$5B stadium taking shape in LA
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A recent tour of SoFi Stadium, which next season will be home of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, offers more than a glimpse of what’s to come.
The sleek, sloping roof is in full view. Man-made canyons are coming to life. The one-of-a-kind scoreboard is taking shape.
Numbers help tell the story.
8 million
The first touchdown will be scored 100 feet below the surface. That’s because approximately 8 million cubic yards of dirt were excavated from the stadium bowl alone.
The dirt digging was required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because the stadium sits in the flight path of Los Angeles International Airport. To adhere to FAA height restrictions for buildings, the digging commenced and the playing field was lowered to 100 feet beneath ground level. The previous record is thought to be 50 feet deep at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
“Construction wise, it’s been going incredibly smooth for as complicated as it is,” said Mark Williams of HKS Architects, which designed the building for Rams owner Stan Kroenke. “And we’re getting to where we’re almost on the fourth turn heading for home.”
200
The approximate number of 18wheeler flatbeds that were used to bring in pieces of one of the world’s largest cranes.
At 3.1 million square feet, the stadium will be the largest in the NFL. That posed construction challenges, including the use of the behemoth of a crane to put the canopy-style roof in place.
The roof won’t be retractable. But more than 40 square panels measuring 60 feet-by-60 feet and made of industrial-strength plastic will open and close like vents.
3,200
The approximate number of workers are on the site every day, six days a week, with the construction deadline eight months away.
More than 12,000 workers have been on the site since the groundbreaking Nov. 17, 2016. There have been no significant injuries, said Jason Gannon, managing director of the stadium.
5 billion
The estimated number of dollars that will be spent on the 298-acre sportsand-entertainment complex that, according to the Los Angeles Times, is about 31⁄2 times larger than Disneyland.
The centerpiece is a 70,000-seat stadium that can be expanded to accommodate 100,000. But there’s far more. The privately funded project will include new headquarters for NFL Media, a 6,000-seat performing arts theater, an artificial lake, a hotel, more than 20 acres of park space, 2,500 residences and 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space.
Social Finance – SoFi – is a personal finance company that is headquartered in San Francisco, and it purchased the naming rights for $400 million over 20 years, according to Forbes.
1
A 360-degree, two-sided, wraparound video board with 4K technology. It will rise as high as 31⁄2 stories and is “a direct response to having a better experience than sitting at home with your very large TV and in your favorite chair,” Williams said. “Here, we sort of took it to the next level.”
7/25
The stadium, built atop the old Hollywood Park Racetrack, will officially open July 25 when Taylor Swift, the Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, is scheduled to hold her “Lover Fest West” concert.
In addition to Rams and Chargers games, the stadium calendar already includes marquee events such as Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the College Football Playoff championship game in 2023 and the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Said Williams, the lead designer,
“The best is yet to come.”