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If there’s one thing any sports fan can understand, it’s the significance of a championship game.
Set to host the Philadelphia Union in the MLS Cup final on Saturday, LA Football Club, or LAFC, fans will flock to Banc of California Stadium for kickoff at one o’clock. There’s one problem, though. The stadium won’t have any parking.
That’s because USC football will be hosting Cal for their annual homecoming game later that evening, and it’s parking for THIS game that’s being given priority. But with the biggest and most important game of the MLS season taking place just a few hours before and no available parking for it, how are soccer fans supposed to come watch their game?
Max Bretos: Our friends at Metro--we were having all the details with them, obviously going to metro.net to find out schedules and timetables and where you can catch a train or bus towards Banc of California Stadium.
That’s Max Bretos, the official broadcaster for LAFC.
Max Bretos: The Dodgers are also involved and they’re providing parking at Dodger Stadium where you can get transport down to the stadium. It’s about a 15 minute drive or less. I think we’re really excited about the options.
In a nutshell, soccer fans will park at other places around the city, and then rely on public transportation to take them the rest of the way. But how do the LAFC fans feel about their championship game taking a backseat to American football? After all, they’re the ones most affected by the parking rules for Saturday.
Steven Salisbury: As any sports fan will know, getting a championship game at home is rare. This could be the only time it ever happens.
That’s Steven Salisbury, a longtime fan of LAFC, disappointed by the lack of respect for soccer in the United States.
Steven Salisbury: But to have to play little brother to USC, which for a run-of-the-mill regular season game that’s happening, I believe like 6 hours later, is kind of insulting. And it’s a bad look for the sport and it’s a bad look for the league and definitely a setback in terms of trying to stand on its own two feet with the, quote unquote ‘big boys’ of American professional sports.
Exposition Park and the LA Colosseum are both owned by the state of California, not USC. So with that being the case, why exactly does USC get the priority here?
Tony Mazza: We have an agreement with Exposition Park with the state of California that went to when a U.S. football game goes on, all of the parking at Exposition Park can be permitted by USC.
That is Tony Mazza, the director of transportation at USC.
Tony Mazza: So we buy all of the party in Exposition Park from Expo Park, slash the state of California for a certain price, and then we sell it right to our fans. And so we have, you know, first right of the parking for USC game.
Everyone I spoke to echoed the same sentiment that this is the first time an issue like this has ever arisen. With such an action-packed day of sports set for Saturday, the question remains of whether this parking fiasco will wind up upsetting the day for both sports.