Super Bowl LIII: The storied history of Los Angeles vs. Boston

The 2000s

Boston 4-3

The start of a new millennium was the renaissance for Los Angeles and Boston teams.  The Los Angeles Lakers jump started the revitalization of Downtown Los Angeles opening the brand new Staples Center for the first of four NBA titles in the decade.

The Angels became less regional and became the Los Angeles Angels again and started a run of playoff success by winning the 2002 World Series. Across the street, the Anaheim Ducks went to two Stanley Cup Finals and became the first team from California to win a Stanley Cup.

In Boston, the New England Patriots won their first Super Bowl in 2002 on the way to three wins in five games for the decade and turning around the title drought for the city. The Boston Red Sox ended their 86-year World Series drought and the Boston Celtics ended their 22-year title drought as well. Boston and Los Angeles combined to win 12 titles in the decade.

The Red Sox and Angeles faced each other four times in the baseball playoffs, twice the Red Sox beat the Angels on the way to winning the World Series. The Angels finally got over the hump sweeping the Red Sox in 2009. The Lakers and Celtics revitalized their rivalry as the Boston “Big Three” faced off against Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol in the 2008 NBA Finals.

The Celtics prevailed in June against the Lakers and then both teams headlined Christmas Day, producing the best ratings for the NBA in years. With no football matchups, the two cities faced off in the global game of futbol.

The emergence of Major League Soccer in the U.S. brought a new professional league to the forefront and the Los Angeles Galaxy took on the New England Revolution twice before thousands of soccer fans for the MLS Cup.

The Galaxy went 2-0 against the Revolution, who was the lone Boston team to miss out on a title going 0-4 for the decade.