Son Heung-Min's LAFC home debut to mark the start of a celebratory period for Korean star in MLS

Fresh off beating the reigning world champions Germany in their first match of the 2018 World Cup, a second win would essentially make a spot in the knockouts a near certainty. El Tri were the favorites against South Korea but victory is never a sure thing, which is why an enclave of Mexico fans in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood were stressed on a fine Saturday morning.

"I was watching it with the Mexican homies next to me and the way in which they talked [about Son Heung-min] with the reverence and the fear of a star player," Josh Lee, a longtime Los Angeles resident and co-founder of LAFC's Koreatown-based Tigers Supporters Group, said. "The way that everyone kind of gasped for air as soon as he touched the ball, because anything that he does is possible."

The Mexico fans Lee watched that match would breathe a sigh of relief at the final whistle, a 2-1 win over South Korea leaving them in good standing for a spot in the round of 16 (even if they needed Son to score in South Korea's Group F finale against Germany to ensure El Tri would survive a 3-0 loss to Sweden, a goal that would forever endear Son to them). El Tri, though, did not leave the match unscathed – Son scored a stellar curling goal from distance in stoppage time, reminding onlookers he was just weeks removed from an 18-goal season with Tottenham Hotspur.

"The incredible amount of respect, the rivalry between the countries, I was like, wow, we finally have one of our own," Lee recalled. "This is what this guy can do in 90 minutes. It's beautiful."

On Sunday, Lee and his fellow LAFC supporters will finally welcome Son to Los Angeles for his first home game since joining the MLS club this month, but it is unlikely to be an ordinary home debut for a high-profile player. Sunday's match against San Diego FC could mark the start of a move that feels like a natural fit for Son, who will live in a city that houses the largest number of ethnic Koreans outside of the Korean peninsula, as well as a new chapter in MLS' star-studded history written by a first-of-his-kind star.

The Son Heung-min effect

"I joined here to make MLS bigger."

Son is not the first to drop this variety of a one-liner in an interview, clearly illustrating the obvious value a player of his caliber brings to an MLS club or the league as a whole. The first will be the natural on-field quality that the Premier League's 16th all-time greatest goalscorer brings, a skill he has quickly displayed in MLS with a goal and an assist in his first three games.

His star power, though, means Son inspires a long list of off-field benefits for LAFC, much like the stars that came before him in MLS. LAFC's announcement of Son's arrival on August 6 had a global reach five times larger than their previous best-performing post, the 2022 acquisition of Son's ex-Tottenham Hotspur teammate, Gareth Bale, and the club's social media content earned an estimated 33.98 billion views in early August. Since then, the 33-year-old has generated 339 million impressions and 14 million engagements across LAFC and MLS' social media accounts, while a TikTok of Son winning a penalty in his LAFC debut at the Chicago Fire is MLS' second-best performing post on social media in 2025 with 26 million impressions. LAFC say the social media attention has translated to in-stadium demand, a new standing-room-only section fully sold out.

"I think that opens the door for new opportunities," Scott Rosner, the academic director of the sports management program at Columbia University, said, "to manifest themselves and for the league to take advantage of it."

Unlike the other world-class players who have done stints in MLS, Son is the first big name from Asia, a continent that has not traditionally produced soccer talents with the on-field skill and the off-field adoration that define a superstar. It presents a unique opportunity for LAFC and MLS to gain access to an untapped market, both in terms of audiences and prospective business partners.

"The first thing you think about with this is [that] you can see a lift from gate receipts because there's new fans that want to come out but the sponsorship aspect of it, I think, is really significant, potentially," Rosner said. "From a brand-building perspective, I think it helps. He will certainly open the door for more fans."

LAFC and MLS will not only have Inter Miami's Lionel Messi to use as a blueprint to maximize the economic impact of Son's arrival, but can also look to MLB for examples. Shohei Ohtani was reportedly worth $10 million to $20 million in extra revenue annually towards the end of his spell with the LA Angels and his annual impact on the Dodgers' revenue is at the nine figure mark, especially so after opening the pathway for the baseball club to sign valuable sponsorship deals with Japanese companies. Before Ohtani, there was Ichiro Suzuki, who reportedly drove Japanese tourists to visit Seattle during his spell with the Mariners. The similarities are enough to see Son stand on the mound at Dodger Stadium, an opportunity reserved for those with star power but Son in MLS is not an apples to apples comparison to Ohtani or Suzuki in MLB. There are, though, similarities to take away from the reactions each athlete inspires in their fanbases, Son's stint in the U.S. likely to inspire a unique version of a familiar pattern.

"I think the Asian diaspora – whether it's Filipino, Japanese, Korean – it's an interesting one because we all support an Asian face but I think the Japaneseness of Shohei, the Koreanness of Son should be celebrated in its own different ways," Lee said. "The same way the [Japanese] community has really elevated Shohei in a new light, I'm looking forward to the Korean community, for sure, elevating Son. … I have a ton of Asian friends who just love Son for being representative enough and that's really cool to see."

'Son is for everyone'

The path to economic impact is paved with the most intangible quality of all – an affability that transcends simply being likable, one that creates a tight, emotional grip between a star and their scores of adoring fans. Son has that in spades, especially in the Korean diaspora.

"I feel like he's almost a national treasure for Korea considering how successful he's been," Casey Phair, a Korean international currently on loan at Djurgardens from the NWSL's Los Angeles-based Angel City. "He's kind of put Korean football on the map in sort of that sense and I think the phenomenal career he's had abroad has really been inspirational, not only for Korean athletes I think but also just for Korean people in general. I would say not just athletes, but I think just every Korean person would say that he's very important in Korea."

Long before his move to LAFC was a reality, Son was a fixture of Korean culture. His ambassadorial quality in MLS is merely a continuation of his years-long status as the face of Korean soccer, frequently speaking about his national pride and recognizing Spurs' sizable Korean fanbase as a hallmark of his 10-year spell with the north London club. It seems as if every member of the Korean community has an opinion about Son, and it seems to be an increasingly glowing one.

"He has really bucked some of the stereotypes around what an Asian footballer can be and can produce," Lee said. "Any sports fans knows there's a model of player and that's oftentimes racially tinged about what a culture is capable of producing so the hardworking, diligent Korean, in so many different ways, was represented by the incredible [ex-Manchester United midfielder] Park Ji-sung. But because he was so good at what he did and he kept his head down and he let his actions speak for him, I think people just assumed that's all Korean football was capable of producing and then when you see someone like Son Heung-min who, as a young man, grew into this incredible person who streamed on the touchline, has an incredible left foot, right foot, finishing skills, becomes a golden boot winner of the Premier League, he transcended what we believed was possible for an Asian footballer and as stark as I can be, that meant that people looked at Korean people in a different way, in a different light."

That transcendent nature, though, makes Son a fan favorite for those outside of the Korean community.

"The thing about him is for me, it's the joy he plays with," Steve Pritchard, a London native and lifelong Tottenham fan who now calls Los Angeles home and is an LAFC season ticket holder, said. "I think the best word is joy and I think that having that, even when Spurs have been going through some tough years, watching him is still enjoyable regardless, right? He's scored fantastic goals against Burnley and Arsenal and just knowing that on any given day, he can do something that you never saw before and also just knowing that every game, he was going to give his all. He became the epitome of what Spurs fans want from a player, it's somebody who actually wants to play the game. You know the whole cliche, 'the game is about glory,' it's somebody who was playing football the way we like to watch football. Seeing that and just seeing his skill, his pace, his smile, everything about it was just a privilege."

Son's was an unlikely path to superstardom but it is an undeniable one, on clear display at the player's final match for Tottenham in a preseason friendly against Newcastle United in Seoul. Both teams gave Son a guard of honor, something Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said was not planned from his side but "instinctive."

"His history, his records, his legacy speaks for itself but not just at Tottenham, in the Premier League as well," Ryan Mason, Son's former Spurs teammate and the current West Bromwich Albion manager, said. "I think he was someone that was so well-respected, appreciated for what he'd done on the football pitch. He was a man that had some incredible moments, scored some incredible goals, professional, humble, a really good person … Everyone at Tottenham, everyone in England loves him and now I'm pretty sure everyone in America is going to love him as well."

In MLS, Son will have the chance to enjoy his well-defined legacy. Lee said 100 mini Korean flags in the north end of BMO Stadium for Son's home debut on Sunday, replicating a familiar sight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Koreans watched a player who inspired an incredible sense of national pride. That will likely only be one feature of Son's gravitational pull, though.

"He is for everyone," Lee said. "We're talking about the Koreanness of Son but I was like, now he belongs to all of us. He belongs to this city. This is not only for the Latino community here but for the Asian community, for the Armenian community, for the Black community that are all touching LAFC. He's for all of us and I think that's the similarity of Shohei, that everyone can find a piece to identify with and that they can bring home and be really proud about."