There’s a new name to add to the list of international soccer stars who move to Major League Soccer in their 30s: South Korean forward Son Heung-Min.

LAFC announced Wednesday that they have acquired the 33-year-old star from Tottenham Hotspur via a permanent transfer. The deal runs through 2027 with options in both 2028 and 2029.

It’s not yet clear when Son will debut for the Black and Gold, whose next game is Saturday against the Chicago Fire in Los Angeles. The team’s announcement indicated that the forward will be eligible to play “upon receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate.”

The exact financial details of the deal were not revealed. However, GiveMeSport was the first to report that LAFC will pay Tottenham a transfer fee worth $20 million to $26.5 million. If it falls in the higher end of that range, it would break the MLS record for a transfer fee set when Atlanta United paid $22 million to acquire Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesbrough FC.

The Athletic reported Tuesday that the transfer fee is “in the neighborhood of $26.5 million.”

Son announced last week that he was leaving Tottenham after 10 years with the club. He was under contract until 2026 for about $10 million per year.

He led Spurs to the 2025 UEFA Europa League championship in May, breaking the club’s 17-year trophy drought. He played his final game for Spurs in the club’s friendly against Newcastle in South Korea on Sunday.

In 2023, Son reportedly received an offer from the Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad worth around $65 million (€60 million). He chose to stay in England.

Growing Influence of MLS

Son may not be as big a name as Lionel Messi, but his move is another sign of the growing influence of MLS. While the South Korean is on the back end of his career, he is still expected to be one of the sport’s top forwards for several years.

Messi moved to MLS in 2023 when he was 36 years old.

Reports have also indicated that one of the key reasons for Son’s move was the large population of South Koreans in Los Angeles. The city has the largest Korean population of any city in the U.S. Los Angeles is also the host of the 2026 men’s World Cup, and Son is the captain of the South Korean national team.

MLS has received some criticism for its exclusive media deal with Apple TV worth $2.5 billion over 10 years. Commissioner Don Garber told Front Office Sports during the Huddle in the Hamptons event Friday that he pushed back on criticism of the deal. 

“The media and pundits just don’t get it yet,” Garber said. “I’m not sure we are where we need to be, but I know that we’re going to have to get there soon.”

The NHL’s Utah Mammoth are seeking their first win with their new team name off the ice.

The club is suing Mammoth Hockey, a line of high-end hockey bags, asking the court to resolve a trademark dispute. The 16-page suit filed Friday in U.S. district court in Utah lists the ownership’s LLCs, Uyte, and Smith Entertainment Group Hockey, as plaintiffs.

The suit claims the bag company initially “voiced public support” for the new team branding and even reached out about a potential collaboration. But in June, the complaint says, the company “reversed course” by claiming a violation of its trademark rights and “recently threatened litigation in some unknown forum, at some unknown time.” The team is striking first, petitioning the court to make a trademark ruling under the U.S. Declaratory Judgment Act.

Jazz owner Ryan Smith bought the Arizona Coyotes in 2024 and moved them to Salt Lake City, where they competed last season as the Utah Hockey Club, finishing sixth in the Western Conference’s Central Division. In May, the team announced, following a lengthy fan-input process, that its official name would be the Mammoth.

How It All Started

The complaint includes a screenshot from June 2024 when Mammoth Hockey posted about the six finalist team names for the Utah club. 

“We’re pretty partial to this one,” the company account posted, along with a winking emoji and a red circle around “Mammoth.” The filing also includes a screenshot where one of Mammoth Hockey’s cofounders, Erik Olson, reached out to a member of the NHL team in April 2025 on LinkedIn, saying “it would be cool to talk about a possible collaboration” if Mammoth became the team’s new name.

“For example, it could be a good marketing story for the Utah team to tell if we produced the team bags. By Mammoth, for Mammoth!” Olson wrote in the screenshot.

According to the suit, attorneys for Mammoth Hockey then sent a letter to the NHL club in June 2025 claiming trademark violation and demanding they stop using the Mammoth moniker, and sent another letter the next month saying it could lead to consumer confusion. 

The complaint states the bag company never filed a trademark registration for “Mammoth,” leaving their claim to the name on their common law rights. But because the logos have different colors, designs, and uses, the suit says they are two distinct properties that wouldn’t confuse the bag company’s hockey-literate customers, who “readily understand the difference between a well-known professional hockey team and the vendors who provide equipment for amateur players.”

“UTAH MAMMOTH and the NHL believe strongly that we have the right to use the name UTAH MAMMOTH under federal and state law, and that our use will not harm the defendant or its business in any way,” SEG wrote in a statement to Front Office Sports.

Mammoth Hockey has said it is “highly likely that consumers will confuse the two marks, risking our client’s business and operations, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Hockey enthusiasts who pledge support for a team other than Utah Mammoth will not purchase goods from our client due to the consumer’s mistaken belief that such a purchase would support a rival team.” 

“I can tell you that Mammoth Hockey intends to vigorously defend the litigation recently commenced against it by Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League and protect its longstanding trademark used in connection with the hockey goods it has manufactured and sold for the past ten years,” Olson said in an email to FOS.

Alexandra Roberts, an expert on trademark law and professor of law and media at Northeastern University, tells FOS that waiting for a declaratory judgment could extend into the NHL season, but a coexistence agreement or other kind of settlement could be reached sooner. “This does seem like the kind of thing the two companies could work out for themselves,” she says.

Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox played just five games together last season after the Spurs traded for the veteran guard in February. But as expected, San Antonio still handed Fox a max deal to serve as Wembanyama’s sidekick for the foreseeable future.

Fox agreed to a four-year, $229 million max extension with the Spurs on Monday, according to ESPN. The deal for the one-time All-Star starts in 2026 and runs through the 2029–30 season.

The deal ostensibly locks in the Spurs duo until the end of the decade, especially with Wembanyama’s extension eligible starting next offseason. He could sign a five-year deal that would run until the 2031–32 season.

However, as seen this offseason with the Celtics and Suns, a lot can change in the next few years, given the league’s two-apron salary-cap structure.

The Spurs have a bevy of young guards on the roster that could become redundant with Fox in the coming years. Stephon Castle, the reigning Rookie of the Year, will be extension-eligible in the 2027 offseason. Given his performance last year, he could command a max or close to that if he continues to progress.

In June, San Antonio selected Rutgers guard Dylan Harper with the No. 2 pick—a selection it lucked into despite just a 12.5% chance at a top-two pick in the 2025 draft. While Harper has not played a second in the NBA, the 19-year-old, who is the son of NBA legend Ron Harper, will likely still command much more than the $14 million per year his rookie deal pays.

Long-Term Questions

The Spurs are in a decent place financially for the next two seasons due to the abundance of young talent on cheap deals. Despite signing center Luke Kornet on a four-year, $41 million deal last month, they are well below the luxury tax threshold for this upcoming season.

They can also avoid the tax next year as Wembanyama’s potential extension will not yet be on the books.

The question is whether the Spurs—one of the league’s most successful franchises, though also one of its smallest markets—will be able to afford their players in about three or more seasons.

San Antonio’s moves will likely be determined by how they perform on the court over the next few years. If Fox and Wembanyama can lead the Spurs to the playoffs—or a playoff series win for the first time since 2017—then they may be satisfied with what they have at present. Otherwise, their young guards could be given the keys.

The Spurs should also monitor the situation in Milwaukee as they have the pieces to create an enticing deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo, should he become available.