Son Heung-min, who announced his departure from Tottenham, is heading to the departure hall at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport in Yeongjongdo, Incheon on the 5th. Son Heung-min is reportedly likely to join Major League Soccer (MLS) club Los Angeles FC (LAFC). Yonhap News

Los Angeles FC (LAFC), which Son Heung-min (33) chose as his new home after 10 years in the English Premier League (EPL), is considered a 'rising power' in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Founded in October 2014 and joining MLS in 2018, LAFC, based in Los Angeles, California, has achieved significant success despite its short club history, winning the 'Supporters' Shield,' awarded to the regular season champion, twice (2019 & 2022) and clinching the MLS Cup, which determines the final season champion, once.

In 2024, they also lifted the US Open Cup, equivalent to the FA Cup, for the first time.

The co-owners are a diverse group.

Among them are NBA legend Magic Johnson, former MLB star Nomar Garciaparra, and his wife Mia Hamm, a 'hero' of US women's soccer.

Although their start was much later compared to LA Galaxy, founded in 1995 with a 30-year history in the LA area, LAFC has consistently outperformed LA Galaxy in the Western Conference since its inception, gaining an edge in the 'local rivalry' for pride.

LAFC once garnered attention from Korean football fans.

This was due to a video circulating on social media showing LAFC's supporters club, 'The Tigers Supporters Club,' using a modified version of K League club Suwon Samsung's cheering song, 'Champion of Blue, White, and Red.'

A Korean supporter group within 'The Tigers Supporters Club' requested to use the Korean cheering song from Suwon's supporters, 'Frente Tricolor,' and the request was granted.

Furthermore, familiar players to domestic fans have played for LAFC.

Notable among them are Mexican winger Carlos Vela (retired), who played for Real Sociedad (Spain), legendary Juventus (Italy) defender Giorgio Chiellini (retired), and Gareth Bale (retired), who played alongside Son Heung-min at Tottenham (England).

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was with Son Heung-min at Tottenham, still guards the goal.

Wing-back Kim Moon-hwan (Daejeon), who played together in Hong Myung-bo's team, also belonged to LAFC from 2022-2023. French national team forward Olivier Giroud recently moved to Lille (France). Son Heung-min is expected to fill the 'striker vacancy' left by Giroud's departure.

On the 5th (local time), fans are waiting for Son Heung-min to emerge at the arrival hall of Los Angeles (LA) International Airport. Son Heung-min reportedly entered the U.S. through this airport on the same day and exited through a private area within the airport. Yonhap News. 

As Son Heung-min moves to MLS, fans may be puzzled by his move from a top league to what is effectively a lower league in the United States.

However, Son Heung-min made this significant decision with the larger picture of participating in the 2026 North American World Cup in mind, stating, "I believe I need an environment where I can give my all, as this might be my last World Cup."

In response, the Associated Press commented, "LA is the city with the largest Korean population outside of Korea, and Koreatown is not far from LAFC's home stadium, BMO Stadium." The AP added, "LAFC clearly intends to market Son Heung-min as a football star to counter Shohei Ohtani of MLB's LA Dodgers."

MLS, which has no relegation, is still lagging behind European big leagues like the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, and Italian Serie A in terms of fan recognition and the presence of star players.

Furthermore, MLS has a short history, offering less narrative depth, and its method of deciding the regular season champion differs from the traditional European system. It has largely been perceived as a league where former star players from Europe spend the twilight of their careers.

Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez of MLS Inter Miami. Yonhap News

However, the atmosphere has been changing recently.

As MLS clubs have invested heavily, players with continued competitiveness such as Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba (all Inter Miami), Lorenzo Insigne (Toronto), and Marco Reus (LA Galaxy) have chosen to move to the United States.

MLS, which began in 1996, currently operates with 30 teams divided into the Eastern Conference (15 teams) and the Western Conference (15 teams), with each team playing 34 games (including 6 inter-league games) per season.

The team with the highest points across both conferences wins the 'MLS Supporters' Shield,' signifying the regular season championship.

However, it doesn't end there. As there is no promotion or relegation system, MLS continues with the MLS Cup, a championship playoff, after the regular season concludes.

Teams finishing 8th-9th in each conference play a wild card game to determine the first-round qualifiers. Then, matches are played between 1st vs. 8th (or 9th), 2nd vs. 7th, 3rd vs. 6th, and 4th vs. 5th to determine the teams advancing to the semifinals and finals.

The champions of the Eastern and Western Conferences face each other in a single-leg match to determine the ultimate MLS Cup winner.

LAFC qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs as the Western Conference's 1st seed last year and reached the semifinals, but lost 1-2 in extra time to Seattle Sounders.

While lagging in recognition, MLS is in no way inferior to European big leagues in terms of market size.

According to data released by the MLS office in December last year, the total MLS attendance (regular season + MLS Cup playoffs) in 2024 reached 12.1 million, making it the second-highest attended league in the world after the EPL (14.6 million).

The German Bundesliga (12 million), Serie A (11.6 million), and La Liga (10.7 million) followed MLS.

LAFC drew 376,065 spectators for their 17 home games in the regular season last year, averaging 22,121 spectators per game, ranking 13th among all MLS teams.

The team with the highest average attendance was Atlanta United (46,831 spectators per game).

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