In the city of angels there needs to be a temple for sport. And for almost a year and a half it has been in the heart of Los Angeles: the Sofi Stadium. The sports arena is home to the two NFL teams Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams – the latter will meet the Cincinnati Bengals in their home stadium in the Super Bowl and can be sure of the support of the home fans in what is perhaps the most modern arena in the world.
The stadium in the Inglewood district shows a modern side both inside and out. The roof not only spans the arena and a plaza, but also the YouTube theater, an event hall with 6,000 seats. The Sofi Stadium itself is significantly larger. The stadium can accommodate 72,000 people, and the capacity can be increased to 100,000 visitors for the Super Bowl and other major events such as the 2028 Summer Olympics. Created on the former Hollywood Park racetrack, there is also a freely accessible park and an artificial lake. A luxury hotel and apartment complexes are also planned on an area that is twice the size of the Vatican.
Sofi Stadium: The special structure for the Super Bowl
The construction costs show that the conversion of the entire area is not cheap: originally estimated at 2.66 billion dollars (2.32 billion euros) at the start of construction, they ended up at over five billion dollars (4.36 billion euros) and is by far the most expensive stadium construction in the world. the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which also opened in 2020, cost “only” 1.9 billion.
But there is also a lot of logistics in the new sports temple. Because the international airport LAX is only around four kilometers away, the stadium must not exceed a certain height due to the requirements of the American aviation authority FAA. The solution: The playing field and some of the rows of seats were lowered. The field itself is 30 meters below the entrance level, so the size of the stadium is hardly noticeable from the outside.
No matter from which row of seats, the spectator’s gaze falls on a globally unique specimen. Because for the first time a scoreboard was installed that transmits the scoreboard in the highest resolution on both the front and the back. The spectators have a perfect view of at least one picture from whichever seat they are seated.
If you’re lucky, you can also watch the game outside the stadium and maybe even during the landing approach. Because 27,000 LED panels were installed on the roof of the building, which enable video transmission. This can be advertising for the personal finance company and name sponsor Social Finance, but also an NFL game. In November 2020, two months after the stadium opened, an LA Rams game was broadcast from the rooftop. At the time, spectators were banned from the stadiums. Only since the start of the current season in September 2021 have fans been able to view the world’s most modern arena from the inside.