I love America!: With the World Cup, Inglewood

Daiki Kaneko had only 24 hours before his World Cup journey took him to Dallas, where his home nation’s squad will take on Sweden.

The Japanese soccer fan was making the most of it on Tuesday in Inglewood, snapping photos of SoFi Stadium before taking in a different sort of monument: a space-age, two-story department of the chicken chain Raising Cane’s, full with a 308-square-foot screen, a mirrored canine sculpture and a large halo hovering around the exterior.

For Kaneko, 25, who lives in the Tokyo suburbs, it was the excellent encapsulation of American grandeur.

“All this for chicken,” he said. “I love America.”

Inglewood is already numerous — most residents are Latino or Black, and practically a third are immigrants. But during the World Cup, it’s wanting more like the United Nations. English, Japanese, Swiss, Iranians, Paraguayans, Bosnians, Belgians and others are flocking to the metropolis of about 102,000, where eight matches are being performed at SoFi Stadium.

Though guests from overseas could not have heard of Inglewood until now, they’re soaking up the vibes of a metropolis that has long been a major sports activities and leisure hub, home to venues such as the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome, and a crucible of Black tradition, immortalized in hip-hop songs by artists such as Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre.

“We’re an international city now,” Mayor James Butts said.

Butts said locals had been already proud of what the metropolis has change into, but the World Cup has put the celebratory emotions over the top.

“We have people from so many different countries migrating to Inglewood, and there’s an explosive sense of community pride,” he said.

City officers are doing the whole lot they’ll to embrace the spirit of the event, including rushing up permits so small companies and neighborhoods can maintain World Cup gatherings and watch events, Butts said. During the U.S.’s opening match against Paraguay on June 12, the metropolis hosted the Wood Cup, a block social gathering on Market Street that introduced in more than 5,000 people.

Businesses across the metropolis are embracing the event as effectively, vying for a piece of the roughly $17 million the metropolis expects to haul in. For a few weeks, issues about skyrocketing housing prices and gentrification, introduced on by the metropolis’s growing reputation as a place to settle down, are taking a back seat to the sheer enjoyable of worldwide soccer.

The supersized Raising Cane’s had its grand opening on June 11, the first day of the event. During the USMNT’s opening match, Cinepolis, a luxurious movie show down the highway from SoFi Stadium, turned into a global sports activities hub, according to CEO Luis Olloqui.

Maddy Daversa, a bartender at the Meeting Spot, a restaurant close to the stadium, said 2,000 people poured in when the Americans performed Paraguay.

“I was selling beers for five hours straight,” she said. “It was crazy.”

Daversa said the restaurant is normally closed on Mondays but opened in hopes of getting some spillover followers from the Iran-New Zealand recreation at SoFi.

“Every table was full,” she said. “We’re taking advantage.”

Tuesday was an off day for Inglewood, with no video games at SoFi. But the power was still palpable, with locals sporting soccer jerseys and vacationers popping up across the metropolis.

“I just want to be where the fans are,” said David Meier, a Swiss fan in city for his home nation’s match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday.

Meier, 45, plans to explore L.A. via bars, eating places and watch events, taking in every recreation that his schedule will permit before heading north of the border to Vancouver, where Switzerland will face Canada on June 24.

“Everyone has been so kind,” he said. “Soccer and beer turns strangers into friends.”

Flags from international locations competing in the World Cup are on show at Manchester Boulevard and South Market Street in Inglewood.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The power carried over to Market Street, a historic procuring district about a mile from SoFi Stadium. Businesses set up indicators, posters and worldwide flags to lure locals and vacationers alike, while the exceptional outcome Theater hosted a watch social gathering for the match between France and Senegal.

Owen Smith, who co-owns the theater with his spouse, Mariana, said a Senegalese good friend who grew up in France requested if he could be keen to show the recreation on the big screen. A day later, followers of both groups assembled inside, snapping pictures in entrance of a giant inflatable World Cup trophy in the foyer.

“The remarkable result is a cultural event theater. It’s about accommodating the community,” Smith said.

Benyam Woldegiorgis, who co-owns the Nile Bar on Market Street, is exhibiting every single World Cup match — all 104 of them.

“It brings in business,” he said. “Usually it’s just football, basketball and baseball, but now we’re adding soccer to the mix.”

Dionte Johnson, proprietor of the streetwear store Kingsrowe, partnered with Adidas to maintain a watch social gathering for the U.S. workforce’s opener and said the turnout was large, bringing in hundreds of Mexico followers who are local residents, even though their workforce had already gained their opener the day before.

“The downside of the World Cup is that tickets are so expensive, so a lot of locals can’t go check out the games themselves. That’s why we’re hosting events,” Johnson said. “The games are in our backyard, so this is something people have had on their calendar for a long time.”

Homeowners are cashing in as effectively, with some renting out their locations on Airbnb for a small fortune, figuring that crashing on a good friend’s sofa or reserving a lodge room elsewhere is effectively value the lofty payouts introduced by World Cup demand.

Across L.A., lodge demand lagged in contrast with initial expectations, but short-term rental costs still jumped 56% in contrast with typical charges, and more than 70% of leases had been booked by December 2025.

In Inglewood — particularly for leases walkable to SoFi Stadium — costs turned dizzying.

David Orenstein and his spouse, Peggy, run an Airbnb across the road from SoFi Stadium. It normally rents for $400 per night time, but for the U.S. workforce’s opening recreation, it went for $3,000.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Peggy Orenstein and her husband, David, own a home steps from the stadium that sometimes rents for $400 a night time on Airbnb. For the U.S. workforce’s opener, the nightly fee shot up to $3,000.

For other matches, the four-bedroom home goes for $1,200 to $1,500 a night time. Orenstein said the high demand and worldwide crowds are a teaser for what’s to come.

“Next up is the Olympics,” she said. “This is a great learning lesson for what we can expect.”