Los Angeles Football Club scores a winning goal with the announcement of plans to build country’s costliest privately financed soccer stadium on Sports Arena site Soccer stadium. The world-class stadium would also be the first open-air pro sports venue to be built in L.A. since Dodger Stadium in 1962.
The $250-million complex, covering 15 acres in the shadow of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum will be home to a 22,000-seat stadium along with the new Major League Soccer franchise when it debuts in 2018. The stadium will be built in Exposition Park on the site where the iconic 56-year-old Sports Arena has stood since opening in 1959.
MLS expansion club Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) has shared the renderings of the proposed stadium too. The stadium, conceived to mark the coming of LAFC to Greater Los Angeles, will also include a conference center, restaurants and a soccer museum. The official LAFC site explains that new stadium will define American soccer and Greater Los Angeles. The perfect location for a soccer-specific stadium will be a hub of diversity and culture. They also added that it will be a stadium that blends into the community yet creates a unique experience for their fans.
Los Angeles Times reports that the construction would be financed by the team and its ownership group, which includes former Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson; Mandalay Entertainment Chief Executive Peter Guber, co-owner of the Dodgers and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors; self-help author Tony Robbins; and women’s World Cup champion Mia Hamm and her husband Nomar Garciaparra, a former major league baseball all-star. The group estimated the project would create 1,200 temporary construction jobs and 1,800 full-time jobs.
