Nov 3, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani acknowledges the crowd during the World Series championship parade at downtown Los Angeles. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
LOS ANGELES, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Dodgers again headlined North American sports in 2025, with Shohei Ohtani fronting another championship run that helped define a year split between repeat winners and first-time title breakthroughs across the major leagues.
Ohtani, the sport's brightest star, returned to the mound for the first time as a Dodger and batted .282 with 55 home runs and 102 RBI en route to his fourth MVP award.
But it was the clutch relief pitching of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the unlikely heroics of Miguel Rojas that played the biggest role in the Dodgers Game Seven victory over the Toronto Blue Jays to cap an all-time great Fall Classic.
In the NHL, the Florida Panthers matched the Dodgers with a repeat of their own, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups by defeating the Edmonton Oilers for the second consecutive year in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Sunrise.
With their blend of speed and snarl, Florida became the first team to repeat as champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-2021 and extended Canada's Stanley Cup drought to 32 years.
Sam Bennett, who scored 15 goals in the post-season, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP.
EAGLES POUND CHIEFS
The year started with what looked like the end of an NFL era when the Philadelphia Eagles steamrollered the Kansas City Chiefs in February's Super Bowl in New Orleans.
For years, the Patrick Mahomes-to-Travis Kelce partnership had been the league's most reliable late-game answer, a shorthand for composure when chaos arrived.
Philadelphia denied them the script early, pressuring the pocket to throw Mahomes off his rhythm and turning the game into a one-sided march that ended Kansas City's quest for a three-peat.
Basketball's champion, by contrast, felt like the start of something rather than the end.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, won their first NBA championship with a roster that looked modern and sustainable: long defenders, multiple ball-handlers and dangerous shooters at every position.
Gilgeous-Alexander, better known as "SGA," showed patience in tight possessions and his ability to knife his way to the basket became a defining playoff image as the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers in a gripping seven-game series.
Oklahoma City's youth and depth have them well positioned to lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy for years to come.
MESSI REACHES MLS PEAK
Major League Soccer produced a similarly star-led forward breakthrough.
Inter Miami, inspired by Lionel Messi, captured the franchise's first MLS Cup and validated a project built around immediate ambition designed to attract global attention.
The World Cup-winning Argentina great, who delivered a pair of late assists to help beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3–1 in the final, joined Miami in 2023 with the goal of winning the title for the club, which is co-owned by David Beckham.
"The MLS was the ultimate prize," Messi said after being named MVP of the final. "The team put in a tremendous effort and rose to the occasion."
Taken together, 2025 offered a snapshot of how dynasties are born and how quickly narratives turn.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken Ferris)
