The ongoing growth of pro soccer in the U.S. has hit another major milestone.

MLS’s Los Angeles rivalry of the L.A. Galaxy and reigning league champion LAFC drew 82,110 on Tuesday at the Rose Bowl, setting a single-game league attendance record. The total easily surpassed the 74,479 Charlotte FC attracted in March 2022 for its first-ever game as a league expansion franchise, and was widely described as a playoff-type atmosphere.

The L.A. game — widely known as El Tráfico in a nod to the famous Spanish El Clásico rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid — was rescheduled from February due to heavy rain and wind at the time in Southern California.

Regardless of specific timing, the attendance figure represents another important step in MLS’ push to become a larger and more significant entity.

The total follows other recent achievements for MLS such as Lionel Messi’s historic move to Inter Miami, the groundbreaking streaming deal with Apple, an enlarged postseason, forthcoming expansion to San Diego, rising franchise values, and unprecedented fan reception for the new St. Louis City FC club.

“When you have 80,000 people and the energy in that type of stadium is around you … it comes with the sense of something much bigger than maybe just a normal match day,” said Greg Vanney, head coach and sporting director for the Galaxy, which defeated LAFC 2-1.

Homegrown French stars will loom large in the next wave of ticket sales for the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

Organizers put tickets for soccer, basketball, handball, and sailing competitions being held outside of Paris on sale Wednesday. Fans are expected to clamor to see Victor Wembanyama, recently selected first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft by San Antonio, and Kylian Mbappé, who led France to the 2022 FIFA World Cup final and is one of the world’s highest-paid athletes.

The latest batch of ticket sales also are beginning amid a troubled stretch for the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee. In recent weeks, the event has been hit with serious corruption allegations, controversy over alcohol restrictions, and issues surrounding high ticket prices and planned treatment of the city’s homeless during the Games.

More than 6.8 million tickets have already been sold so far for Paris 2024 during two prior rounds. The tickets for soccer, basketball, handball, and sailing — all competitions set to be held at least in part in various regional locations around France — were originally scheduled to be sold later this year, but organizers accelerated the timetable for this third round of sales amid the strong demand.

The tickets are being sold globally on a first-come, first-serve basis and without any sort of lottery that had been used in prior rounds.

Paris 2024 organizers are openly touting the likely presence of Mbappé at next year’s Olympics, even as it remains unclear whether he will be allowed by his professional club to play.

Wimbledon was still completing first round matches on Day 3 of the tournament as rain has wreaked havoc at the All England Tennis & Lawn Club — forcing delays and frustrating fans.

While Centre Court hosted second round matches for the likes of top women’s seed Iga Świątek and No. 2 men’s seed Novak Djokovic after play resumed Wednesday afternoon, first round matches on both sides of the draw were still underway on the other 18 courts.

With a record purse of $56.5 million this year, Wimbledon has already issued refunds totalling more than $300,000 in light of Tuesday’s rainfall that pushed back all but eight of the 77 scheduled matches. It was the biggest washout at Wimbledon since 2004.

On Monday, Djokovic was perplexed at the 80-minute delay during his first-round victory on Centre Court — which boasts a state-of-the-art retractable roof that reportedly cost over $100 million. The grass got too wet before the roof was closed.

Before the British skies turned dark, Wimbledon fielded a staggering 12,000-plus fans queuing for tickets on Day 1, leading to confusion from fans and an eventual apology from Wimbledon for the chaos. The result was Wimbledon’s largest day of attendance (​​42,815) since 20215.

Laying Down The Law

Despite ramping up security ahead of Wimbledon in light of protests at other recent British sporting events, the All England Club has already had to briefly pause play because of disturbances. Three people were arrested on Wednesday after spreading confetti on Court 18 during two separate matches.