SoFi Stadium

About SoFi Stadium

Los Angeles had no NFL team between 1995 and 2016, which made the metropolis the largest unclaimed market for professional football in the United States. That gap closed when the NFL approved Stan Kroenke’s relocation of the Rams from St. Louis, with the Chargers joining a year later under Dean Spanos. The project that would become SoFi Stadium began the same year, when Kroenke bought a large parcel of the recently defunct Hollywood Park horse racing track, just under 5 kilometres (3 miles) east of Los Angeles International Airport.

The Inglewood location forced serious compromises. Federal aviation authorities objected to any structure that would rise above a threshold set by LAX approach radar, limiting the stadium’s height to roughly 30 metres (100 feet) and pushing the seating bowl below street level. Kroenke paid around $29 million for airport infrastructure upgrades to avoid radar interference, and no tower cranes were permitted on the construction site. An estimated 7.5 million cubic yards of earth had to be excavated. Fans descend into the bowl rather than climb into it. An unusual approach for a US venue.

Design was awarded to HKS, the Dallas firm responsible for AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The brief called for maximum flexibility, not just a football stadium but a district-scale venue capable of hosting the NFL’s Rams and Chargers, MLS Cup finals, Super Bowls, the 2026 FIFA World Cup (eight matches including a quarterfinal), and the 2028 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. Under a single ETFE canopy, HKS fit a 70,240-seat main bowl (expandable by 30,000 more for major events), a 6,000-seat indoor concert venue (the YouTube Theater), and a 2.5-acre plaza in between, also available for events.

The canopy is the stadium’s dominant architectural feature. Covered with single-layer ETFE and comprised of 302 panels (46 of which can open mechanically for ventilation), it spans around 75,000 square metres (807,000 square feet) and is the largest of its kind. Weight is substantial. Approximately 67,000 tons of materials, including 20,000 tons of primary steel trusses and 1,400 tons of tensile cables, resting on 37 primary columns. Beneath the canopy hangs the “Infinity Screen,” a panoramic dual-sided video board weighing about 1,000 tons, offering 6,500 square metres (70,000 square feet) of 4K display surface across 80 million pixels. Integrated with 260 speakers and 56 5G antennas.

The financial numbers are the other record. SoFi broke the stadium cost record before construction even began. A $2.6 billion estimate at 2016 groundbreaking grew to $3.4 billion by May 2020. Counting the wider Hollywood Park development (2,500 housing units, 83,600 square metres of retail, 74,300 square metres of offices, a hotel, a casino, and a 6,000-seat YouTube Theater), total investment at the site runs closer to $5-6 billion depending on what is counted. The stadium opened on September 8, 2020, in the middle of a pandemic that left it empty of fans for nearly a year. Compensating for that slow start, the venue had already locked in a SoFi naming deal reportedly worth $400-600 million over 20 years, a joint tenancy agreement between the Rams and Chargers ($200 million each in loans, $1/year rent to StadCo LA), and hosting rights for Super Bowl LVI (February 2022), the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship, multiple WrestleManias, and the 2028 Olympics. Under FIFA’s branding policy, SoFi will be temporarily renamed “Los Angeles Stadium” for the 2026 World Cup.

Getting to SoFi Stadium

Public Transit

Los Angeles has historically been a car-dependent city, but rail coverage around SoFi is being upgraded specifically for the 2026 World Cup. The Inglewood Transit Connector, an automated people mover which will link the Metro K Line directly to the stadium, is under construction and expected to be operational ahead of the tournament. Until then, the fastest rail option is the Metro C Line.

Construction progress on the Inglewood Transit Connector should be checked closer to match dates. Once operational, it is expected to become the most convenient rail option for fans arriving from central Los Angeles.

Driving + Parking

Three freeways serve the stadium: I-405, I-105, and I-110. GPS: 1001 S. Stadium Drive, Inglewood, CA 90301.

The Hollywood Park complex is served by more than 9,000 parking spaces across structured garages. Parking costs $40-80 for NFL games and must be pre-purchased through the SoFi Stadium app or website. Cash is not accepted. Arriving two hours before kickoff is strongly recommended on high-demand event days.

Rideshare

Uber and Lyft pickups are routed to the Pink Garage on the east side of the stadium. Post-event wait times can exceed 30 minutes during sold-out events. Rides from downtown LA typically run $25-45. From Santa Monica, $30-50.

Pro tip: Walk to the rideshare area the moment the match ends, or wait 30+ minutes for the first wave of departures to clear.

From the Airport

FIFA World Cup 2026 at SoFi Stadium

Eight matches have been assigned to SoFi Stadium, including five group stage games, two Round of 32 fixtures, and one quarterfinal. The opening match at the venue is scheduled for June 12, 2026. Across the full tournament, no venue outside MetLife has been assigned more matches.

Name change: Under FIFA’s corporate naming policy, the stadium will be temporarily referred to as “Los Angeles Stadium” in all broadcasts, signage, printed materials, and ticketing for the duration of the tournament. Corporate naming rights resume afterwards.

Pitch conversion: The Matrix Turf surface will be replaced with natural grass laid on a modular tray system. FIFA requires real grass for all World Cup matches. SoFi has done this before. The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final between Mexico and Panama was hosted on the same type of temporary surface, drawing 72,963 fans.

Climate: Inglewood in June and July is near-ideal for outdoor soccer, typically 24-27°C (75-80°F) with minimal rainfall. The ETFE canopy provides shade over most seats while allowing Pacific airflow into the bowl. Mechanical cooling is unnecessary.

Infinity Screen: The 70,000 square foot (6,500 square metre) Samsung video board will display replays, match stats, and atmosphere for fans inside. For the broadcast audience, the interior shots from SoFi will be among the most visually distinctive of any 2026 venue.

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the United States. World Cup matches at SoFi will draw celebrity attendance, heavy media coverage, and the commercial presence that accompanies any major LA event. The Hollywood Park development around the stadium offers dining, entertainment, and hotel options within walking distance.

Construction & Design

Construction began on November 17, 2016. The design had been awarded to HKS, Inc., with structural engineering by Walter P Moore and the general contracting split between Turner Construction and AECOM Hunt in a joint venture. Project management was handled by Legends Global Planning, which is jointly controlled by the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees. The original budget of $2.66 billion was projected to cover the stadium itself inside the wider Hollywood Park master plan. The number grew.

By May 2020, the cost had climbed past $3.4 billion. Final accounting, including specification upgrades, scope creep during construction, and pandemic-era disruption, landed closer to $5 billion for the stadium alone. Counting the surrounding mixed-use district, total investment at the site runs to around $10 billion. SoFi broke the record for the most expensive stadium in history before the concrete had even cured.

The below-grade excavation was the first major technical challenge. An estimated 7.5 million cubic yards of earth were removed to sink the seating bowl 30 metres (100 feet) below street level, which was necessary because the nearby LAX approach radar capped how tall any structure in the area could rise. Above the bowl sits the canopy, a tensile cable structure anchored on 37 primary columns and built from around 67,000 tons of material, including 20,000 tons of primary steel trusses and 1,400 tons of cables. The canopy is engineered to be independent of the stadium below it. Seismic-capable, since this is Southern California.

The canopy skin is the stadium’s most recognisable element. A total of 302 pillow-shaped ETFE panels form a roughly 75,000 square metre (807,000 square foot) translucent cover. ETFE lets sunlight in while reflecting heat, which eliminates the need for active air conditioning in the bowl. Most of the panels are etched with LEDs that form displays visible from aircraft landing at LAX. A total of 34,789 perforated anodised aluminium panels clad the outer edge and the opaque sections of the exterior, most of them also LED-equipped for night-time use.

Beneath the canopy hangs the Infinity Screen, the stadium’s other record-breaking element. Manufactured by Samsung, it is a dual-sided oval video board suspended over the playing surface. Weight is around 1,000 tons. The display surface measures approximately 70,000 square feet (6,500 square metres), rendering 80 million pixels in 4K HDR. Integrated into the structure are 260 speakers and 56 5G antennas. It is the largest video display ever installed at a sports venue. Visible from every seat in the bowl, including the premium club spaces beneath it.

Total floor space across the facility reaches 3.1 million square feet (288,500 square metres), the largest in the NFL by gross area. 260 luxury suites. 13,000+ premium seats. 12 hospitality clubs and seven suite experiences. Four club-level concourses, two locker room complexes (one each for the Rams and Chargers at opposite ends, plus two visitor rooms), and infrastructure designed for concurrent NFL, MLS, concert, Super Bowl, World Cup, and Olympic ceremony operations. The operational brief was unusually broad for an American venue, and the specification shows it.

Sustainability was layered into the design, although less visibly than in some contemporary venues. The Recycled Water Project, which uses reclaimed water for field irrigation and cooling, received an “Excellence in Action” award. The translucent canopy reduces daytime lighting loads by admitting natural sunlight, and the below-grade bowl benefits from thermal moderation that would not be available in an above-ground structure.

History of SoFi Stadium

The Rams had played in Los Angeles between 1946 and 1994 before moving to St. Louis. The Chargers had been in LA in 1960 before moving to San Diego. Neither city had an NFL team for the next two decades, despite LA being the second-largest metropolitan market in the country. It became something of a running joke among sports columnists. Threaten a move to LA in order to extract a better stadium deal from your home market, and then never actually move.

That changed on January 12, 2016, when NFL owners voted to approve Stan Kroenke’s relocation of the Rams from St. Louis. Chargers owner Dean Spanos was given a one-year option to join the Rams rather than proceed with a competing proposal in Carson. He took it. Both teams became co-tenants of a stadium that had not yet been built.

Groundbreaking followed on November 17, 2016. The original target was to open for the 2019 NFL season. That slipped. Design revisions, cost escalation, and later pandemic disruption pushed the opening to September 8, 2020. The inaugural game was played without fans. Supporters were not permitted inside the venue until the 2021 season, which made the first year of operations feel more like a soft launch than a debut.

The naming rights deal had been finalised well ahead of the opening. Social Finance, Inc. (trading as SoFi), a San Francisco-based consumer lender, signed a 20-year contract reported to be worth $400-600 million. The value was among the largest stadium naming deals ever signed at the time. The branding has since become shorthand for the venue in most contexts, although it is suspended during FIFA and IOC events under neutral-name tournament policies.

Super Bowl LVI was hosted at SoFi on February 13, 2022. The Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in front of 70,048 fans, completing a Matthew Stafford-led late drive in what was Los Angeles’s first Super Bowl hosting role since 1993. The halftime show, headlined by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, drew 103 million viewers. It was widely interpreted as a West Coast hip-hop coronation, and it became the most-watched halftime performance in Super Bowl history.

The event calendar since then has been dense.

Notable events:

• Super Bowl LVI, February 13, 2022: Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in front of 70,048 fans. Kickoff temperature was 82°F (28°C), warmer than typical for February.
• WrestleMania 39, April 1-2, 2023: WWE’s two-night event drew a combined attendance of 161,892, the highest WrestleMania gate in WWE history at that point.
• CONCACAF Gold Cup Final, July 16, 2023: Mexico defeated Panama 1-0 in front of 72,963. The modular grass conversion protocol was successfully executed, which is now slated for reuse in 2026.
• Taylor Swift, Eras Tour, August 3-9, 2023: Six sold-out shows drew approximately 420,000 fans across the residency, one of the highest-grossing concert runs at the venue.
• Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter Tour, April-May 2025: Multiple performances drew a combined 217,143 fans, with a reported gross of around $55.7 million.
• BTS, Permission to Dance on Stage, November-December 2021: Four sold-out shows drew 213,752 fans in the group’s first major stadium run after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Looking ahead, SoFi is scheduled as a primary venue for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies along with swimming events in a temporary 38,000-seat configuration. The 2026 World Cup matches are expected to serve as an operational dress rehearsal for Olympic-scale logistics.

The $5 billion headline cost remains a subject of debate. Supporters point to the revenue capacity of the Hollywood Park development, the Infinity Screen’s broadcast profile, and the venue’s role in anchoring Los Angeles’s successful bids for the 2022 Super Bowl, the 2026 World Cup, and the 2028 Olympic Games. Critics note that the cost is roughly double the next most expensive stadium in the world, and that shared-tenancy economics between the Rams and the Chargers may limit standalone returns. The debate will likely outlast the first decade of operations.

Sources & Further Reading

• SoFi Stadium official site: sofistadium.com. Capacity, operations, parking, event calendars, and premium seating information.
• FIFA World Cup 2026 match schedule: fifa.com. Official match assignments and venue information.
• LA Metro event-day service: metro.net. Rail, shuttle, and Inglewood Transit Connector updates for the 2026 World Cup.
• Wikipedia entry on SoFi Stadium: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoFi_Stadium. Comprehensive reference with construction details, events, and attendance records.
• LA 2028 Olympic Games venue plan: la28.org. Information on SoFi Stadium’s role at the 2028 Olympics.
• Hollywood Park mixed-use development: hollywoodpark.com. Details on the surrounding retail, residential, and entertainment district.