LA Galaxy and LAFC to start El Tráfico at Rose Bowl in 2023
The Galaxy are returning where everything started in 1996 during the inaugural MLS season to host their inter-city rivals in 2023.
The Los Angeles Galaxy made the Rose Bowl stadium a fortress during the Major League Soccer inaugural campaign back in 1996 with a record of 13 wins, four draws and two defeats when playing at home across all competitions. They left Pasadena for Carson, California, in 2003, but after almost ten years they could return where everything began.
The Galaxy will return back home for one night
The Galaxy are set to return to the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena during the 2023 MLS regular season to host the Los Angeles FC in the first El Tráfico of the campaign, scheduled to be played on 25 February. The rivalry has grown quickly in just five seasons and it has become one of the most popular and fierce rivalries in the MLS.
“We’ve been thinking about this for a while. And even thinking about it in conjunction with LAFC,” Galaxy president Chris Klein said. “This game has taken on such a special meaning to the city, to our fans and to, really, soccer in this country. It’s taking us back to our home and where we first started and driving what, we think, can be, a spectacular event for soccer in Los Angeles.”
The Galaxy will always see the Rose Bowl like their first home and it shouldn’t be a problem for them to feel comfortable for the 2023 season opener against their inter-city rivals. In their first match in Pasadena they set the club’s single-game MLS home attendance mark of 69,255 for a stadium that has a seating capacity of 90,888.
Next season, the Galaxy and LAFC will meet three times; one match will be played at Banc of California stadium while the other two were first scheduled to be played at Dignity Health Sports Park. It has been reported that the Galaxy only accepted to play the 2023 season opener at the Rose Bowl because they will be able to play in Carson against LAFC later in the regular season.