SoFi Stadium
SoFi Stadium is a stadium and entertainment complex under construction in Inglewood, California, United States. It is located at the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, approximately from LAX, immediately southeast of The Forum.
Planned to open in July 2020, the stadium will serve as the home for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League. It also serves as the home of the LA Bowl. It is scheduled to host WrestleMania 37 on March 28, 2021. It is also scheduled to host Super Bowl LVI in February 2022 and the College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2023. During the 2028 Summer Olympics, the stadium is expected to host the opening and closing ceremonies, soccer, and archery.
SoFi Stadium will be the third stadium, and second to be in current use, since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger to be shared by two NFL teams. It will be the fourth facility in the Los Angeles area to host multiple teams from the same league as Staples Center is home to both of the city's National Basketball Association teams, the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers, Dignity Health Sports Park for a time hosted both the LA Galaxy and now-defunct Chivas USA of Major League Soccer, and Dodger Stadium hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels from 1962 to 1965.
The facility is a component of Hollywood Park, a master planned neighborhood in development on the site of the former racetrack. Hollywood Park Casino re-opened in a new building on the property in October 2016, becoming the development's first establishment to open.
Design
SoFi Stadium was designed by HKS; it will feature a fixed, translucent ETFE roof—designed to cover both the stadium proper and an adjacent pedestrian plaza. The stadium bowl will have open sides. The stadium will seat up to 70,240 spectators for most events, with the ability to expand it with 30,000 additional seats for larger events.Another component of the stadium's design is "the Oculus"—an ovular, double-sided 4K HDR video board that will be suspended from the roof over the field. The structure will weigh approximately, and display over 80 million pixels. The Oculus will also house the stadium's 260-speaker audio system as well as 56 5G wireless antennas. Chief technology officer Skarpi Hedinsson stated that SoFi Stadium would be first stadium to have an end-to-end 4K video workflow. He emphasized the challenges that the Oculus will present in producing in-game content, stating that a team had been using virtual reality to help "understand how best to present content and how do we make sure that all the seating sections are in play as we put our images and our replay frames on the board."
History
Location discussions and beating the competition
The stadium site was previously home to Hollywood Park, later sold and referred to as Betfair Hollywood Park, which was a thoroughbred race course from 1938 until it was shut down for racing and training in December 2013. The casino remained open, containing a poker card room. Most of the complex was demolished in 2014 to make way for new construction with the rest demolished in late 2016 after the new Hollywood Park Casino was opened. The current stadium project was not the first stadium proposed for the site. The site was almost home to an NFL stadium two decades earlier. In May 1995 after the departure of the Rams for St. Louis, the National Football League team owners approved, by a 27–1 vote with two abstentions, a resolution supporting a plan to build a $200 million, privately funded stadium on property owned by Hollywood Park for the Los Angeles Raiders. Al Davis, who was then the Raiders owner, balked and refused the deal over a stipulation that he would have had to accept a second team at the stadium.On January 31, 2014, the Los Angeles Times reported that Stan Kroenke, owner of the St. Louis Rams, purchased a parcel of land just north of the Hollywood Park site in an area that had been studied by the National Football League in the past and at one point attempted to purchase. This set off immediate speculation as to what Kroenke's intentions were for the site: it was originally planned to be a Walmart Supercenter; however, in 2014, most of the speculation centered on the site as a possible stadium site or training facility for the Rams. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell represented that Kroenke informed the league of the purchase. As an NFL owner, any purchase of land in which a potential stadium could be built must be disclosed to the league. Speculation about the Rams' returning to their home of nearly fifty years had already been discussed when Kroenke was one of the finalists in bidding for ownership in the Los Angeles Dodgers, but speculation increased when the news broke that the Rams owner had a possible stadium site in hand.
skyline in background.
Nearly a year went by without a word from Kroenke about his intentions for the land, as he failed to ever address the St. Louis media, or the Hollywood Park Land Company, about what the site may be used for. There was, however, speculation about the future of the Rams franchise until it was reported that the National Football League would not be allowing any franchise relocation for the 2015 season.
On January 5, 2015, Stockbridge Capital Group, the owners of the Hollywood Park Land Company, announced that it had partnered with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment to add the northern parcel to the rest of the development project and build a multi-purpose 70,240-seat stadium designed for the NFL. On February 24, 2015, the Inglewood City Council approved the stadium plan and the initiative with construction on the stadium planned to begin in December 2015.
The project would include the stadium and a performance arts venue attached to the stadium with up to 6,000 seats, while reconfiguring the previously approved Hollywood Park entertainment venue that includes plans for up to of retail, of office space, 2,500 new residential and condo units, a luxury hotel with over 300 rooms and of public parks, playgrounds, open space, a lake and pedestrian, bicycle and mass-transit access for future services. On February 24, 2015, the Inglewood City Council approved plans with a 5–0 unanimous vote to combine the plot of land with the larger Hollywood Park development and rezone the area to include sports and entertainment capabilities. This essentially cleared the way for developers to begin construction on the venue as planned in December 2015.
It was also reported, in early February 2015, that "earth was being moved" and the site was being graded to be prepared for the construction that would begin later in the year.'
The project was competing directly with a rival proposal. On February 19, 2015, the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers announced plans for a privately financed $1.85 billion stadium that the two teams would have built in Carson if they were to move to the Los Angeles market. The project was, like the Inglewood project, also approved to move forward and cleared for development. The two projects spent the remainder of 2015 jockeying for the right to get approved by the NFL.
Construction
The NFL approved the Inglewood proposal and the Rams' relocation back to Los Angeles, 30–2, on January 12, 2016 over the rival proposal. On July 14, 2016, it was announced that Turner Construction and AECOM Hunt would oversee construction of the stadium and that the HKS, Inc. architect firm would design the stadium.On October 19, 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration determined that a tall LB 44 rotary drill rig would not pose a hazard to air navigation, so it approved the first of several pieces of heavy equipment to be used during construction. The stadium design had been under review by the FAA for more than a year because of concerns about how the structure would interact with radar at nearby Los Angeles International Airport. On December 16, 2016, it was reported in Sports Business Journal that the FAA had declined to issue permits for cranes needed to build the structure. "We’re not going to evaluate any crane applications until our concerns with the overall project are resolved," said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. The FAA had previously recommended building the stadium at another site due to the risks posed to LAX—echoing concerns raised by former United States Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.
The Rams held the groundbreaking construction ceremony at the stadium site on November 17, 2016. The ceremony featured NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Rams' owner Stan Kroenke. On December 23, 2016, the FAA approved the large construction cranes to build the stadium.
On May 18, 2017, developers announced that record rainfall in the area had postponed the stadium's completion and opening from 2019 until the 2020 NFL season. On August 8, 2017, the LA Stadium Premiere Center opened in Playa Vista, featuring interactive multimedia displays and models showcasing the design and features of the new stadium.
In March 2018, the NFL announced that it would re-locate its NFL Media unit from Culver City to a new facility neighboring the stadium on the Hollywood Park site, which will include a studio capable of hosting audiences, as well as an outdoor studio. The new facility is expected to be completed in 2021.
On June 26, 2018, the new stadium was ceremonially topped out.
Nearing completion
As of August 2019, one year before the planned opening, Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff stated that the stadium was 75% complete. In January 2020, Demoff stated that construction was now 85% complete, with roof construction, seat installation, and construction of the Oculus in progress.Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders issued by the California state government in March 2020, construction has continued with social distancing and heightened health and safety standards. Demoff acknowledged that there was a possibility that its completion could be delayed, explaining that it was "not the time you want to be finishing a stadium, in this environment as you prepare", but that "our stadium, and I believe the Raiders' stadium as well, will both be amazing when they are finished and when they will begin play, which will certainly happen in the near future, whether that's in July, August, September, in 2021". As of May 11, five construction workers had tested positive, including an ironworker who had worked in an assembly area away from the structure, and a backfill operator who had worked in an "isolated area outside the building" and had not entered it.
On June 5, 2020, construction on the facility was temporarily halted after an unidentified worker fell to their death while working on the stadium's roof. On June 9, 2020, construction on the facility resumed everywhere but the roof.
All of the originally-announced summer concerts at the venue have been cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic, including a two-night stop on Taylor Swift's Lover Fest tour on July 25 and 26, 2020, and tours by Guns N' Roses, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard.
Four NFL pre-season games would have been held at SoFi if the entire pre-season had not been canceled, including a Week 2 contest between the Rams and Chargers.
The first regular-season game at SoFi Stadium is expected to be held on September 13, 2020, with the Rams hosting the Dallas Cowboys in the first Sunday-night game of the season. In late July, the Rams and Chargers canceled all their existing ticket sales, both season tickets and individual game tickets, since games are expected to be held at first with no fans in attendance. If and when fans are allowed, they will be social-distanced and the stadium's capacity will be greatly reduced.
Naming
On September 15, 2019, it was announced that personal finance company SoFi had acquired the naming rights to the new stadium under a 20-year deal valued at over $30 million per-year, under which the stadium will be known as SoFi Stadium. The company will become an official partner of both the Rams and the Chargers, as well as a partner of the performance venue and surrounding entertainment district.The covered open space formerly known as Champions Plaza between the playing field and the performance venue within the stadium was officially named American Airlines Plaza. The airline was named the first founding partner on August 6, 2019.
Funding
The stadium is being built privately, but the developer is seeking significant tax breaks from Inglewood.The cost of the stadium project was originally estimated to be approximately $2.66 billion upon the commencement of construction. However, internal league documents produced by the NFL in March 2018 indicated a need to raise the debt ceiling for the stadium and facility to a total of $4.963 billion, making it the most expensive sports venue ever built. Team owners voted and approved this new debt ceiling at a meeting that same month. In May 2020, another $500 million in loans was approved by the NFL and the owners.
Tenants
The Los Angeles Rams were first to commit to moving to the stadium, as NFL approval for their relocation was obtained on January 12, 2016. The approval, as part of a concession made by Kroneke to get the stadium project and Rams relocation approved also gave the San Diego Chargers the first option to relocate to Los Angeles and share the stadium with the Rams, conditioned on a negotiated lease agreement between the two teams. The option would have expired on January 15, 2017, at which time the Oakland Raiders would have acquired the same option.On January 29, 2016, the Rams and Chargers came to an agreement in principle to share the stadium. The Chargers would contribute a $200 million stadium loan from the NFL and personal seat license fees to the construction costs and would pay $1 per year in rent to the Rams. The same day, Chargers chairman-CEO Dean Spanos announced the team would remain in San Diego for the 2016 NFL season, while continuing to work with local government on a new stadium. Measure C did not receive the requisite number of votes required for passage.
On January 12, 2017, the Chargers exercised their option and announced plans to relocate to Los Angeles for the 2017 season, making the Chargers the second tenant at the stadium and returning them to the market where they played their inaugural season in 1960.
When the Rams and Chargers move into the stadium, it will mark the return of major professional sports to Inglewood for the first time since the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings left The Forum for Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles in May 1999.