History of Los Angeles - New York championship games in US sport

The sporting rivalry between Los Angeles and New York holds a special place in the history of US sport. The two great metropolises of America - the most populous cities with the largest economies - each boast proud sporting traditions, storied teams and vociferous support.

And yet this weekend will mark the first time in the 29-year history of Major League Soccer that teams from LA and NY have met in a championship game. Both LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls (formerly the MetroStars) were founding members of MLS but their trophy cabinets look decidedly different after nearly three decades in the league.

The LA Galaxy are the most successful team in league history with five MLS Cup triumphs to their name and another four previous appearances in the showpiece final. The Red Bulls, meanwhile, have made just one, unsuccessful trip to MLS’s championship game.

The Eastern Conference outsiders will be looking to narrow the gap on Saturday when they travel to Los Angeles. For the second time this year the two cities have met with silverware on the line, adding to the rich history of the LA-NY sporting rivalry.

Dodgers - Yankees rivalry reignites in MLB

Two of of the biggest, most celebrated teams in baseball history, the LA Dodgers and the New York Yankees have contested the World Series 12 times, more than any other two teams. The Yankees have been the stronger force historically with a massive 27 World Series titles to their name, eight of which came against the Dodgers.

Some Yankees fans will cite the Boston Red Sox as their truest rivals but the coastal clash against the Dodgers retains a sense of genuine importance. That comes partially from the rivalry’s roots as an all-NYC affair, when the Dodgers were based in Brooklyn.

In the 1940s and 1950s the two teams were neighbours when they met in the World Series seven times but, in 1958, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, with owner Walter O’Malley deciding that it was a better location to build a new stadium.

In 1981 the Dodgers recorded a 4-3 World Series win over the Yankees that would be the final championship contested between the two teams for more than four decades. This year they met again in the World Series and the Dodgers cruised to a 4-1 series victory. The Yankees will hope that it’s not another 43 years before they get a shot at revenge.

Knicks and Lakers once vied for NBA supremacy

A decade before that previous meeting between the Dodgers and the Yankees, the LA-NYC sporting rivalry played out in a series of NBA finals. The New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers faced off for the championship in 1970, 1972 and 1973. The two teams alternated the victories in those halcyon days of the rivalry, with the Knicks coming out on top in 1970 and 1973.

From that point on the two teams diverged with the Lakers going on to add a further ten titles, starting in 1982. The Knicks, meanwhile, have managed only two more appearances in the NBA finals, both ending in defeat to teams from Texas.

Madison Square Garden remains one of the most iconic venues in the sport but there’s been little to celebrate for Knicks fans in recent decades. In NBA, the New York - Los Angeles rivalry has become painfully one-sided.

Cities remain apart in NFL and NHL

In terms of football and hockey, there is very little in the way of championship history between the two cities. Teams from New York and Los Angeles have never played a Super Bowl, and there is only one instance of the two coastal cities going head-to-head for Stanley Cup.

That came in 2014, the first championship game meeting between NY and LA since the 1981 World Series. After 34 years the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers met in the 2014 Stanley Cup, with the Kings coming out as 4-1 series winners. It was the second championship in three seasons for the Kings, who had beaten the New Jersey Devils in 2012.

The most infamous of the previous NHL meetings came in 1981 when a bench-clearing brawl set a playoff record with 43 penalties and 248 penalty minutes. Notably, the in-house organist at the Forum in Inglewood played ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ to accompany the on-ice carnage.

Now that the two cities finally have an MLS Cup to contest, NFL is the only major sports league not to have featured a championship game or series between Los Angeles and New York.

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