Friday Newsletter: LAFC Makes a Statement with Gareth Bale Signing, Carlos Vela Extension

Plus more fallout from FIFA's World Cup 2026 host cities reveal, and I answer your Mailbag questions

Gareth Bale is set to join LAFC, Tom Bogert reports (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

IF LAFC ENDS UP WINNING THE MLS CUP IN 2022, the turning-point day in realizing those goals will have been today, June 25. That’s the day that Tom Bogert tweeted LAFC was set to sign Gareth Bale on a non-Designated Player deal and Taylor Twellman tweeted LAFC had re-signed star Carlos Vela to a new contract.

LAFC, which already leads the league in points (30), also recently signed Italian centerback Giorgio Chiellini to a non-DP deal and still has one more DP spot to fill. What are my thoughts on all that? Let’s break it down:

Los Angeles and Miami were up in the air as [World Cup 2026] host cities until the final day. FIFA very much wanted both L.A. and Miami to be in the final group, and the cities knew that, which is why there was plenty of pushback in the final stages after FIFA tried to strong-arm the cities with a late addendum to wrest more concessions from the candidate host cities.

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• It sends a message to the rest of MLS. What’s your team doing to keep up? Unless you’re the Seattle Sounders, which are already the CONCACAF champions and have put together a marvelous team, or maybe Toronto with the incoming Lorenzo Insigne, your team isn’t doing what LAFC is.

Let’s be clear: If Bale and Chiellini had been DP signings, I doubt I’d be feeling positive about that. But they’re not DP signings, so for me it’s a no-brainer to add them. I feel like MLS teams signing European stars in their 30s is fine these days as long as most of them are on TAM deals, but if you’re going to devote a DP slot to a player you’re better off getting someone in their 20s or teens. I’m very curious to see who LAFC lands with its DP slot. If it’s an attacker with a big upside, look out.

• I have one concern for LAFC. It’s an age-old rule: You’re going to have problems in the locker room if your best players aren’t your highest earners. If Bale lights up MLS and provides more to the team than LAFC’s DP earners, including Vela, that could become an issue.

• D.C. keeps getting kicked in the teeth soccer-wise. The nation’s capital is having a rough stretch when it comes to soccer. Bale had been in talks with D.C. United, which failed, only for Bale to take a non-DP deal with LAFC. This comes a week after D.C./Baltimore was passed up as a host city for World Cup ‘26. And D.C. United just isn’t moving the needle these days as a team on the move in MLS. 

As the Washington Post’s Steven Goff wrote this week, “Because United has struggled to keep up since it won four titles in the league’s first nine seasons, hosting the [MLS Cup final] these days is pure fantasy.”

At least D.C. was awarded the hosting rights for the 2023 MLS All-Star Game, for what that’s worth.

FALLOUT FROM THE WORLD CUP 2026 HOST CITIES ANNOUNCEMENT

As you might expect, there were plenty of stories being told about how the sausage got made in the wake of FIFA’s announcement last week of the 16 host cities for World Cup 2026. And there was a lot of sausage being made in the very last moments before the official announcement on global TV. To wit:

• Los Angeles and Miami were up in the air as host cities until the final day. FIFA very much wanted both L.A. and Miami to be in the final group, and the cities knew that, which is why there was plenty of pushback in the final stages after FIFA tried to strong-arm the cities with a late addendum to wrest more concessions from the candidate host cities.

“There was a call on the morning of [the announcement] with L.A. [and FIFA],” a person with direct knowledge of the Los Angeles bid told me. “It came down to a game of chicken and who blinked. FIFA ended up blinking, but L.A. still needs more private funding.”

“It wasn’t until the last day with Miami,” another person with direct knowledge of the Miami talks told me. “There were multiple open items that weren’t sorted out until the end. FIFA is used to strong-arming cities/venus and making it seem like a ‘favor.’ Miami wasn’t going to roll over to their demands (some unreasonable). So that delayed the process. At the end they compromised on certain things and made it work. FIFA is not used to getting pushback.”

One other tidbit: The L.A. bidders were not expecting to see the Rose Bowl ruled out when FIFA announced the L.A. games would solely be at SoFi Stadium. That was a complete surprise on the broadcast.

• The World Cup 2026 International Broadcast Center is likely going to be in Atlanta or Dallas. Those are the two main candidates right now, with Dallas (the 1994 World Cup IBC location) being the more likely destination. 

• The rift between FIFA and U.S. Soccer/MLS continues. I have reported previously on what happened behind the scenes when U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone won re-election earlier this year by defeating Carlos Cordeiro, who was being actively supported by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani. 

MLS commissioner Don Garber, who influences USSF votes on the Pro Council, refused pressure from Infantino and Montagliani to support Cordeiro. So it was no surprise that Garber, who’s based in New York City, was nowhere to be found around FIFA’s announcement proceedings, and Parlow Cone did only one photo appearance.

FIFA has acted like an occupying force when it comes to organizing World Cup 2026 so far, ending the run of Local Organizing Committees, and it remains to be seen how much (if at all) U.S. Soccer and MLS will be involved in helping to organize World Cup ‘26 despite having plenty of experience with logistics and major soccer events in this part of the world.

OPENING THE MAILBAG

The Apple-MLS media deal sounds great for current fans. But what mechanisms will exist to attract new fans to the league? Sounds like Apple TV+ subscribers who aren't otherwise MLS subscribers will have access to a limited menu of games. That’s fine, but there's got to be more than "build it and they will come," I hope? Winning over new MLS fans from the Apple demographic is clearly the goal. How will this deal accomplish that?

Josh Lane

When you’re talking about attracting new fans to MLS, look for deals to be announced in which linear TV like ESPN, Univision and perhaps Fox Sports will broadcast MLS games that you can also find on Apple. That makes sense to me. And I like the fact as a cord-cutter that I can get every MLS game via streaming on Apple, though the price point is going to be important. I will say that it drives me nuts that if I want to watch every Premier League game I have to pay for multiple platforms, cable and streaming. That’s poor from NBC.

What the hell is the deal with Christen Press NOT making the squad, even before she was hurt?

Julie DiCaro

Yeah, that’s a strange one for me from Vlatko Andonovski. On her podcast, Lori Lindsey referred to some things Press was involved with behind the scenes at the Olympics that may have rubbed Andonovski the wrong way. I’ll poke around and see what’s up with that possibility.

Do you think Berhalter stays as USMNT coach after the World Cup if we don't get out of the group stage? And who might take over if that happens?

Doug Steiger

I think it would be unlikely for Berhalter to stick around if the U.S. doesn’t get out of the group stage, which would be extremely disappointing. The obvious replacement would be Jesse Marsch, but I don’t know if Marsch would be willing to give up his job at Leeds United to do that.

When you are deciding to write a story that some may view as controversial or may cast a negative light on a certain portion of the U.S. soccer community (i.e., USSF, MLS, coaches, players, etc.), what is the calculus involved by you in determining whether or not the story is worth running if it will lead to the possible loss of inside sources or cooperation from one of the governing bodies? For example, when Brian Straus wrote his piece about the national team under Klinsmann, did he face huge blowback from the USSF?

Nicholas Concilio

That’s a really good question. From what I know, Straus (who’s terrific) didn’t have any issues from U.S. Soccer after writing that groundbreaking story. I do think there’s a misunderstanding in some quarters of the fanbase that U.S. Soccer is this over-the-top punitive force when it comes to dealing with journalists who report critical things, and that’s just not the case in my experience over 25 years. I’ve written plenty of critical stuff about the American soccer scene over the years, and I’ve never had my credentials pulled or anything like that. And I wrote an entire book of journalism about David Beckham and the LA Galaxy that never brought any blowback. 

Have a good weekend.