The state of Southern California sports in 2024

In this space, we’ve often referred to Southern California as the continent’s most diverse (and sometimes most capricious) sports market.

Almost every team in every major team sport has two. We have two major conference college programs operating side by side with major league franchises. Starting with this Sunday’s NASCAR crash at the Coliseum, we’ll get cameos from just about every itinerant sports circuit (though we’ll get more than just contact as the tennis tour returns to America’s second-largest market this summer) Although it would be great to do so (I went to Indian Wells in March).

Also, I would like to point out that the third Olympic Games will be held four years from now. Before that, if FIFA and Stan Kroenke can mend fences, SoFi Stadium could be hosting World Cup matches in two years (and perhaps part of next summer’s expanded Club World Cup). .

And we don’t even need to mention the treasure trove of prime-time athletes this region continues to produce each year. When you say the name of a sport, we are represented.

So let’s go big. SoCal claims to be not only the preeminent sports community in North America, but unique on the planet. The phrase “sports capital of the world” sounds too promotional, but doesn’t it fit?

Is there any other city on earth with as much sporting appeal, competition for attention, as we do? For example, in most countries, the sport we know as soccer is Considered king football. Here, it has to compete for market share and attention with the other four major professional sports. And there are good reasons why Major League Soccer avoids the fall, winter and spring scheduling cycles that the rest of the world observes, most importantly the NFL behemoth: our King of Football.

On the other hand, is there any other metropolitan area on the continent that can match the athletic prowess of this vast community of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties?

new york? Sorry, we don’t have many college football profiles. Boston? Just one of all (and they haven’t had a duck boat parade in years). Chicago: Single NBA and NHL teams. Bay area? It’s a close call, but they only have one football team and unfortunately they lost the Raiders and are about to lose the Athletics as well.

Oh, and here’s the kicker and spoiler alert. The leader (again) in the annual ranking of Southern California teams might also be considered a Japanese team.

As has been the case since we started these lists in 2005. press companies, Rankings are determined by multiple factors, including wins, historical importance in the market, level of interest, and in no small part the passion of a team’s fans.

What’s great is that, with rare and obvious exceptions, teams in this market understand what it takes to be competitive not just in their own league, but in the battle for fan attention. is. In other words, reps understand that if you’re a big market team, you’re better off acting like one.

(And you may have noticed a few additions to this year’s list. If you’re interested in the Southern California public, you deserve to be here.)

So, as SoCal’s newest coach likes to say, who’s better than us?

List (2023 rankings in parentheses):

1. Dodgers (1): What I saw at a local store: A blue T-shirt with “OHTANI” written on it like a “HOLLYWOOD” sign. That says it all. No team anywhere can fill the role of a big-market franchise better. Regarding fan bases in other regions complaining that it’s “unfair.” Even more so.

2. Lakers (2): Yes, they have struggled to find their footing this season. This only serves as a reminder of the expectations of their followers that Laker exceptionalism is not just a slogan, but a way of life. (And times like this may be a curse.)

3. Rams (8): What was it like to pay the price to win the Super Bowl? As long as they can keep Matthew Stafford healthy, their immediate future looks bright.

4. Clipper (7): It’s hard to expect to win when something happens over and over again.but why shouldn’t This well-run, well-coached, talented team will make a deep run in the playoffs…and maybe even have a chance to hang a banner in the new arena? (So, if you were a Lakers fan and faced a Clippers vs. Celtics finals game, who would you root for?)

5. Angel City (12): ACFC, along with the San Diego Wave, showed those who run the National Women’s Soccer League that their years of avoiding Southern California were a grave mistake. His average home attendance for the LA team in his two seasons was 19,105 in 2022 and 19,756 in 2023. Is it any surprise that the league is looking to expand to the Bay Area in 2024?

6. (Tie) UCLA Women’s Basketball vs. USC Women’s Basketball (unranked in 2023): The surge in interest in women’s sports, especially women’s college basketball, combined with two teams that are likely to win the championship, is creating a perfect storm. The line that surrounded Pauley Pavilion waiting to get in before the team’s first meeting on Dec. 30 spoke for itself.

8. USC Football (3): The high expectations built in 2022 crumbled in 2023 as the Mercenary team played the same way until the end. But the Trojans’ fan base has regained his passion and expectations, and certainly a little bit of arrogance, after his disastrous decade.

9. Charger (6): did it this Has your fan base ever been overbearing? If Jim Harbaugh does what the crowd expects, they might get their wish.

10. LAFC (4): They may not have been able to defend their MLS Cup title, but this team is well-run with a passionate fan base and will be a factor for some time to come.

11. UCLA Men’s Basketball (5): The young Bruins may certainly continue to thrive, and it’s well established that Mick Cronin won’t let this program languish. But it’s been almost 30 years since the last banner, and this is another fan base that’s hard to stick with.

12. Kings (10): A year ago, or even six weeks ago, they looked like they were gearing up for another Stanley Cup appearance, 10 years after their last championship. But the recent stunning slump calls into question not only the effort and coaching of the players, but also the way general manager Rob Blake has constructed this roster. The most loyal fans in this market deserve more recognition.

13. Angels (9): Arte Moreno and the rest of his organization should be lucky that so many fans still care about this team. Unless new manager Ron Washington is a true miracle worker, there is little reason to expect improvement.

14. USC Men’s Basketball (11): A promising season has taken a turn for the worse, but is there any real evidence that the USC faithful notice or care? Average home crowd of 6,228, with the highest home crowd coming against UCLA. 10,300, and 9,806 for the game against Long Beach State. How many of them showed up early, waiting for JuJu Watkins and the USC women’s players during their nightcap?