Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world. Although the sport captivates billions of fans internationally, it hasn’t exactly had the same grasp on American sports fans.
However, in Los Angeles, the sport has experienced a steady rise in popularity over the last few decades. A recent WalletHub report ranked Los Angeles the number one soccer destination in the nation.
On July 4, the two biggest soccer clubs in the city, LA Galaxy and LAFC, will faceoff in the El Tráfico at the Rose Bowl. A matchup that has become one of the biggest rivalries in the MLS.
To talk about ‘the beautiful game’ and why it has resonated with so many Angelenos. LA Times sportswriter Kevin Baxter joined “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen
“It was an immigrant sport … it’s always been an immigrant sport,” Baxter said.
Baxter highlights how in the early years of soccer in the 1960s, semi-pro teams made up of immigrants dominated Los Angeles.
What’s played a role in soccer’s growth both in LA and across the nation is popular shows like “Ted Lasso” and “Welcome to Wrexham.”
Ted Lasso is a fictional show on Apple TV+ based on an American football coach getting a job with a soccer team in England.
“I think it’s very key that a show that’s that popular has soccer as the backdrop,” Baxter said. “Before you can buy into the conceit, you need to know soccer rules, you need to know, as Ted Lasso doesn’t in the beginning, what offside is … you need to know a little bit about the culture.”
Another form of media that Baxter points to as a spark for soccer’s popularity growth is the video game “FIFA.” He says the popular sports game is what introduced Jason Sudeikis and his co-star Brendan Hunt to soccer.
“There have been academic studies showing that, that video game is responsible, probably, for more people becoming soccer fans than anything else in the country,” Baxter said.
“Welcome to Wrexham” is a docuseries following actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s purchase of Wrexham A.F.C., a welsh football club, which is one of the oldest in the world.
“The club had fallen on hard times and the city followed the club. As the club deteriorated, the city started [experiencing] high unemployment, high crimes, and the idea was if we can bring the team back, we can bring the city back,” Baxter said.
Whether attending an LA Galaxy, an LAFC, or an Angel City FC game, Baxter said you will see passionate fans chanting and cheering the entire time. He adds the culture around soccer is different from sports like baseball or football.
“How your club does on a weekend dictates what kind of week you’re going to have. You don’t go and cheer for a game and hope your team wins and then go home and pretend like you weren’t at the game. It’s something you live with, it becomes part of your being, and that’s the attraction of soccer, football,” Baxter said.
Looking at the future, as soccer continues to gain popularity, a major reason Baxter points to it continuing to grow in Los Angeles is how many kids are involved with the game.
“As these youth players grow up, as their parents did grow up with soccer and introduce it to their kids, that’s where the linkage comes and we’re seeing now soccer is rapidly preparing to eclipse baseball and hockey and become the number three most-popular spectator sport in the U.S.,” Baxter said.
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