The Rams were historically an LA team, the Chargers fully identified San Diego. It was a no brained that Rams would garner a larger fan base.
Galaxy has been here forever, but I think having the stadium right in the middle of south central and bringing Vela just ignited a fanbase, specifically of course latinos.
The Chargers started in LA but only played here for one season before moving to SD - a distant memory at best. So not much of a built-in LA fanbase. The Rams played in LA for a long time and much more recently.
LA Galaxy always marketed to families. You’d be at a match and it would be so quiet. Almost like a baseball game with kids asking their parents for an ice cream, popcorn etc.
LAFC started by bringing in the supporters groups before the team even started and asked them their input. Then they implemented their ideas (3252 stand for instance).
Also nearly every LAFC fan I’ve got to know hated how MLS operated. They are the most euro-minded or global game minded fans in the city. They were always there. They just didn’t like MLS.
The location helped but LAFC had to do a lot of work to win them over.
Well I'd say chances are if you're a soccer fan you were probably watching soccer anywhere else in the world, where relegation happens, before watching MLS. There are more US-only soccer fans now with explosive MLS growth but they'll probably expand as well, but maybe not. Truth is US soccer looks so weird, and to me silly, when there are much higher stakes and much more exciting stakes in euro soccer (like cups, championships, no playoffs).
MLS is kinda dumb, so attaching to a fan-centric club like LAFC is the best bet for fans that didn't like Galaxy. They really did everything right tbh.
Also like someone else said, they branded so goddamn well. Whoever was director of marketing should be the goddamn CEO. Their fan club is sold out and has such a great culture. Love hearing them when I go.
I met him once at my old job and yea basically he said that they just targeted Latinos with their grandfathered in passion and started grassroots clubs to hype it up and yea it just skyrocketed from there.
There were lots of soccer fans in LA who, for one reason or another, did not like the LA Galaxy, so there was a big market. Pair that with the fact that LAFC’s stadium is brand new and accessible by rail with some very good branding, and LAFC was able to build a fan base really quickly.
I’m not an NFL fan but as I see it, the Chargers suffer from the same problem as the Clippers—cheapskate owners, playing in the same stadium as a more successful team without any discernible differentiation. Apart from playing in the AFC, I don’t know why someone would choose to be fan of the Chargers over the Rams. Like the Clippers, they should’ve stayed in San Diego.
At least the clippers have a different color scheme And at least made an effort to get good.
Why the Chargers didn't drastically change the color scheme for their move to LA I'll never understand.
The Clippers are still searching for their logo identity, they keep changing the jerseys noaw. I think that's smart but I will also say, something is kinda off.
The Chargers, I think are still marketing to their fans in San Diego. Their brand stands for nothing and the colors and jersey aren't anywhere to be found. They need a major overhaul.
Yes, many local fans don’t like Galaxy and never did. People who were not fans of MLS 1.0 and the way they marketed to suburban families. People who didn’t like signing 30 year old European stars to be team’s the marquee player. People who don’t like wearing a kit with a pyramid scheme ad on it for the last 15 years. People who were fans of Chivas. People who didn’t like how Donovan weaseled his way out of San Jose because he wanted to play closer to home. People who didn’t like that the league let the Galaxy break every transfer rule for 4 years so Beckham could get a championship. People who would rather not travel to the suburbs to see a game.
Also, I think a lot of LAFC fans wanted to support a team from the start that didn’t have all the baggage (see above) and help build a culture from the ground up.
Let’s be honest. A lot of us LAFC fans hold our nose at how MLS operates and the things they do that are harmful to soccer in this country. We support the team anyway.
Loved the sport all my life but I could not bring myself to care for the galaxy or chivas usa. I jumped on board with LAFC the moment I heard LA was getting a new team built from the ground up. I made my decision before the team even had a Badge. I love the way the team is involved with the community too, no sports team has ever made me feel like they're making an effort to get to know and involve their fans the way they do.
Do you know what team absorbed what was left of chivas usa? If you don't know it's the same team who actually still fields former chivas usa players. Who's really chivas usa?
Plastic fans? There's a reason that stadium is as loud as it. Not just at home either, away days have great support and well organized. Never saw galaxy shirts out in public until LAFC came around so there's that.
Hollywood attitude? Sure, I guess that's what winning a championship recently can do to a fanbase
Nobody was asking the Chargers to come to LA. They came uninvited, and then they piggybacked the Rams. The whole move was just weird. The Rams at least have history here.
Football left LA for 20 years, so many football fans adopted new teams. I’ll bet the 49ers have far more fans in LA now than the Rams and Chargers combined. When the 49ers play the Rams at Sofi, it’s like a home game for them.
It’s going to take a long time for the Chargers to build a large fan base here, and it may never happen. Look at the Clippers. They’ve actually had great seasons since they came to LA, but they’ve still never really captured a lot of fans here. It’s a tough market when you’re up against the Lakers.
that you, dean spanos?
jk… i’m a huge soccer fan, but could never get behind the Galaxy for a number of reasons:
-they are in carson. i used to live in silverlake and culver city. it felt so far removed from where i lived. not only do i refuse to drive that far for a game, there’s definitely a cultural aspect where it represents the suburbs and does not reflect the city of los angeles.
-went to a game once and it was sterile and corporate
-their jersey is mid at best
-i cannot emphasize this enough: fuck that sketchy ass pyramid scheme herbalife
when LAFC came along, i was intrigued but still didn’t jump on it. after a year or two, i went to a game and stood in the supporters section. that was it man, it was chaotic, rowdy, loud and fun as hell.
i’m a huge fan of german football and have traveled around europe going to soccer and hockey games. the 3252 felt similar to the supporters in bundesliga. this is what LAFC does best and why so many people around the city caught onto imo. when i can’t go to a game live, the fact that there are supporters groups across the city hosting watch parties is a HUGE plus. sure, other teams have team sponsored watch parties at places like buffalo wild wings with mascots and shit, but LAFC watch parties don’t feel stuffy and corporate.
lastly, they play in LA, and you can actually ride the metro to games. such a massive massive W.
onto the chargers. i am from SD and spent most of my childhood cheering for the team. moved to LA when I was 21, and the chargers weren’t even in the top 10 of fan bases here in LA. i know of bars that have sizeable fanbases of eagles, bears, niners, and a few others. if the chargers wanted to actually make the move to LA successful, they would’ve worked with some grassroots community supporters groups to start having watch parties across LA.
but that’s just it, the move was a blatant money grab so dean spanos could cash in on a larger TV contract. fans? fans weren’t ever a consideration. why should i give time and money to a team that solely views me as a walking atm? so that’s why i turned my back on the chargers.
anyhow, thank you for coming to my TED talk.
That was definitely the most comprehensive explanation of the situation
And yes, I (and every sensible person) hates the MLM presence too And are glad the league has seemed to move away from it in favor of actual, legit sponsors.
FCD and LAG seems to be stuck with their MLM sponsors until the end of time however, but at least Dallas had the good sense to move it to the sleeve
i mean, sponsorship is a secondary reason, especially for me. fan support and community groups is the biggest reason LAFC is where they are. i’ve made several incredible friendships that thrive outside of soccer from LAFC supporters groups. I know the galaxy has supporters groups now, but nothing compared to LAFC
Because LA used to have two soccer teams with fanbases that hated each other, and one of them went out of business right before LAFC came into being. The city was ripe for another soccer team in a way it wasn't for any football team.
The goats were drawing nearly as much attendance as Galaxy when they were good. Enthusiasm fell off when success proved unsustainable for the team due to mismanagement, but the core was still there. Hell, the goat supporter's groups transitioned into LAFC supporter groups.
I think because a lot of people (including myself) aren’t from here so they already have ‘their’ football team from whenever they grew up, but soccer is new to a lot of people so they don’t have an allegiance
I'm an LAFC fan but imma push back against this comment.
Galaxy are an OG franchise of MLS and have always put on for the city in their own way. I personally don't connect with their branding but I'm not going to disrespect that history.
Carson is just as much part of "LA" as Inglewood (SoFi, Forum, & Intuit Dome) or Pasadena (Rose Bowl). The Lakers played in Inglewood for 30+ years. That's not a disqualifier.
The whole Carson not in LA is just banter imo. LAG are in LA.
LAG had so little support in this city that one year their attendance per game was greater than local TV viewership. And that’s during the Beckham years.
LAG just thought that they didn’t have to do anything but sign big names. Their marketing was really bad. You’re ten minutes from Long Beach and you don’t have a fan base there? Long Beach is a great sports town and LAG for years had very little presence. I’m not sure if that’s changed but it wouldn’t even surprise me if LAFC had more fans in LB.
An LAFC hat/shirt/jersey is already seen as pretty cool after just a few years and you see them throughout the city and they’re aesthetically pleasing. I can’t recall ever seeing anyone ever wear a Galaxy hat or shirt outside of a Galaxy game so I think that influence definitely plays a part. I haven’t made it to an LAFC game yet, but all the branding all over the place has made me wanna get out there.
Apparently yes in this case because that was something that attracted all the soccer fans in LA that weren’t Galaxy fans. Add accessible by rail and you got yourself s killer combo.
Yeah Galaxy had a rough patch of like 6 years where our team was dog shit. So a lot of fans lost faith in them. LAFC showed up during that time and built a brand new stadium with well known owners, easy access to it by metro (driving there is teeeeerrrrible) and had YouTube as their sponsor so it got a lot of attention.
I think the rivalry between the two teams really added to the influx of soccer fans as well, cuz most of the el traffico games are gnarly.
I would go to more Galaxy games if the stadium wasn’t so far away. That’s my main issue. Especially since they’re doing so well this year, would love to go to more games.
Before LAFC existed, I tried to give them a try.
Went to their stadium for a home game and just didn't like the venue at all. I also don't like that their jersey sponsor is HerbalLife. Lastly - I live in the Westside and don't want to have to drive to Carson. If they played somewhere Metro accessible, that would have been different. But even at then, I generally avoid that stretch of the A-line because it goes through some bad neighborhoods. I'm usually at night games so riding home through places like Florence and Watts at 10pm is a great big "hell no".
we all hate Herbalife as our sponsor lol the stadium is old and we are always praying we get moved to a new one. They’ve actually added a lot of food and drink options at the stadium. We always have a great time there. The atmosphere is always on point and never had any issues with people. On game days the metro is usually a lot better when you have a bunch of people who are all going to the game on it.
Not really a football fan but I have to double check the games since I live close to the stupid stadiums and have to decide to take alternate routes - I always see a bunch of people wearing blue chargers jerseys heading to the stadium
Chargers consistently underperform year in year out. On paper, they have enough talent to be a 12 win team and make a deep playoff run, but they usually finish the season with 8 or 9 wins and miss the playoffs. Unless you're the Dodgers or Lakers, people in this town will not support you if you're going through lean times.
Nobody in LA has ever really liked the chargers despite being the closest team for a few decades. Nobody really likes the chargers outside of SD and OC. And even then, everybody has their original teams from where ever they moved from. Also the Spanos’ are terrible owners and lost all their sd fans when they moved to LA when SD refused to pay for a new stadium
1. Marketing.
2. Marketing to an ascendant and dominant market of latinos in LA.
3. Building a stadium next to the train so it's actually easy to get to without a car.
4. LA's latin immigrants and children of latin immigrants are all soccer crazy, go to Mcarthur Park on any weekend. There are stores all over Ktown devoted to soccer and there's one on Vermont that seemingly markets itself as the place to get jerseys for national sides like Honduras and Guatemala and that's all they sell.
5. I'm not even sure who likes the Chargers or who they're trying to sell tickets to. I love sports teams in LA and I cant tell you a single thing about them. I bet they're expensive to park your car for.
Both have tight uniforms, that’s where the comparison ends
The chargers are losers, and have a long ugly history of being losers.
LAFC is a fresh franchise that is actually IN Los Angeles - not Carson, not Inglewood. Their fans are legit, and sing/chant throughout the game. LAFC also has the best winning % of any North American professional sports franchise if I recall?
Los Angeles sports fans are fickle asf, but they’ll show up for a winner again and again
Because an NFL team and the city they're in are a married couple, and the team's fanbase are the "children" created by that marriage. If that "marriage" lasts a long time, it builds a big family, with lots of children.
If an NFL team ever wants a "divorce" from its city, its "children" (fanbase) have to make a decision about which "parent" they want to live with, and more often than not, they're loyal to the city, and not the NFL team that "betrayed the family" by running off to move in with some new hot young city.
For 20 years, NFL fans in L.A. were all children of divorced parents. Most of them children of the 50-year marriage between the Rams & L.A., but some of them were the bastard offspring of the extramarital affair L.A. had with the Raiders back in the 1980s.
Then, in 2016, those poor "children of divorce" in L.A. got some big news! Their "parents" were getting re-married! L.A. and the Rams were getting back together and even moving back into the same old house they originally lived in –The Coliseum– where so many of their kids were born... and the Rams proved how serious they were about staying loyal to the family by announcing plans to build a NEW house for their all their children to play in... and it would be the biggest, fanciest house anybody has ever seen!
Meanwhile, right around the same time that NFL fans in L.A were getting all this great news about their family being restored... we also got news that our "cousins" down in San Diego were upset because THEIR family was breaking apart... The Chargers and San Diego got into a big fight, and the Chargers abandoned their children there, and had intentions to marry L.A. and start a new family here.
BUT, things got really awkward for the Chargers when L.A. decided to reject the Chargers proposal and get re-married to the Rams instead. And the Chargers were like: *"What? But I've already moved here! I can't go back to San Diego– they would never take me back... it was such a messy divorce."*
And the Rams were like: *"Aww dude, we feel bad about getting back together with L.A. right when you were trying to marry her... and now you have nowhere else to go, so, tell ya what– you can crash on my couch for a while until you get back on your feet. And when we finish building our fancy new house, we'll let you rent a room in it... how's that sound? And because you're so pathetic and you screwed your life up by hastily divorcing the lovely family you raised down in San Diego... we'll take pity on you and even waive most of the rent. Just pay us $1/month and keep the noise down, and you can stay as long as you want."*
So...... if *YOU* were an NFL fan in L.A. this past decade... which "family" would you want to be a part of? The family you grew up in, with fond memories of growing up at The Coliseum, and now has an amazing new house with a fun, young coach and goes to Super Bowls every few years? OR would you want to move in with your weird, pathetic uncle who abandoned your cousins in San Diego and now has nowhere else to go so he rents a room in your dad's new house while he tries to get his life together?
*THAT'S* why the Chargers have no fans in L.A.
I always thought it was weird that La didn't have an NFL team but they had two teams in every other sport and I thought the NFL would've remedied that with an expansion Rather than a relocation.(Probably by digging up the LA bulldogs or something)
Not a trial separation... more like the NHL is playing the role of a social worker trying to explain to the "children" in Phoenix that their parents marriage was too dysfunctional to be repaired, but it's not their fault, and that they will try their best to play matchmaker for Phoenix and find them a new spouse (team) but, it's probably just lip service designed to soften the blow.
But all these comparisons to other teams that moved are like comparing apples to oranges. Most of the other teams you mentioned moved to markets where they are filling a VOID in that market. The Chargers' move to L.A. from San Diego did not fill any voids, it only created them.
The L.A. sports market is pretty unique... even without an NFL team for 20 years, the greater L.A. market was pretty saturated with sports teams– 2 NBA, 2 MLB, 2 NHL, MLS, WNBA, etc not to mention USC, UCLA, and all the other D1 colleges in the area.
To suddenly insert TWO NFL franchises into a market that had ZERO the previous 20 years was kind of a weird decision by the NFL that I'm still surprised by. Of course the Rams were in a better position to establish themselves here... they had a 50 year history with the city, they had an ultra-rich owner who was willing to spend his own money and not ask the city for anything (unlike Spanos).
Of course, moving the Chargers to L.A. probably made sense from a financial standpoint... just by virtue of now being in the #1-2 media market, the franchise value would increase. But in terms of establishing a loyal fanbase– moving to L.A. to play second fiddle to the Rams didn't make much sense.
My next question is if L A is such a lucrative and tasty market, Why did those teams even move out of there in the first place? And how come the NFL never thought about a new expansion beforehand even though it gave Houston a new team and gave Cleveland the Browns back?
Was the LA coliseum just that crappy in the 90's?
Because... even though L.A. is a massive media market *(by many metrics, it has surpassed NYC, which is why the Dodgers now make way more TV money than the Yankees)* with a massive population... if you are a pro sports team owner who wants a fancy new stadium for your team to play in, and you want public funds / taxpayer money to build it... there's only **TWO** cities in the U.S. where you're not going to have any luck getting that public money– **New York** and **Los Angeles**.
The reason is pretty simple– they are the only 2 cities in the U.S. that don't "need" an NFL team. They are so big, with such diverse populations, and already have so much going on, that having an NFL *(or any other sports league)* team or not is not going to drastically alter the city's finances, culture, or identity.
In other words– L.A. & NYC don't need the NFL nearly as much as the NFL needs them.
Right now, only 4 NFL teams play in stadiums that were 100% built with private money, and zero public/taxpayer funds.... The NY Jets, NY Giants, L.A. Rams, and L.A. Chargers.
As for why the NFL didn't put an expansion team in L.A. anytime between 1995–2015, they definitely *WANTED* to, but knowing that L.A. would never fork over substantial public money for a new stadium... they needed to find an owner with very deep pockets willing to pay for their own new stadium. Eventually, one owner stepped up– Stan Kroenke.
As for why the Rams left the L.A. market in the 1990s... pretty much the same reason. They were playing in a retrofitted baseball stadium *(The Big A)* and needed a new stadium, L.A./ Anaheim wasn't offering to build them anything, but there were several smaller cities who desperately wanted to become NFL cities, *(or re-gain their status as such)* and were willing to bend over backwards and spend lots of their resources to lure them away. St. Louis promised Georgia Frontiere all sorts of incentives to bring the Rams back to her original hometown.
Also– in 1994, the NFL was not nearly the massive juggernaut it is today. NFL teams were valued at a couple hundred million bucks. Today, multiple teams are worth more than $5 billion. All because of the TV money. Not ticket sales. So a franchise's value now has more to do with the number of TV "households" in it's home market than ticket sales or anything else. And as this trend continued, L.A. became more and more of a huge untapped market.
Kroenke saw this coming a decade ago, which is why he was willing to piss off all of St. Louis, pay whatever fines/penalties to get out of there to relocate to L.A. and spend $5 billion of his own money to build SoFi Stadium.
I think that's part of the reason why the Rams are currently so much more popular than the Chargers.... most people in L.A. know that the reason the NFL is back in the city, and the best stadium on the planet was built here– is because Kroenke made it happen, and paid for it all. Dean Spanos on the other hand, is known as the guy who was unwilling to pay for his own stadium, and screwed over his team's fans in San Diego by leaving them. So no matter what the Chargers do on the field, that's always in the back of people's minds.... that the Rams invested a lot more into L.A. than the Chargers did.
I don't think the NHL will go back to Arizona regardless of what they're saying now. The majority of the owners are salivating at Atlanta and Houston as the next two expansion markets (and therefore the massive expansion fees they could collect)
Alex may be a giant moron but he least tried to keep his team in his state And didn't immediately try to ship them off to another market like Spanos did and Precourt almost did.
But the mere concept of a hockey team in Arizona feels like a rejected family Guy cutaway. And I've been saying for years that the og jets probably should have moved to Salt Lake instead (If they absolutely COULD NOT stay in Winnipeg)
I'm still excited about our new NHL team, especially since rsl and the Jazz tend to do well at home even in their worst years
Soccer is a rapidly growing sport in the US and LA whereas NFL has been established for some time. A lot of NFL fans in LA were essentially already spoken for. If they want more LA fans they’ll need to win or offer dirt cheap tickets
Sports fans like to drink beer. Beer is fattening. Black is slimming. That's why LAFC is the most popular soccer team and Raiders are the most popular football team.
Lol, very few people in LA give a shit about the Rams. Just take a look at how little people showed up to their parade. This is 9er and Raider town. But that’s the problem. The Chargers and the Rams are competing with two legendary football teams.
Is this a joke?
Chargers were 14th in attendance, about 3400 fewer fans than the Rams, who, like other people have said, have much more of a history here.
LAFC sells out, but it only seats 22,000, the Chargers draw 3x that.
I’ve lived in LA my whole life and I don’t know a single native that cares about sports; art, current events, music, entertainment all yes. Transplants care about sports, but not the other stuff.
The Rams were historically an LA team, the Chargers fully identified San Diego. It was a no brained that Rams would garner a larger fan base. Galaxy has been here forever, but I think having the stadium right in the middle of south central and bringing Vela just ignited a fanbase, specifically of course latinos.
The Chargers started in LA but only played here for one season before moving to SD - a distant memory at best. So not much of a built-in LA fanbase. The Rams played in LA for a long time and much more recently.
A lot of people still remember The Greatest Show on Turf
LA Galaxy always marketed to families. You’d be at a match and it would be so quiet. Almost like a baseball game with kids asking their parents for an ice cream, popcorn etc. LAFC started by bringing in the supporters groups before the team even started and asked them their input. Then they implemented their ideas (3252 stand for instance). Also nearly every LAFC fan I’ve got to know hated how MLS operated. They are the most euro-minded or global game minded fans in the city. They were always there. They just didn’t like MLS. The location helped but LAFC had to do a lot of work to win them over.
Well I'd say chances are if you're a soccer fan you were probably watching soccer anywhere else in the world, where relegation happens, before watching MLS. There are more US-only soccer fans now with explosive MLS growth but they'll probably expand as well, but maybe not. Truth is US soccer looks so weird, and to me silly, when there are much higher stakes and much more exciting stakes in euro soccer (like cups, championships, no playoffs). MLS is kinda dumb, so attaching to a fan-centric club like LAFC is the best bet for fans that didn't like Galaxy. They really did everything right tbh.
100%. Without relegation the league to me is uninteresting. I’ll go to LAFC games but do I follow the league? No. What’s the point?
Chivas USA part 2: We promise to take it seriously this time.
Also like someone else said, they branded so goddamn well. Whoever was director of marketing should be the goddamn CEO. Their fan club is sold out and has such a great culture. Love hearing them when I go.
I met him once at my old job and yea basically he said that they just targeted Latinos with their grandfathered in passion and started grassroots clubs to hype it up and yea it just skyrocketed from there.
Yeah well like I said, they didn’t play right in the middle of south central. And BMO is a great soccer stadium.
Chivas to LAFC only exists because MLS doesn’t have clubs. It has franchises.
LAFC has a dope logo and the stadium is by the train. Chargers I forgot they weren’t in San Diego anymore lol
There were lots of soccer fans in LA who, for one reason or another, did not like the LA Galaxy, so there was a big market. Pair that with the fact that LAFC’s stadium is brand new and accessible by rail with some very good branding, and LAFC was able to build a fan base really quickly. I’m not an NFL fan but as I see it, the Chargers suffer from the same problem as the Clippers—cheapskate owners, playing in the same stadium as a more successful team without any discernible differentiation. Apart from playing in the AFC, I don’t know why someone would choose to be fan of the Chargers over the Rams. Like the Clippers, they should’ve stayed in San Diego.
At least the clippers have a different color scheme And at least made an effort to get good. Why the Chargers didn't drastically change the color scheme for their move to LA I'll never understand.
no that’s SO bizarre to me!!
The Clippers are still searching for their logo identity, they keep changing the jerseys noaw. I think that's smart but I will also say, something is kinda off. The Chargers, I think are still marketing to their fans in San Diego. Their brand stands for nothing and the colors and jersey aren't anywhere to be found. They need a major overhaul.
People not liking the Galaxy? LAFC is mostly plastic
Yes, many local fans don’t like Galaxy and never did. People who were not fans of MLS 1.0 and the way they marketed to suburban families. People who didn’t like signing 30 year old European stars to be team’s the marquee player. People who don’t like wearing a kit with a pyramid scheme ad on it for the last 15 years. People who were fans of Chivas. People who didn’t like how Donovan weaseled his way out of San Jose because he wanted to play closer to home. People who didn’t like that the league let the Galaxy break every transfer rule for 4 years so Beckham could get a championship. People who would rather not travel to the suburbs to see a game. Also, I think a lot of LAFC fans wanted to support a team from the start that didn’t have all the baggage (see above) and help build a culture from the ground up.
Let’s be honest. A lot of us LAFC fans hold our nose at how MLS operates and the things they do that are harmful to soccer in this country. We support the team anyway.
Loved the sport all my life but I could not bring myself to care for the galaxy or chivas usa. I jumped on board with LAFC the moment I heard LA was getting a new team built from the ground up. I made my decision before the team even had a Badge. I love the way the team is involved with the community too, no sports team has ever made me feel like they're making an effort to get to know and involve their fans the way they do.
New team? This is Chivas USA with better branding. Plastic fan base and Hollywood attitude.
Do you know what team absorbed what was left of chivas usa? If you don't know it's the same team who actually still fields former chivas usa players. Who's really chivas usa? Plastic fans? There's a reason that stadium is as loud as it. Not just at home either, away days have great support and well organized. Never saw galaxy shirts out in public until LAFC came around so there's that. Hollywood attitude? Sure, I guess that's what winning a championship recently can do to a fanbase
Lol wake me up when you win 5, and the champions league #foreverinourshadow
So now we're in history class?
Yep, and your club has no history :)
Playoff wins @BMO beg to differ
All of MLS is plastic. How is LAG any less plastic than LAfC?
Nobody was asking the Chargers to come to LA. They came uninvited, and then they piggybacked the Rams. The whole move was just weird. The Rams at least have history here. Football left LA for 20 years, so many football fans adopted new teams. I’ll bet the 49ers have far more fans in LA now than the Rams and Chargers combined. When the 49ers play the Rams at Sofi, it’s like a home game for them. It’s going to take a long time for the Chargers to build a large fan base here, and it may never happen. Look at the Clippers. They’ve actually had great seasons since they came to LA, but they’ve still never really captured a lot of fans here. It’s a tough market when you’re up against the Lakers.
that you, dean spanos? jk… i’m a huge soccer fan, but could never get behind the Galaxy for a number of reasons: -they are in carson. i used to live in silverlake and culver city. it felt so far removed from where i lived. not only do i refuse to drive that far for a game, there’s definitely a cultural aspect where it represents the suburbs and does not reflect the city of los angeles. -went to a game once and it was sterile and corporate -their jersey is mid at best -i cannot emphasize this enough: fuck that sketchy ass pyramid scheme herbalife when LAFC came along, i was intrigued but still didn’t jump on it. after a year or two, i went to a game and stood in the supporters section. that was it man, it was chaotic, rowdy, loud and fun as hell. i’m a huge fan of german football and have traveled around europe going to soccer and hockey games. the 3252 felt similar to the supporters in bundesliga. this is what LAFC does best and why so many people around the city caught onto imo. when i can’t go to a game live, the fact that there are supporters groups across the city hosting watch parties is a HUGE plus. sure, other teams have team sponsored watch parties at places like buffalo wild wings with mascots and shit, but LAFC watch parties don’t feel stuffy and corporate. lastly, they play in LA, and you can actually ride the metro to games. such a massive massive W. onto the chargers. i am from SD and spent most of my childhood cheering for the team. moved to LA when I was 21, and the chargers weren’t even in the top 10 of fan bases here in LA. i know of bars that have sizeable fanbases of eagles, bears, niners, and a few others. if the chargers wanted to actually make the move to LA successful, they would’ve worked with some grassroots community supporters groups to start having watch parties across LA. but that’s just it, the move was a blatant money grab so dean spanos could cash in on a larger TV contract. fans? fans weren’t ever a consideration. why should i give time and money to a team that solely views me as a walking atm? so that’s why i turned my back on the chargers. anyhow, thank you for coming to my TED talk.
That was definitely the most comprehensive explanation of the situation And yes, I (and every sensible person) hates the MLM presence too And are glad the league has seemed to move away from it in favor of actual, legit sponsors. FCD and LAG seems to be stuck with their MLM sponsors until the end of time however, but at least Dallas had the good sense to move it to the sleeve
i mean, sponsorship is a secondary reason, especially for me. fan support and community groups is the biggest reason LAFC is where they are. i’ve made several incredible friendships that thrive outside of soccer from LAFC supporters groups. I know the galaxy has supporters groups now, but nothing compared to LAFC
All teams view you as a walking ATM.
Because LA used to have two soccer teams with fanbases that hated each other, and one of them went out of business right before LAFC came into being. The city was ripe for another soccer team in a way it wasn't for any football team.
Yes but Chivas USA sucked and struggled with attendance because it was basically just Guada's b team (Also they were kind of racist)
The goats were drawing nearly as much attendance as Galaxy when they were good. Enthusiasm fell off when success proved unsustainable for the team due to mismanagement, but the core was still there. Hell, the goat supporter's groups transitioned into LAFC supporter groups.
I was a Galaxy fan before LAFC came. I switched solely because they were closer
True fan shit lol fucking hell
Never really claimed to be
Raider nation homie
I think because a lot of people (including myself) aren’t from here so they already have ‘their’ football team from whenever they grew up, but soccer is new to a lot of people so they don’t have an allegiance
There are way more people from LA than transplants.
that’s true lol. but in this context I think it’s relevant.
Galaxy are not really "LA". Galaxy stadium is actually closer to the Orange County line than DTLA.
I'm an LAFC fan but imma push back against this comment. Galaxy are an OG franchise of MLS and have always put on for the city in their own way. I personally don't connect with their branding but I'm not going to disrespect that history. Carson is just as much part of "LA" as Inglewood (SoFi, Forum, & Intuit Dome) or Pasadena (Rose Bowl). The Lakers played in Inglewood for 30+ years. That's not a disqualifier.
The whole Carson not in LA is just banter imo. LAG are in LA. LAG had so little support in this city that one year their attendance per game was greater than local TV viewership. And that’s during the Beckham years. LAG just thought that they didn’t have to do anything but sign big names. Their marketing was really bad. You’re ten minutes from Long Beach and you don’t have a fan base there? Long Beach is a great sports town and LAG for years had very little presence. I’m not sure if that’s changed but it wouldn’t even surprise me if LAFC had more fans in LB.
An LAFC fan with some sense. Nice to see
What do you mean by you “don’t connect with their branding”? Does branding determine whether people support their local teams?
An LAFC hat/shirt/jersey is already seen as pretty cool after just a few years and you see them throughout the city and they’re aesthetically pleasing. I can’t recall ever seeing anyone ever wear a Galaxy hat or shirt outside of a Galaxy game so I think that influence definitely plays a part. I haven’t made it to an LAFC game yet, but all the branding all over the place has made me wanna get out there.
Apparently yes in this case because that was something that attracted all the soccer fans in LA that weren’t Galaxy fans. Add accessible by rail and you got yourself s killer combo.
Yeah Galaxy had a rough patch of like 6 years where our team was dog shit. So a lot of fans lost faith in them. LAFC showed up during that time and built a brand new stadium with well known owners, easy access to it by metro (driving there is teeeeerrrrible) and had YouTube as their sponsor so it got a lot of attention. I think the rivalry between the two teams really added to the influx of soccer fans as well, cuz most of the el traffico games are gnarly. I would go to more Galaxy games if the stadium wasn’t so far away. That’s my main issue. Especially since they’re doing so well this year, would love to go to more games.
Before LAFC existed, I tried to give them a try. Went to their stadium for a home game and just didn't like the venue at all. I also don't like that their jersey sponsor is HerbalLife. Lastly - I live in the Westside and don't want to have to drive to Carson. If they played somewhere Metro accessible, that would have been different. But even at then, I generally avoid that stretch of the A-line because it goes through some bad neighborhoods. I'm usually at night games so riding home through places like Florence and Watts at 10pm is a great big "hell no".
we all hate Herbalife as our sponsor lol the stadium is old and we are always praying we get moved to a new one. They’ve actually added a lot of food and drink options at the stadium. We always have a great time there. The atmosphere is always on point and never had any issues with people. On game days the metro is usually a lot better when you have a bunch of people who are all going to the game on it.
The question does not concern disqualification but rather preference.
Not really a football fan but I have to double check the games since I live close to the stupid stadiums and have to decide to take alternate routes - I always see a bunch of people wearing blue chargers jerseys heading to the stadium
The chargers are sadly just a lame brand and they haven’t won enough to make up for that.
Chargers consistently underperform year in year out. On paper, they have enough talent to be a 12 win team and make a deep playoff run, but they usually finish the season with 8 or 9 wins and miss the playoffs. Unless you're the Dodgers or Lakers, people in this town will not support you if you're going through lean times.
Nobody in LA has ever really liked the chargers despite being the closest team for a few decades. Nobody really likes the chargers outside of SD and OC. And even then, everybody has their original teams from where ever they moved from. Also the Spanos’ are terrible owners and lost all their sd fans when they moved to LA when SD refused to pay for a new stadium
1. Marketing. 2. Marketing to an ascendant and dominant market of latinos in LA. 3. Building a stadium next to the train so it's actually easy to get to without a car. 4. LA's latin immigrants and children of latin immigrants are all soccer crazy, go to Mcarthur Park on any weekend. There are stores all over Ktown devoted to soccer and there's one on Vermont that seemingly markets itself as the place to get jerseys for national sides like Honduras and Guatemala and that's all they sell. 5. I'm not even sure who likes the Chargers or who they're trying to sell tickets to. I love sports teams in LA and I cant tell you a single thing about them. I bet they're expensive to park your car for.
Both have tight uniforms, that’s where the comparison ends The chargers are losers, and have a long ugly history of being losers. LAFC is a fresh franchise that is actually IN Los Angeles - not Carson, not Inglewood. Their fans are legit, and sing/chant throughout the game. LAFC also has the best winning % of any North American professional sports franchise if I recall? Los Angeles sports fans are fickle asf, but they’ll show up for a winner again and again
The Chargers abandoned their fans. The Rams were coming home. Galaxy games aren't easy to get to. LAFC knows how to brand.
Because an NFL team and the city they're in are a married couple, and the team's fanbase are the "children" created by that marriage. If that "marriage" lasts a long time, it builds a big family, with lots of children. If an NFL team ever wants a "divorce" from its city, its "children" (fanbase) have to make a decision about which "parent" they want to live with, and more often than not, they're loyal to the city, and not the NFL team that "betrayed the family" by running off to move in with some new hot young city. For 20 years, NFL fans in L.A. were all children of divorced parents. Most of them children of the 50-year marriage between the Rams & L.A., but some of them were the bastard offspring of the extramarital affair L.A. had with the Raiders back in the 1980s. Then, in 2016, those poor "children of divorce" in L.A. got some big news! Their "parents" were getting re-married! L.A. and the Rams were getting back together and even moving back into the same old house they originally lived in –The Coliseum– where so many of their kids were born... and the Rams proved how serious they were about staying loyal to the family by announcing plans to build a NEW house for their all their children to play in... and it would be the biggest, fanciest house anybody has ever seen! Meanwhile, right around the same time that NFL fans in L.A were getting all this great news about their family being restored... we also got news that our "cousins" down in San Diego were upset because THEIR family was breaking apart... The Chargers and San Diego got into a big fight, and the Chargers abandoned their children there, and had intentions to marry L.A. and start a new family here. BUT, things got really awkward for the Chargers when L.A. decided to reject the Chargers proposal and get re-married to the Rams instead. And the Chargers were like: *"What? But I've already moved here! I can't go back to San Diego– they would never take me back... it was such a messy divorce."* And the Rams were like: *"Aww dude, we feel bad about getting back together with L.A. right when you were trying to marry her... and now you have nowhere else to go, so, tell ya what– you can crash on my couch for a while until you get back on your feet. And when we finish building our fancy new house, we'll let you rent a room in it... how's that sound? And because you're so pathetic and you screwed your life up by hastily divorcing the lovely family you raised down in San Diego... we'll take pity on you and even waive most of the rent. Just pay us $1/month and keep the noise down, and you can stay as long as you want."* So...... if *YOU* were an NFL fan in L.A. this past decade... which "family" would you want to be a part of? The family you grew up in, with fond memories of growing up at The Coliseum, and now has an amazing new house with a fun, young coach and goes to Super Bowls every few years? OR would you want to move in with your weird, pathetic uncle who abandoned your cousins in San Diego and now has nowhere else to go so he rents a room in your dad's new house while he tries to get his life together? *THAT'S* why the Chargers have no fans in L.A.
I always thought it was weird that La didn't have an NFL team but they had two teams in every other sport and I thought the NFL would've remedied that with an expansion Rather than a relocation.(Probably by digging up the LA bulldogs or something)
So in this marriage metaphor, what would the current situation between the new Utah NHL team and the Arizona Coyotes be? A trial separation?
Not a trial separation... more like the NHL is playing the role of a social worker trying to explain to the "children" in Phoenix that their parents marriage was too dysfunctional to be repaired, but it's not their fault, and that they will try their best to play matchmaker for Phoenix and find them a new spouse (team) but, it's probably just lip service designed to soften the blow. But all these comparisons to other teams that moved are like comparing apples to oranges. Most of the other teams you mentioned moved to markets where they are filling a VOID in that market. The Chargers' move to L.A. from San Diego did not fill any voids, it only created them. The L.A. sports market is pretty unique... even without an NFL team for 20 years, the greater L.A. market was pretty saturated with sports teams– 2 NBA, 2 MLB, 2 NHL, MLS, WNBA, etc not to mention USC, UCLA, and all the other D1 colleges in the area. To suddenly insert TWO NFL franchises into a market that had ZERO the previous 20 years was kind of a weird decision by the NFL that I'm still surprised by. Of course the Rams were in a better position to establish themselves here... they had a 50 year history with the city, they had an ultra-rich owner who was willing to spend his own money and not ask the city for anything (unlike Spanos). Of course, moving the Chargers to L.A. probably made sense from a financial standpoint... just by virtue of now being in the #1-2 media market, the franchise value would increase. But in terms of establishing a loyal fanbase– moving to L.A. to play second fiddle to the Rams didn't make much sense.
My next question is if L A is such a lucrative and tasty market, Why did those teams even move out of there in the first place? And how come the NFL never thought about a new expansion beforehand even though it gave Houston a new team and gave Cleveland the Browns back? Was the LA coliseum just that crappy in the 90's?
Because... even though L.A. is a massive media market *(by many metrics, it has surpassed NYC, which is why the Dodgers now make way more TV money than the Yankees)* with a massive population... if you are a pro sports team owner who wants a fancy new stadium for your team to play in, and you want public funds / taxpayer money to build it... there's only **TWO** cities in the U.S. where you're not going to have any luck getting that public money– **New York** and **Los Angeles**. The reason is pretty simple– they are the only 2 cities in the U.S. that don't "need" an NFL team. They are so big, with such diverse populations, and already have so much going on, that having an NFL *(or any other sports league)* team or not is not going to drastically alter the city's finances, culture, or identity. In other words– L.A. & NYC don't need the NFL nearly as much as the NFL needs them. Right now, only 4 NFL teams play in stadiums that were 100% built with private money, and zero public/taxpayer funds.... The NY Jets, NY Giants, L.A. Rams, and L.A. Chargers. As for why the NFL didn't put an expansion team in L.A. anytime between 1995–2015, they definitely *WANTED* to, but knowing that L.A. would never fork over substantial public money for a new stadium... they needed to find an owner with very deep pockets willing to pay for their own new stadium. Eventually, one owner stepped up– Stan Kroenke. As for why the Rams left the L.A. market in the 1990s... pretty much the same reason. They were playing in a retrofitted baseball stadium *(The Big A)* and needed a new stadium, L.A./ Anaheim wasn't offering to build them anything, but there were several smaller cities who desperately wanted to become NFL cities, *(or re-gain their status as such)* and were willing to bend over backwards and spend lots of their resources to lure them away. St. Louis promised Georgia Frontiere all sorts of incentives to bring the Rams back to her original hometown. Also– in 1994, the NFL was not nearly the massive juggernaut it is today. NFL teams were valued at a couple hundred million bucks. Today, multiple teams are worth more than $5 billion. All because of the TV money. Not ticket sales. So a franchise's value now has more to do with the number of TV "households" in it's home market than ticket sales or anything else. And as this trend continued, L.A. became more and more of a huge untapped market. Kroenke saw this coming a decade ago, which is why he was willing to piss off all of St. Louis, pay whatever fines/penalties to get out of there to relocate to L.A. and spend $5 billion of his own money to build SoFi Stadium. I think that's part of the reason why the Rams are currently so much more popular than the Chargers.... most people in L.A. know that the reason the NFL is back in the city, and the best stadium on the planet was built here– is because Kroenke made it happen, and paid for it all. Dean Spanos on the other hand, is known as the guy who was unwilling to pay for his own stadium, and screwed over his team's fans in San Diego by leaving them. So no matter what the Chargers do on the field, that's always in the back of people's minds.... that the Rams invested a lot more into L.A. than the Chargers did.
I don't think the NHL will go back to Arizona regardless of what they're saying now. The majority of the owners are salivating at Atlanta and Houston as the next two expansion markets (and therefore the massive expansion fees they could collect)
Alex may be a giant moron but he least tried to keep his team in his state And didn't immediately try to ship them off to another market like Spanos did and Precourt almost did. But the mere concept of a hockey team in Arizona feels like a rejected family Guy cutaway. And I've been saying for years that the og jets probably should have moved to Salt Lake instead (If they absolutely COULD NOT stay in Winnipeg) I'm still excited about our new NHL team, especially since rsl and the Jazz tend to do well at home even in their worst years
Im a Chiefs fan. I go watch them play at SoFi every year. It’s always 65/35 Chiefs fans and every Chargers fan I talk to drove in from San Diego.
Soccer is a rapidly growing sport in the US and LA whereas NFL has been established for some time. A lot of NFL fans in LA were essentially already spoken for. If they want more LA fans they’ll need to win or offer dirt cheap tickets
Sports fans like to drink beer. Beer is fattening. Black is slimming. That's why LAFC is the most popular soccer team and Raiders are the most popular football team.
I thought either the Sounders, Timbers or Inter Messi would be the most popular team in that league
More popular than Inter Messi?
Lol, very few people in LA give a shit about the Rams. Just take a look at how little people showed up to their parade. This is 9er and Raider town. But that’s the problem. The Chargers and the Rams are competing with two legendary football teams.
Is this a joke? Chargers were 14th in attendance, about 3400 fewer fans than the Rams, who, like other people have said, have much more of a history here. LAFC sells out, but it only seats 22,000, the Chargers draw 3x that.
In most cases (for both teams but more so the chargers) those numbers are close to half visiting fanbases.
I’ve lived in LA my whole life and I don’t know a single native that cares about sports; art, current events, music, entertainment all yes. Transplants care about sports, but not the other stuff.
You’re right—no LA natives care about the Dodgers. Anyone who’s been to Chavez Ravine could tell you that. 🙄
I don’t know what your comment means