was just beginning for Poston, though, as his fourth shot went clear across the green and ended up in the water on the other side.
From there, Poston had to drop not once, but three separate times because he couldn’t get his ball back on the green. On his 10th stroke, he finally got the ball into a putting position.
J.T. Poston stands on the first tee box during the second round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., on June 26, 2026. (Ben Jared/PGA Tour)
Poston still had to keep going, putting his 11th stroke and missing it before a tap-in 12 and ending the meltdown in front of the fans.
Poston spoke about the multiple drop balls near the water that continued to roll back into the drink.
“It’s not really rough, where you can kind of blast it out,” Poston said, per Golfweek. “It’s into the grain, but it looks like you can get enough golf ball on it, which is why I kept trying to hit a good chip.”
Poston was asked if he even thought about putting it out of the greenside rough with his chips clearly not working out.
“I feel like it’s just going to hop and that takes all the speed out of it,” he responded. “And you’ve got this big false front you got to get it over. So my worry with trying to putt it was it would not have enough speed to really get there.”
J.T. Poston plays a tee shot on the first hole during the second round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., on June 26, 2026. (Ben Jared/PGA Tour)
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Poston didn’t bounce back on the 14th hole either, as he posted a double bogey on the par-4 to put himself down even more. In the end, Poston posted a 76 on the day to finish off his tournament.
Meanwhile, the Travelers Championship will come down to a playoff that must be played on Monday after Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler found themselves deadlocked at 21-under after the latter sank a putt to force it. Hovland’s putt to win it all just missed and Scheffler took advantage of the open opportunity.
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Less than two hours before the Dodgers took the field in Minneapolis on Wednesday, a pair of powerful earthquakes rattled Venezuela, where the wife and two kids of Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas were visiting and where his sister lives.
The successive magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes left the country’s northern coastal state of La Guaira in ruins, collapsing more than 770 buildings and killing at least 1,450 people, local authorities said Sunday.
All of Rojas’ family members were OK, the Venezuelan native told reporters ahead of Friday’s game against the Padres in San Diego.
“Literally two blocks away from where my family was, two buildings collapsed — the whole building,” he said. “I’m lucky, to be honest with you guys. I’m really lucky to have my family still alive and with me. I’m not taking this for granted.”
Rojas’ wife and kids were in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, which is only about six miles south of the destruction along the coast. His wife was there to renew her passport, and the kids were going to try to get Venezuelan citizenship. His sister was in Los Teques, Rojas’ hometown about 17 miles south of the coastal destruction.
Rescue workers search through rubble on Saturday in Catia La Mar following the devastating double earthquakes.
(Fernando Vergara / Associated Press)
“It’s really tough to see teammates of mine and players that I played with at some point in my career to lose family members, to lose kids,” said Rojas, who had spent years playing baseball in La Guaira. “It’s really devastating. It’s been really hard for me to go to sleep at night.”
Rojas, on Friday, said he was talking daily with his family members, who were still in Venezuela. He hoped to bring them back to the United States as soon as possible. Aftershocks continued to rattle the country into Sunday morning.
As the Dodgers and Padres started their series in Petco Park on Friday, both teams wore caps with the letters “VZ” embroidered on the side to honor the people of Venezuela as the road to recovery begins.
“That means a lot because both teams will be doing it — it means a lot, because it brings awareness,” Rojas said.
“We are on one of the biggest stages in sports, and I really appreciate what the Dodgers do to support us,” he added. “It’s not just what happens now, it’s what’s going to happen in the future. It’s going to take a long time for people to recover.”
Times staff writer Maddie Lee contributed to this report.
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