Los Angeles FC

Team information

Inaugural season: 2018

Home field: BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Owners: Larry Berg, Brandon Beck, Bennett Rosenthal, and Peter Guber

Team colors: Black, gold, red, and gray

Overview

The Los Angeles FC are a professional soccer team that plays in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS). The team joined the league in 2018 as a replacement for a previous Los Angeles franchise, Chivas USA, which ceased operation in 2014. Officially known as the Los Angeles Football Club, the team joined the LA Galaxy as the second franchise in Los Angeles. Despite being a relatively new addition, Los Angeles FC has already made a deep impact on the league since joining. In just its second year, Los Angeles won the Supporters’ Shield Award for posting the best record in MLS. Its star player, Carlos Vela, also set the MLS for most goals scored in a season. The franchise is owned by three primary investors and features a who’s who of secondary investors that includes an NBA legend, a Hollywood funnyman, a women’s soccer star, and a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player. The Los Angeles FC won their first MLS Cup in 2022.

History

Prior to the 1960s, professional soccer thrived around the world but was an afterthought in the sports landscape in North America. In 1968, an attempt was made to change that with the formation of the North American Soccer League (NASL). The NASL survived until 1985 and reached its peak during the late 1970s. Los Angeles had two NASL teams: the Wolves, which played one season in 1968; and the Aztecs, which lasted from 1974 through 1981.

In 1988, the United States was granted the right to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the largest men’s soccer tournament in the world. The event was such a success that it led to the creation of a new soccer league in North America. Major League Soccer (MLS) began its first season with teams in ten US cities: New York, Tampa Bay, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Kansas City, New England, Colorado, San Jose, and Columbus, Ohio. The Los Angeles team was named the LA Galaxy and soon became one of the league’s most successful franchises.

After experiencing a period of financial instability in the early 2000s, MLS found its footing and began to expand its reach. In 2005, MLS added two new teams: Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA. Chivas USA was based in Los Angeles and meant to be an American counterpart to the Mexican soccer team, C.D. Guadalajara. The Guadalajara club went by the informal nickname Chiva, which is Spanish for “goat.” MLS and team officials hoped that Chivas USA would appeal to Latino soccer fans.

Although the club enjoyed some early success—making the playoffs from 2006 through 2009—by the 2010s, their quality of play began to suffer, and the team’s attendance began to drop. Furthermore, Chivas USA lived in the shadow of the LA Galaxy, which signed some of the soccer world’s biggest stars. By 2014, the Galaxy were drawing an average of 21,258 fans a game, while Chivas was drawing just over 7,000.

After the season, MLS announced that it was shutting down Chivas USA and taking control of the team. The league then announced that it would award the franchise to a new ownership group that had promised to build a state-of-the-art soccer stadium in Los Angeles. The name Los Angeles Football Club was used temporarily, until team ownership announced in 2015 that it would become permanent after it met with positive fan response. The team’s logo features a black shield with gold lettering and trim. At the center is a large LA, with the “A” sporting a four-feather wing as a crossbar. The wing is meant to signify Los Angeles’ as the “City of Angels.” The name Los Angeles is printed atop the central in smaller type and the name Football Club is printed underneath it.

The team’s investment group combined to contribute the $100-million franchise fee to officially join MLS. The large group consisted of twenty-six members at one point and, since 2016, has been led by three LA-based investors Larry Berg, Brandon Beck, and Bennett Rosenthal. Among the group of other investors is LA legend and NBA superstar Magic Johnson, comedian/actor Will Ferrell, woman’s soccer great Mia Hamm, and her husband, former MLB player Nomar Garciaparra. Since joining the league, the Los Angeles Football Club has been ranked as the most valuable franchise in MLS, with a 2021 value of $860 million.

Los Angeles FC was originally set to begin play in 2017, but problems constructing the team’s home stadium pushed the start date to 2018. The team impressed from the opening kickoff, winning its first game 1–0, and posting a record of 16 wins, 9 ties, and 9 losses in its first season, a record for an MLS expansion club. They also became only the fifth expansion team in history to make the playoffs. Los Angeles did even better in its second season, finishing 21–9–4, the best record in MLS and the third best-ever regular-season mark in league history. The team advanced to the Western Conference Final, beating the LA Galaxy 5–3 in the conference semifinals. However, the team’s run ended there when it lost 3–1 to the eventual MLS champion, Seattle Sounders FC.

The 2020 season was shortened considerably due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Los Angeles finished with a 9–5–8 record and made the playoffs but were bounced out in the first round. The next season turned out to be the worst in the franchise’s short history. The team finished with a 12–9–13 mark and failed to make the postseason. In 2022, the Los Angeles FC won their first MLS Cup after defeating the Philadelphia Union in a penalty shootout. During the next year, the team advanced to the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League final for the second time in four years. However, they lost to Club Leon.

As expected, Los Angeles FC has a heated rivalry with its crosstown foe, the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy are the most successful team in MLS history, winning a record five championships. The inter-city series between the two clubs is referred to by local fans as El Tráfico, a name inspired by Los Angeles’ notorious traffic jams. During 2019, the season before COVID-19 restrictions seriously impacted league attendance, the Los Angeles FC averaged 22,251 fans per game, compared to 23,205 for the galaxy.

Notable players

The first player signed in franchise history also turned out to be among its best. In 2017, Los Angeles made Mexican forward/midfielder Carlos Vela its first-ever designated player when it signed him from Real Sociedad of Spain’s prestigious La Liga. The designated player rule allows teams to sign up to three players whose salaries would not count against the team’s salary cap. The team can either pay that salary directly to a player or post a transfer fee to their original club.

Vela led Los Angeles in scoring in his first season with 14 goals. He also added nine assists. In 2019, Vela put up what was arguably the best season in MLS history. He scored a league single-season record 34 goals, breaking the previous mark of 31 set by Atlanta United’s Josef Martínez the year before. He also contributed 10 assists. Vela earned the Golden Boot Award as the league’s leading scorer and was named MLS Most Valuable Player (MVP). From 2018 through 2021, Vela scored a club record 57 regular-season goals and 10 more in the playoffs and tournament play.

Uruguayan forward Diego Rossi was the second designated player signed by Los Angeles in 2017. Only nineteen years old at the time, Rossi was signed away from the Uruguayan squad Club Atlético Peñarol. Rossi scored 12 goals with 6 assists in his first season with Los Angeles and added 16 goals and 6 assists in 2019. His 14 goals in the shortened 2020 season were enough to lead the league and earn him the MLS Golden Boot Award. He was also named a finalist for the 2020 MVP Award. From 2018 through 2021, Rossi was second on the franchise list in goals scored with 48 regular-season goals and 59 total.

Norwegian forward Adama Diomande played in Los Angeles from 2018 to 2020. By 2021, he was third on the franchise list in goals scored with 20 regular season goals and 24 overall. Ghanaian midfielder/forward Latif Blessing had 13 regular-season goals and 18 overall from 2018 through 2021. By the end of the 2021 season, that placed him fourth on the franchise list. Colombian forward Cristian Arango joined Los Angeles in 2021 and led the team in scoring with 14 goals—good enough to place him fifth on the all-time list. He was also named the 2021 MLS Newcomer of the Year. The best goalkeeper in franchise history was American Tyler Miller, who played in 68 games in 2018 and 2019 and posted 20 shutouts.

Bibliography

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McDougall, Chrös. Los Angeles Football Club. ABDO, 2021.

“Los Angeles FC Logo.” Logos-World.net, 16 Mar. 2024, logos-world.net/los-angeles-fc-lafc-logo/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.

“Los Angeles FC Team History.” Sports Team History, 2024, sportsteamhistory.com/los-angeles-fc. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.

“Los Angeles Football Club Stats and History.” FB Reference, 2024, fbref.com/en/squads/81d817a3/history/Los-Angeles-FC-Stats-and-History. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.

Lowery, Steve. “How LAFC Became The No. 1 MLS Team Valued At $860 Million.” Los Angeles FC, 25 Oct. 2021, www.lafc.com/news/how-lafc-became-the-no-1-mls-team-valued-at-860-million. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.

Sigal, Jonathan. “Hollywood Ending! LAFC Win Legendary MLS Cup 2022 over Philadelphia Union.” Major League Soccer, 5 Nov. 2022, www.mlssoccer.com/news/hollywood-ending-lafc-win-legendary-mls-cup-2022-over-philadelphia-union. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.