So, 2025 is coming to an end. I will be honest; it wasn’t the best of years. We lost quite a few great icons, but that’s not all. Los Angeles sports fans watched in agony as many teams like the Clippers and Angel City FC failed to win. Only one team was able to sate LA’s appetite for a championship: the Dodgers. The Dodgers’ victory over the Toronto Blue Jays made them repeat World Series Champions, the first for the MLB since the New York Yankees at the turn of the century.
I wrote last year how the gauntlet had been thrown for Los Angeles’ sports teams now that the Dodgers have become the most dominant team in baseball. So far, no one has been able to challenge the Dodgers as LA’s premier sports team. However, some like the Lakers, Rams, and Chargers have been looking to answer the call.
As the champagne pops, the ball drops, and the calendar flips…it’s time to see what each team can do for 2026. Because New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for people to get more active or healthy, because LA’s sports franchises look to have some big plans of their own. Let’s quickly look to see what each team needs to make 2026 their year. (Sorry, no Stevie Nicks references. Just wait until after Week 18 of the NFL season.)
ANGEL CITY FC
As always, ladies first. Angel City FC has a big question to answer: can they even win? Pardon the simplicity, but this is the question fans want an answer to. Los Angeles wants winners, and Angel City hasn’t done that nearly enough. They have had one playoff berth in four years as a club, and the only thing consistent since their launch in 2022 has been inconsistency.
Alexander Straus didn’t arrive as head coach until summer, so 2026 will be his first full season with the team. A playoff berth is the absolute minimum requirement for a big-market team talking about championship aspirations (especially with the great blue elephant in the room that is the Dodgers).
The arrival of Hina Sugita will help his case, but the abrupt departure of U.S. forward Alyssa Thompson in September makes this a much more difficult offseason than anticipated. LA fans want to win, and if that doesn’t happen, it will impact Angel City off the field, too.
LAFC
It wasn’t as bad of a season for LAFC, but still a tragic one. They failed to even win once in the Club World Cup and then came a disappointing ending in the playoffs by losing a penalty kick shootout in the Western Conference semifinal.
It felt like a tale of two seasons and was the swan song for coach Steve Cherundolo. LAFC now turns to Marc Dos Santos to lead as he becomes the club’s third coach in their brief history. He has the trust and belief of the players, but now we get to see what he does with it.
The addition of Son Heung-Min definitely helped. Thanks to Son and the roster settled down, they became one of the best teams in the league down the stretch. However, LAFC wants to get back to the promise land and reclaim MLS’ top prize. So, LAFC are going to be looking for additional players that can work with Son and Dos Santos to hoist LAFC over the top.
LA GALAXY
Just a year removed from winning the MLS Cup, the LA Galaxy failed to mount any kind of title defense. The beginning of the season saw them win only once. The most embarrassing moment was a 1-0 defeat in which their opponent didn’t get a shot on goal (go ahead and Google it at your own risk aspiring soccer fans).
It was definitely better when the second half of the season rolled around. But by then, it was too late to dig themselves out of the hole they were in. The good news is that they did well enough to earn a spot in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
The good news is that the sale of Jonathan Perez for $1.8 million means that the Galaxy has some money to work with to fix the roster. There are a lot of holes to fill, and the club is hopeful that Riqui Puig returns. It was a forgettable year for Galaxy fans. Here’s hoping 2026 is as good as 2024 for them.
LA KINGS
We now move on to hockey with the hometown LA Kings. Their fans definitely want to forget the fact that they were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers…yet again. The start of this current season has been a bit rocky. At the same time, the Kings are preparing to say farewell to legendary veteran Anze Kopitar, who has announced this will be his last season.
The defense for the Kings has been better than expected as they are third in the league in goals against per game (averaging around 2.68 goals allowed per game). The problem has been their offense. Their 99 goals scored combined with their 102 goals allowed means they have a goal differential of -3 (not good).
Having watched the Kings and their minor league affiliate, the Ontario Reign, I think I can diagnose the problem. They can’t score on power plays. The Kings have had 118 power play opportunities and have scored on…17 of them. These kinds of figures are appalling. If they don’t fix this fast, they’re going nowhere fast.
ANAHEIM DUCKS
Let’s go down the freeway to look at the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks came shooting out of the gate with an incredibly hot start. Unfortunately, that offensive steamroller that drove them to that streak has come to a screeching halt.
December was a particularly bad month for the Ducks. As the calendar changes to 2026, it’s clear that the Ducks are no longer at the bottom of the barrel of the NHL. However, their recent lapses in offense are not very good.
Even before the offense cooled down, the most significant weakness for the Ducks was their defense. The Ducks are currently tied for the league worst in goals allowed at 137. It’s clear that they can’t out-score EVERY opponent they face. They need better defense to give their offense the chance to get hot again.
LA SPARKS
From the hockey rink to the basketball court, our focus now falls on (because, as always, ladies first) the LA Sparks. The Sparks showed significant improvement this last season. Their 5-13 bad start can be attributed to coach Lynne Roberts still trying to get used to what she had, and the fact the Sparks were without rookie star Cameron Brink.
Now it is difficult to assess what the Sparks can do because of the big elephant in the room. I am of course talking about the ongoing labor dispute between the WNBA and the players union. The players union has continued to publicly express displeasure with the state of negotiations, with the player body last week authorizing the union’s executive committee to “call a strike when necessary,” a move the WNBPA called an “unavoidable response to the state of negotiations with the WNBA and its teams.” There is still hope as the league and the union agreed to an extension of the deadline to find an agreement to January 9.
If a compromise can be found, the focus for the Sparks will be on keeping stars Dearica Hamby and Kelsey Plum, as well as Azura Stevens. They will also need to work without a first round draft pick in this coming draft. However, they may want to see if they can gather lots of draft capital for 2027 when we could potentially see rising star JuJu Watkins enter the WNBA.
LA CLIPPERS
We now turn to the LA Clippers. Their latest run to the playoffs ended in the first round. However, the Clippers seemed poised to dust themselves off and have another go. They even made improvements to their new arena that we previously wrote about. They’ll even host the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.
However, their first three months of the season have been pretty rough. The team is under investigation for salary cap circumvention related to a sponsorship deal with Kawhi Leonard. They also had a rough “divorce” when they parted ways with future hall of fame guard Chris Paul. Now they’re sitting near the bottom of the standings.
Here’s the problem: their team is too old. The average age of the Clippers is the highest in the league. They won’t be able to get younger at the draft because their 2026 first-round pick belongs to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. With no incentive to tank, the Clippers will need to explore options to improve around Leonard and James Harden, then fight to climb into the play-in games.
LA LAKERS
When the door closes on the year 2025, Lakers fans will look back on it and see it as the beginning of a new era. 2025 began with the shocking trade that saw the Lakers part ways with Anthony Davis in exchange for a generational talent in Luka Dončić. Then came the news that Jeanie Buss and the Buss family, who owned the Lakers since 1979, were selling their majority share in the team to Mark Walter (who just happens to be the majority owner of the Dodgers as well). However, Jeanie is expected to remain the team’s Governor for the foreseeable future.
Now, the Lakers aren’t doing too bad. They currently sit at 20-11. However, I’m sure they will admit that there is room for improvement. Their current average point differential -0.4, so they’re in the same boat as the Ducks: scoring a lot but giving up a lot.
The Lakers are still in the market for a rim-defender. It hasn’t been easy to find someone to fill Anthony Davis’ role since being traded. But for now, the Lakers look good enough to avoid the play-in games. Let’s see if they can find another gear that will allow them to make a run at another NBA Championship (after all, they’re still LA’s most decorated franchise in terms of number of championships).
LA CHARGERS
Our focus now goes to the football field of SoFi Stadium. Starting with the Chargers, the future looks bright. The division is wide open now that the era of the Kansas City Chiefs, for all intents and purposes, is effectively over. However, there are some areas for concern.
Yes, the Chargers are going to start the new year in the playoffs. But they’ve had problems in recent years concerning the offensive line. Star quarterback Justin Herbert, who has the potential to be the best in the NFL, has taken a lot of hits in recent years, especially this season.
There isn’t much that can be done now so close to the playoffs. However, this needs to be addressed when the season is over. There are quite a few good linemen heading for the draft, especially Iowa center Logan Jones. It remains to be seen if the Chargers can get some of them.
LA RAMS
SoFi’s other resident, the LA Rams, starts the new year in the playoffs as well. However, their last two losses have diminished their Super Bowl chances. There are other factors that need to be considered when this season ends as well.
We already know that Matthew Stafford is getting up in age. Despite his MVP caliber season, the Rams will need to plan ahead. With Stafford’s old high school friend Clayton Kershaw retiring, it’s only a matter of time until he does, too (it would definitely be cool to see the two men golfing for fun in their retirement).
The Rams seem to be ready for the upcoming playoffs. Their run defense, however, has had mixed results. Combined with their earlier mishaps on special teams that caused the special teams coordinator to lose his job, the Rams have some holes to address when the season ends.
LA (TECHNICALLY ANAHEIM) ANGELS
Our final stop on our New Year’s sports resolutions tour is the baseball diamond. Down the 5 freeway is the Angels (Anaheim Angels…not LA Angels…). This last year…was no different than the year before.
The Angels’ only achievement last year was a season sweep of the eventual champion Dodgers. (To those of my family and friends that boast about that: congrats. How did it feel watching us win the World Series from your couch?) That aside, the Angels didn’t have a great year.
The biggest thing they can do to improve this coming year (besides getting a new owner) is, once again, get better pitching. The pitching staff has ranked 29th in strikeout rate over the past two seasons (and that’s just one of the bad stats I picked). Until the pitching improves, the only goal the Angels can achieve is getting above .500.
LA DODGERS
We finish this article with the only team that won a championship for Southern California, the Dodgers. As in 2024, 2025 was their year. Their victory in the World Series made it the third in this decade for “them bums.” They may not have made it easy, but the Dodgers proved they have a legitimate dynasty.
Throughout the year, the Dodgers’ bullpen was their only obvious Achilles heel. The bullpen struggled with injuries, performance, or both. It got bad enough that manager Dave Roberts used his starting pitchers (who performed much better) as relievers in the World Series.
The Dodgers have already started to address this concern. As we reported previously, the Dodgers signed star reliever Edwin Diaz. Now all that remains is for the Dodgers to start getting younger talent. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are getting up there in age, and World Series hero Miguel Rojas has said this will be his last season. All eyes will be on the champs this year. But the Dodgers still seem ready for more, because (as Joe Davis said to end the World Series) “to beat the champ…you gotta knock ‘em out!”
