City sets up events for fans of Rams
60-year field on coastline and more will be part of team's NFL draft experience in late April
Hermosa Beach, get ready for some football. A 60-yard football field on the beach and live draft day coverage will highlight the Los Angeles Rams Draft Experience, after the April event was approved by the Hermosa Beach City Council at its Feb. 27 meeting.
“It's an unbelievable opportunity for our city,”Councilmember Raymond Jackson said at the meeting. “Fifty-nine million people watched the draft last year. That's a lot of eyeballs.”
The event will celebrate the first time the Rams, known for trading away top picks to secure big-name players, will have a first-round draft pick since 2016, when they chose quarterback Jared Goff. After a disappointing season coming off their 2021 Super Bowl victory, the Rams returned to the playoffs in 2023, falling to the Detroit Lions in the NFL's wild-card round. The Rams will have the 19th pick this year.
The draft experience will take over the beach south of the Hermosa Beach Pier, the Pier Plaza and Schumacher Plaza.
Live draft day coverage will take place on April 25 and April 26, with round one beginning at 5 p.m. on April 25. The live coverage of the three rounds will be hosted by J.B. Long, radio voice of the Rams, and will include interviews with former and current players, on a custom built stage.
The arena-sized football field on the beach will include clinics, competitions and other activities. The field, which features professional-grade turf that will be placed on a sub-floor to make it level with the sand, will be adjacent to The Strand, between 10th and 11th streets.
Activities on the field will include events for community organizations including recreational leagues, Pop Warner teams, schools and flag football organizations.
Sarah Schuler, vice president of game presentation and experiential marketing for the Rams, said events like this are a way to strengthen youth sports.
The event, organizers said, will not interfere with the 20th annual Surfers Walk of Fame induction ceremony and Spyder Surf Fest, which takes place April 27 on Pier Plaza.
The field will be open for local elementary schools on April 29, local recreational leagues on April 30 and top Southern California prospects on May 1.
“There's joy that's brought when you play football on a football field, but how about playing football on a football field on a beach on the Pacific Ocean?,” Schuler said at the meeting. “That's something that hasn't happened before and we think we have an opportunity to do something unprecedented together.”
Last September, Beach Cities Sports flag football and the Rams hosted a tournament near the Hermosa Beach Pier with eight competing coed and allgirls division middle school teams.
Volleyball courts will be relocated to make way for the temporary football field and to allow classes to continue without interruption during the event. The courts will be re-installed on May 3.
“The event producer would have staff on site to ensure the courts remain free of crowds,” said community resources manager Lisa Nichols.
Nichols said the producers expect attendance to be around 2,000 per day.
“However,” she said, “the city and the Los Angeles County Fire Department will require the amount of security guards portable restrooms and the site plan to accommodate up to 5,000 attendees per day.”