California's Having The Best Three Years In Sports History

Fifty-six thousand people were packed into Dodger Stadium one October night in 2025, when Shohei Ohtani – pitcher, designated hitter, and by most reasonable accounts the greatest baseball player who has ever lived – stepped to the plate in the first inning and sent the ball 446 feet into the left-field bleachers.

He did it again in the fourth, 469 feet this time. And then again in the seventh – his third homer of the night. Coupled with his 10 strikeouts from the mound, what the crowd witnessed that night was considered by many as the single greatest individual athletic performance of all time. Don’t believe me? Well, I guess you had to be there.

For Australians, sport has always been an inherent part of the national identity. A country where footy can have a litany of meanings depending on which city you’re fortunate enough to find yourself in; where you can enjoy NRL and AFL in the same pub on the same afternoon. And now, for the first time in history, another football makes its debut, with the LA Rams coming to the MCG on September 11.

In many ways, then, it’s almost the perfect marriage with California – a state that everyone already has a pre-determined idea of, whether they’ve been there or not. Almost mythologised, so thoroughly and for so long, that arriving there feels less like a first visit and more like the big reveal. “Oh, so this is the famous Venice Beach.” “This is where they filmed Heat!”

It’s also a city that has more professional sports teams than you’d find in most countries; each with its own cultural cachet and ardent support from the equally sports-mad locals.

Turn on any television in the world, and you’ll see the biggest World Cup ever staged playing live across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Los Angeles is hosting eight matches, including the US Men's National Team opening clash against Paraguay, which many are calling a huge statement win for the USMNT. The San Francisco Bay Area, too, is hosting six matches, including Australia’s third and final group stage, which could prove crucial to the Socceroos making it out of a difficult group.

Then, it’s the Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in February 2027. Then the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA. Three straight years of the world's biggest sporting events, all anchored by one state. California is sitting at the centre of the biggest three-year run in American sporting history, and you don’t want to miss out on the action.

Kick off your sports trip – a global city that confidently lands at the top of many people’s US bucket list.

You can always arrive with an itinerary, but many find the considered meandering through the Bay Area the best way to enjoy everything this region has to offer, timing it just right as the neighbourhood fog is beginning its daily pilgrimage from the Pacific, and everything, from the Victorian terrace houses and the cable cars, adopts a unique golden hue.

Walk along the wharf and Embarcadero at dawn when the fishermen are hauling their catches in. Pop into a museum with a coffee, head west through the historic Castro and into Noe Valley, up through Dolores Park on a Sunday afternoon, where half the city seems to have gathered on the grass with no particular purpose.

There is, of course, sport. Oracle Park, where the San Francisco Giants play baseball through the summer months, is built right into the waterfront at China Basin, and you’d struggle to find a better way to enjoy the afternoon than seated there for a game on a clear afternoon with McCovey Cove glittering behind right field.

If you’re fortunate enough to arrive during this year’s FIFA World Cup for one of the six aforementioned games hosted at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara this summer, you’ll see for yourself just how much football has taken hold in San Francisco, too, with the fans from Qatar, Switzerland, Austria, Jordan, Paraguay, and Australia calling this iconic Californian port town their temporary home through some of the most charming months of the year.

Dinner’s at House of Prime Rib, arguably one of the most famous prime rib spots in America with its own enviable cult following. Or check out one of the late, great Anthony Bourdain’s enduring picks, Swan Oyster Depot – but be prepared to wait in line.

Stay at the Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero for the best of both worlds: the Californian city’s inherent charm and lifestyle. Where a wander through Chinatown reveals local highlights such as Kin Khao, all within close proximity to some of the best sport San Fran has to offer.

Inevitably, the road continues south, down the Pacific Coast Highway, one of California’s – perhaps even the country’s – most iconic driving roads, sitting on the edge of the North American continent, above changing turquoise hues of the Pacific reaching out into the distance.

Around three hours in, you’ll find Big Sur. Or, better yet, Big Sur finds you. A truly unique geographical experience where the ocean collides with misty forests and mountain ranges; where the big blue meets ancient redwoods that cling to the road. A great addition – where the California road trip is as much a part of the itinerary as the end destination.

Arriving in Los Angeles County tends to wow first-time visitors with its star-studded allure. It’s a criss-cross network of the biggest American postcodes in pop culture from West Hollywood and Santa Monica to Beverly Hills and Venice Beach.

Each neighbourhood has its own unique and enviable subculture, food scene, and, you guessed it, sports team. So where you stay can influence how you play.

A great pick would be the Proper Hotel in Downtown – a design-forward luxury stop close to Crypto.com Arena that confidently walks the line between contemporary accommodation and vintage flair.

If you’re looking to eat with the locals, head out to Sonoratown Downtown, a taquería named after the community of Mexican immigrants who first moved into LA in the mid-19th century. For something that comes with more than one course, check out Musso & Frank Grill, it’s one of the oldest restaurants in Hollywood with vintage decor and full Golden Age atmosphere.

But of course, we’re here for the sport, and this city, home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Sparks; the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels; the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers; the Los Angeles Kings; and the LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC, is not short on options.

Here, sport – not confined to its area codes – sprawls across the region just like the city itself. One night, you could be watching the Dodgers beneath the palm trees of Chavez Ravine. The next, you're among Hollywood celebrities courtside at a Lakers game, with great amphitheatres built to host its local heroes on the biggest stage.

And nowhere is that more true than at the SoFi Stadium, a 70,000-seat colosseum of sport, home to eight matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Inglewood, a mile-wide precinct just south of LAX, has, without making too much noise about it, become one of the country’s most impressive sporting infrastructures.

Developed by Los Angeles Rams Owner and Chairman Stan Kroenke, the SoFi Stadium is a feat of modern engineering, haloed by an Infinity Screen by Samsung that stretches the full length of the pitch on both sides. It’s the first of its kind anywhere in the world: 70,000 square feet of double-sided 4K LED, weighing 2.2 million pounds, and suspended 122 feet above the field. The entire stadium came second. They built it to hold the screen.

It has the rare honour of being the only American city to host a quarter-final at this year’s World Cup, before Super Bowl LXI arrives in February 2027 and the 2028 Olympic opening ceremony transforms Inglewood into the stage for the world's attention.

For those unable to score a ticket, a short walk away, you’ll find Cosm Los Angeles. You’ll likely have already seen it on the feed – an 87-foot domed LED structure that broadcasts live sport from across the globe in an immersive format that places you, both optically and atmospherically, at the centre of the action.

Put it this way: it’s a place where die-hard fans come to watch the game. 8K cameras and a 12K screen give every single person in attendance the best seat in the house. A profoundly important venue during this World Cup year.

Because California doesn’t do things in half measures – you could have reached that conclusion without my ever-present helping hand. It’s a richly diverse hotspot that continues to set the pace in culture, creativity, and entertainment. It’s also home to world-class sport and adventure beyond what we’ve all come to expect. Sometimes, it just has to be seen to be believed. And there’s no better way than on the open road.