It’s not every day you watch soccer and Bob Dylan springs to mind. But Saturday night, watching LAFC take on Inter Miami, The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest kept echoing in my head. In it, Dylan sings: “‘What kind of house is this,’ he said / ‘where I have come to roam?’ / ‘It’s not a house’, says Judas Priest / ‘It’s not a house, it’s a home.’”
And as LAFC secured a 3-0 victory at the LA Memorial Coliseum, I couldn’t help but think this is not their home.
Just yards away, BMO Stadium sat empty. With Leo Messi coming to town for the opening game of the MLS season, LAFC opted to move this marquee fixture to the larger venue next door. It would be unusual if it wasn’t becoming so familiar.
Since Messi’s arrival in South Florida, MLS teams have either abandoned or modified their home stadium when hosting Inter Miami on nearly a dozen occasions. Last year, Columbus even went so far as to leave Columbus for Cleveland. In a couple of weeks, DC United will do the same when they host the Herons in Baltimore. The reason - as both teams and the league will tell us - is to accommodate extraordinary demand. But why?
Why exactly should a home team accommodate such demand? Yes, the increased revenue is undeniable, but so is the loss of integrity. Not only in the home team kowtowing to their opponent’s popularity but also in the competitiveness of the league.
In the age of forensic tactical analysis, the marginal gains offered by playing at home shouldn’t be overlooked. The dimensions of the pitch; the position of advertising boards; the glare of the lights. Play on a field enough and these details become second nature, requiring no conscious consideration and offering a slight advantage over those discovering such particulars in real time. And then, of course, there’s the 12th man.
The greatest advantage (and indeed joy) of playing at home is having your fans on your side. And few fans in the MLS - if any - are as influential as 3252.
The LAFC ultras who normally call the North End of BMO Stadium their home still managed to make their presence known at the Coliseum, and the boos that rained down when Messi stepped up to take a corner were as refreshing as they were undeniable. But they were also stifled.
The dimensions of the Coliseum pushed the 3252’s usual goal line presence back by 20-30 yards, neutering their otherwise intimidating presence. For Inter Miami keeper, Dayne St. Clair, it acted as a buffer that no other visiting keeper will have the privilege of this season.
But even if we’re to leave the competitive integrity aside, there is still no sporting reason why this game shouldn’t have been played at BMO Stadium. It’s a modern, soccer-specific stadium, built specifically for LAFC. Weather isn’t an issue, nor is safety or logistics. And yet, the powers that be decided this game should take place in a stadium not designed for soccer, more exposed to the elements, and less logistically sound.
In other words, the only reason for moving this game is money. Plain and simple.
When I questioned MLS commissioner Don Garber about this, he had a slightly different interpretation. “It’s an opportunity to grow interest in this club beyond the 21,000 people that can go to a game at BMO,” he said.
Maybe he’s right? As LAFC fan Carlos pointed out “there’s a lot of history in this venue. And honestly, you feel like it connects to the city somehow. So you know what? I’m happy with it.”
Perhaps that sense of connection - coupled with growing interest - dispels any questions over integrity? After all, unlike some of the other accommodations that have been made for Messi fandom, this one, at least, was literally right next door. Mere yards from each other, BMO and the Coliseum share parking lots, access roads, and even many of the same personnel. “It’s still a home game,” Garber was eager to emphasize. “This is a home game for LAFC.”
“It doesn’t feel like home.” Christian, a 3252 veteran, was quick to counter. When posing the same question to him as I did commissioner Garber, he was adamant that the change of venue isn’t welcome. “I don’t like it,” he said, “I would prefer to be at BMO. It just doesn’t feel like home.” And understandably so.
As close as the two stadiums may be, the walk, the concourse, the seats, the views - they’re all different. Despite what Carlos had argued or the narrative the league was selling, Christian arrived at the same conclusion I did: “it’s all about the money.”
But maybe Christian and I are simply too stubborn. The MLS has always been different. The conferences. The playoffs. The calendar. The irregularities are part of its charm and maybe this game being moved is just another one of those quirks?
After all, El Trafíco went to the Rose Bowl for a July 4th special just a couple years ago. Not to mention the countless times in years gone by that teams were forced to leave their usual homes for everything ranging from construction to weather to continental regulations. And it’s not like they’d ever move a playoff game away from a team’s home stadium, right?
Right?
Never say never. When asked about taking an LAFC game to Korea, Garber was quick to respond that “I would love to see somebody in Korea reach out to LAFC and say ‘we will pay you a fortune to have LAFC and Sonny come play in Seoul.’”
It seems that if there’s enough “demand”, there’s a way.
For now, it’s predominantly Leo Messi and Inter Miami driving that demand. And as they do, they become ever more villainous in the eyes of many MLS faithful.
If, as Don Garber suggests, the league continues to prioritize growing interest, then expect them to lean into that villainous narrative as any great Machiavellian promoter would. Inter Miami will continue to get special treatment, home games will continue to be moved, the narrative will balloon, and what was once the exception will slowly become normalized. And as it does, the biggest games of the season will risk looking ever more like exhibitions.
Thankfully for LAFC fans, last night’s 3-0 victory wasn’t there yet. It had both the proximity and the scoreline to give the game the meaning it deserved.
But watching streams of black, gold, and pink pour out from the tunnels of the Coliseum after the final whistle, I couldn’t help but think of Bob Dylan again. And Christian. Wondering if he was familiar with The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest as well? And if the final lines of that song were echoing in his head too: “don’t go mistaking paradise / for that home across the road.”