When Son Heung-min touched down in Los Angeles earlier this month, LAFC knew they had signed a global star. They did not expect his shirt to outsell every other athlete’s in the world, at least not this quickly.
From the moment the club unveiled him in black and gold, Son’s No. 7 kit climbed straight to the top of Fanatics’ global sales charts. That span covers the days from his signing to now, and according to LAFC co-president John Thorrington, no one — not Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, or Stephen Curry — sold more jerseys in that window.
“It’s the highest-selling jersey of any sport in the world right now,” Thorrington told talkSPORT, repeating the claim when the host asked if he really meant more than Messi. “Right now, yes.”
By the end of his first week, LAFC’s team store had nearly sold out of every size. The online shop was not far behind, with only a handful of authentics still available at $195 each. Fans posted screenshots of $1,500 resale tickets to LAFC’s next home match with captions like “Son tax is real.” Others joked that the hype felt more like a K-pop album drop than an MLS transfer, with one Korean Twitter account calling it “BTS in cleats.”
The buzz is not just local. Across the United States, MLS fans and collectors are buying the jersey as a piece of history. In South Korea, demand is so high that fans have been importing them from the U.S. because official local sales had not yet begun. When they do, the club expects another wave of orders.
The Son effect spreads
On Reddit, the news sparked both pride and playful skepticism. One fan wrote, “I don’t know a single Korean who doesn’t love that man,” while another posted the “Sure, Jan” meme under Thorrington’s quote, teasing how bold the claim sounds. Others simply celebrated the novelty of seeing an MLS player in the same merchandise conversation as Messi and Ronaldo.
For MLS, it is uncharted territory. The only debut to generate more sales was Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami in 2023, when roughly half a million shirts sold in the first month. Industry analysts say Son is tracking close to that pace, which could make his the second-biggest jersey launch in league history.
The commercial impact is already showing up beyond the checkout screen. LAFC home games are now instant sellouts, with visiting stadiums seeing bumps in attendance too. The average resale price for his first home match quintupled, and corporate partners have a new global audience to reach. LAFC’s introductory press conference for Son drew more than 170,000 YouTube views, around ninety times their usual numbers.
This surge has also tapped into a deep well of cultural pride. Los Angeles is home to the largest Korean-American community in the country, and local businesses in Koreatown have filled their windows with Son’s image. The club has added Korean signage at BMO Stadium and posts in both English and Korean on social media.
Still, Thorrington has been careful to point out that shirts do not win trophies. “That’s the scale of this,” he said of the sales, “but we’ll be judged by success on the field.”
For now, the field will have to share the spotlight. In a matter of weeks, Son Heung-min has turned a slice of MLS into an international fashion statement. And whether it is the “Son tax,” the “Messi vs. Son” color wars, or the K-pop comparisons flooding feeds, the conversation shows no sign of slowing, much like the sales.
