The Tailgate Experience: SoFi Stadium’s Soccer Debut for the Leagues Cup Showcase

The latest episode of The Tailgate Experience sees the Washed-Up Crew head to the Leagues Cup Showcase at SoFi Stadium — the first ever soccer matches at the massive venue. 

When the Leagues Cup Showcase between LA Galaxy, Chivas, LAFC, and Club America was first announced, many were dubious of the premise. And while putting four rival fanbases in one stadium for a doubleheader of matches sounds like a recipe for disaster, things went surprisingly smoothly.

Sure there was the occasional brouhaha that mostly manifested in the form of a series of beer tosses, but for the most part, things all went according to plan. Fans showed up and injected energy into the stadium for what was a pretty unique matchday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Unfortunately, this unique experience meant that tailgating outside of the stadium was limited. The sprawling landscape outside of SoFi isn’t the most conducive to tailgates, and instead of one central location for fans, it was more of a scattered setting with parking lot pregamers congregating in smaller groups.

However, that didn’t stop us from heading out to capture the distinctive vibes for this notable pair of matchups. These were the first soccer matches to be played in SoFi Stadium, and we wanted to get a preview of what we might see come 2026, when it will be one of the host venues for the World Cup. The in-stadium atmosphere was phenomenal, and the grass pitch, which was made specifically for these games, looked pretty pristine from the press box. Let’s just hope that the stadium figures out its pregame festivities in the next four years.

Check out the SoFi vibes in the latest episode of The Tailgate Experience!

Leave a Reply