When it comes to the future of Exposition Park, all eyes are on the spacey Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. But a new, $350 million Banc of California Stadium is quietly and steadily being built on the former site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
The Gensler-designed soccer stadium—the future home of the Los Angeles Football Club—is not the only stadium underway or in the planning stages in Los Angeles, but it stands out among the crowd.
Its sleek, open-air design will be paired with fancy, high-end perks. “We are designing this project with NFL-type amenities,” design director Jonathan Emmett tells Los Angeles magazine. Translation: There will be retail galore, exclusive private suites, and a rooftop bar for all the soccer hooligans.
Folks can check in on some live cameras documenting the goings-on at the site, but the stadium’s Instagram is also doing a good job keeping track of the progress on the stadium, which has been scheduled to open in time for the LAFC’s 2018 season.
The venue is rising on the grave of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which once hosted Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Bruce Springsteen, who famously called the place “The Dumps That Jumps”).
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the stadium was being built on the former site of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It is being built on the former site of the sports arena.
- L.A. Loves Its Soccer, and We’re Finally Getting The Stadium to Match [LA]
- LA's Getting a New Soccer Stadium in Exposition Park [Curbed LA]
Comments
Uh, last time I checked the LA Memorial Coliseum is still standing. You can even see the torch at the peristyle end of the Coliseum in one of the photos. It was the Sports Arena that was torn down to make way for the LAFC stadium.
By dpdapper on 06.26.17 11:52pm
Unless I have missed read the article, there was never any referring to the site as the LA Memorial Coliseum…it was correctly called the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Area aka the Sports Arena aka the 70’s dump….
By chasman88 on 06.27.17 4:13pm
Note the correction at the end of the article.
By dpdapper on 06.28.17 1:11am
Yup it was the LA Memorial Sports Arena that was torn down, not the Coliseum.
There would be riots if that was even suggested.
By JDRCRASHER on 06.27.17 9:07am
Interesting that they decided to name the team the LA "Football" Club. I don’t know many Americans who refer to the game as football. It’ll be interesting to see how their turnout is, since we already have the Galaxy.
By SC310 on 06.27.17 9:09am
I thought that name was just a placeholder until they could find a corporate sponsor?
By BH90008 on 06.27.17 10:37am
The name will remain as is, but likely shortened to "LAFC" in all cases that it’s referred to by media. As far as turnout is concerned, 16,000 have already committed to seat deposits (a meager $50/seat) and there are lots of former fans that followed Chivas USA soccer team. Don’t know if that will translate to a full stadium, especially considering the other soccer-markets hungry for even one team.
Only corporate sponsorship you will see is the stadium itself and the jerseys, not on the actual team name.
By hoosh on 06.27.17 12:58pm
They will fill this stadium. Huge potential fan base, and all they need is the right "star" player in the form of an ex-Premiere Leaguer from Central/South America.
By disqusted on 06.30.17 11:05am
Many Americans of from Mexico and South/Central America call it football. I would argue most of the fans of the Galaxy refer to soccer as football because they speak a language other than US English. Even the British call it football.
By mrxman on 06.27.17 6:44pm
Galaxy’s fanbase comes from south of the 105. This team will draw a completely different crowd north of the 105 that doesn’t often make the trip to Carson for Galaxy games. Having Metro access to downtown, Culver City, Santa Monica, etc. will also allow them to tap into a market the Galaxy could never take advantage of.
By TheRadicalDream on 06.27.17 11:14am
Well, the Galaxy played for years at the Colosseum. Galaxy has fans from all over SoCal.
By mrxman on 06.27.17 6:46pm
And when the soccer team folds in 5 yrs. just like the one it is replacing, thus stadium can be used as USC’s new practice field…or the new home of the LA Chargers after Spanos has a ‘crying fit’ over being the 2nd team in the new Rams Staduim….
By chasman88 on 06.27.17 4:10pm
The Chivas USA team wasn’t well thought out or funded and they didn’t have their own stadium. I guess you can say they were too ahead of the game. But the LAFC is doing it right. Building a stadium, good marketing, and taking their time in putting together a strong team and coach.
By mrxman on 06.27.17 6:49pm
Can you imagine the traffic down there when there is a soccer game, the space shuttle’s new home opens, there is a game at the Colosseum, USC has a big game, and then the staples center up the street and LA live has a function.. DANG!!!
By beachwooddude on 06.28.17 6:52am
You can imagine it if getting somewhere via car is the only type of transportation you can imagine. But that would be a failure of imagination.
By disqusted on 06.30.17 11:06am