The Battle For Los Angeles

It's Sunday night at the Dignity Health Sports Park, and the noise rising from the stadium can be heard throughout Carson, California. Andrew Alesana, president of the LA Riot Squad sits in the front row in the southeast corner of the stadium, leading his supporters group in chants. Cheers of “LA GALAXY!” pulse throughout the stadium, followed by drum pounding and claps. It's 5p.m., and the sun is beginning to set, but Alesana has a coat of sweat across his brow. His hands are in the air as he lets out a booming yell orchestrating the supporters in another chant. He is louder than usual. There is more tension and excitement at tonight's game. It may just be the regular season, but this game means more.

On the other side of the stadium, Jonathan Reimer is a small wave in a sea of black. He may be a visiting supporter, but he is joined by other fans that make him feel like he is home. An LA native, anywhere outside this stadium would be home. He joins the other road fans in cheers raising his hands for constant clapping in a rhythmic beat. Flags dawning black and gold designs wave all around him as he yells in support of his team. Although this sea of black’s roar is enormous, he and others are being pelted with expletives and obscene gestures from the home fans in surrounding sections. Reimer never faces such harshness from opposing fans, but he knows this is different. He knows this game means more.

The game has not started, and the passion in the stands makes it feel like a title game. The rivalry named El Tráfico, after the excessive amount of traffic in LA, puts the city's people at odds with each other unlike any other rivalry in Major League Soccer. As the home Galaxy and visiting Los Angeles Football Club take the field, the battle for Los Angeles begins.

Reimer, who is a co-host of the Shoulder 2 Shoulder: LAFC Podcast was drawn to LAFC in a way he never felt from the Galaxy. As a kid, he wanted to support his hometown soccer team, but felt excluded from the Galaxy community. From having beer thrown on his mother in the inaugural Galaxy game in 1996 to being told to leave a tailgate section while trying to have a beer with Galaxy fans in 2014, Reimer felt LA’s first team constantly pushed him away. He craved the sense of community he saw in European soccer, which he found in a newly formed LAFC. “My first experience with LAFC and their fans just sparked that curiosity, passion and excitement,” Reimer says. “I wanted nothing more than to be around these people and this culture and continue with it.”

Reimer knew he was in the right place during the inaugural LAFC season, when his girlfriend fell into a coma for 90 days. The LAFC community surrounded Reimer with love and constant support throughout that time. “These people had stood up for me in the darkest moment of my life and I was at that point forever going to be a part of that fan base.” He says being inclusive and welcoming to anyone who joins them is reflective of the LAFC community. It was a stark difference and contrast to everything he experienced with the Galaxy community.

Paul Ruiz, President of LAFC’s Pride Republic supporters group, echoes Reimer’s feelings of inclusivity. For Ruiz, LAFC has always wanted to represent all communities of LA, something he does not see within their rivals. The Galaxy do not have an LGBTQ supporters groups within their organization. “I have never seen [the Galaxy] take any deeper action toward the community except on pride night.” Ruiz has always felt safe within Banc of California stadium where LAFC plays. The support and inclusion within the LAFC community is not something Ruiz sees in the Galaxy community.

Alesana, who has been a Galaxy season ticket holder since 2007, has always felt at home around the Galaxy community. The Galaxy fans pride themselves on being an organic fanbase with an organic culture. Alesana said, “Everything that has been built within the Galaxy has been built by the Galaxy fans.” One of the inaugural MLS teams when the league was formed in 1996, the Galaxy have always had some of the most devoted fans in the league.

Steven Levy Cruz, whose family was a part of the Galaxy’s first supporters group, the Galaxians, says the fans not only have a close relationship with each other but also the players on the field. For Cruz, he says his mother took him to games because many of the Galaxy players were from El Salvador, where his family is from. “There have been a lot of players who are from communities that are established here in LA,” Cruz says. Fans sharing team culture and their own heritage with players has made the Galaxy a tight-knit community since their establishment.

On top of that, comes the bond that winning creates. The Galaxy are the most decorated MLS franchise, with five MLS titles and have nine total finals appearances. That is four more than any other MLS team. Ask any Galaxy fan the difference between them and LAFC? You get the same answer: history and championships.

Anthony Luna, a member of the Angel City Brigade supporters group and former David Beckham Academy player says, “There is no team in the MLS that has created such a hype like the LA Galaxy.” This season, the Galaxy’s opening game vs Inter Miami was the highest tv rated MLS game since 2011. Who was playing in the previous game in 2011? The Galaxy. The team has consistently brought the international games biggest stars to LA, like: David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and currently Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. Their global brand has represented the MLS for almost its entire existence. Alesana says, “we have the history, and we have the championships. When it comes to LA those things matter. Being a winning team in this city matters.”

While Alesana may be right, lately, the Galaxy have not found their championship form. The team has not won an MLS title since 2014 and has made the playoffs just three times since then. LAFC has finished above the Galaxy in the standings since they began playing in 2018. This success and the signing of Mexican soccer star Carlos Vela helped LAFC gain immediate fans. “I would say 60% of the LAFC community are people who have been fans of football their whole life,” Reimer says. “They just never got into the Galaxy because that culture was the antithesis of what they wanted out of a football team.”

The LAFC game atmosphere has attracted many fans to their team as well. Constant chanting in a safe standing unified section at the north end of the stadium, reminds many of the stadiums in Europe and South America where the game has always thrived. LAFC supporters join under the name 3252, which stands for the number of seats in the section. “I dare you to come to Banc of California Stadium and tell me there is no energy,” Reimer says. “You've got 90 minutes of people jumping and screaming and chanting with flags and smoke.”

On the field, the two teams have played some of the most must-watch soccer in the MLS. From Ibrahimovic’s debut brace in a comeback 4-3 Galaxy win to a 8 goal, 5-3 LAFC playoff win, the two teams display highlight after highlight. “That first game is probably one of the loudest non-MLS cup game experiences I have ever had,” Alesana says. He remembers going to LAFC and the team only offering 100 tickets for Galaxy supporters; but finding a way to buy hundreds more. Reimer says the Galaxy have put rubber mats down when LAFC fans come to the stadium and put speakers in their section to drown out their chants. Luna described the atmosphere in the stands as cutthroat. “For us Galaxy fans, we bring our heart to the game, and they bring their thing and it is a constant battle.”

When the two teams meet goals and theatrics are almost a certainty, for what is on the line is more than a game or place in the standings. It is the fight for control of a soccer craving city.