Additional loan for SoFi Stadium approved



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Video: CBS Los Angeles (YouTube)

National Football League (NFL) owners have voted unanimously to provide Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke with an additional $500m (£408.1m/€456.7m) in financing to help complete SoFi Stadium – the most expensive football stadium in history.

Media reports stated that the funding was greenlighted on Tuesday. The Rams, which will share the 70,000-seat venue with the Los Angeles Chargers, were said to have made several requests to the NFL to further tap into its G-4 stadium lending program.

Earlier, National Football League (NFL) American football franchise the Los Angeles Rams is said to have sought an additional $500m (£410.8m/€461.1m) from the league as financial support for its new SoFi Stadium.

SoFi Stadium which is nearing completion is a stadium and entertainment complex under construction in Inglewood, California, United States. The stadium will serve as the home for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). It also serves as the home of the LA Bowl.

SoFi Stadium update May 2020Image: LA Rams

The SoFi Stadium development has already received $400m, but the Rams are said to be seeking up to another $500m, while also doubling the term in which this money will need to be repaid.

“There’s a massive request for debt waivers and additional G-4 from those in L.A. And they’re asking to pay that over 30 years as opposed to 15 years,” a team source told mediapersons.

The budget of SoFi Stadium is now said to have risen from an initially projected $2.2bn to between $5bn and $6bn, with the Rams presently wrestling with how COVID-19 will affect revenues for the new Inglewood venue, which is scheduled to open later this year.

A combination of significant budget increases and a major fall in projected personal seat license (PSL) sales for the 2020 NFL season is said to have led to the approach for extra funding from the League. The new loan could be split with the Chargers, which are already accountable for half of the initial $400m sum.

Recently, it emerged that the Rams had begun selling single-game suites for the 2020 season, which will be the team’s first at SoFi Stadium. The team has set up a dedicated single-game suites sales website, which will allow fans to explore all suite options, learn about the available amenities, view availability by game and purchase the tickets online.

SoFi Stadium premium seating May 2020 updateImage: LA Rams

 

Cynosure of all eyes

A piece of good news for fans looking for an enriching experience at the $5 billion SoFi Stadium in California (US) this fall without the full-season commitment – the Rams have single-game suite options for 2020.

SoFi Stadium had been due to open on July 25-26 this year with two Taylor Swift concerts but these have been canceled due to the global coronavirus outbreak which has claimed scores of lives in the US.

The Rams’ first regular-season game at the stadium will be against the Dallas Cowboys on September 13 this year. The Rams will share SoFi Stadium with the Chargers, whose first regular-season game at the venue will be against the Kansas City Chiefs on September 20.

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Work on SoFi Stadium has been continuing in recent weeks despite the COVID-19 outbreak. The stadium remains on schedule to open in time for the 2020 NFL season but it remains to be seen how many fans will be able to attend the Rams-Cowboys game amid uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

The LA Bowl is an upcoming National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game scheduled to be played at SoFi Stadium.
 

‘Oculus’ videoboard

The $5 billion facility will boast a double-sided videoboard. This massive – and unprecedented – videoboard system is being called the ‘Oculus’ , and it’s a 120-yard-long, 2.2-million-pound 4K HDR LED display. It is even better than Atlanta’s 360-degree board at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

According to the Rams, the screens contain 80 million pixels and have 260 speakers behind them and a bunch of 5G antennas. For the fans, the videoboard alone will be worth the trip and bang for the bucks.

Private suites’ features:

  • Close parking access in premium lots;
  • Exclusive entrances for VIP guests;
  • Retractable glass doors for experiencing out-of-the-world indoor-outdoor experience;
  • In-suite catering accompanied by tailor-made menu of local cuisine created exclusively for SoFi Stadium;
  • Entry to exclusive clubs and lounges as an extension of your suite; and
  • Views from the field to the 50-yard line.

The design of SoFi Stadium has been so done to allow for creating suites specifically for single-game sales based on their size, flexibility and location. Single game suites provide thrilling experiences at one special game (say for birthday parties) or for corporate get-together, among other events.

In addition, full season suites are on offer which provides owners the various matchday benefits plus pregame field passes, road trips to Rams away games, 365-day access to SoFi Stadium and its events, and much more.
 

SoFi Stadium details

SoFi Stadium will be the focal point of LA Stadium & Entertainment District (LASED) at Hollywood Park when it opens in July this year – a kind of cynosure of all eyes. Spread over 298 acres of land, it is a sports and entertainment destination extraordinaire being developed by Los Angeles Rams Owner and Chairman E Stanley Kroenke. The avant-garde venue will also serve as the residence of Los Angeles Chargers.

SoFi Stadium will hold sports and entertainment events the whole year through and will also play host to Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the College Football National Championship game in 2023, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2028 Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games.
 

Premium spaces

A crowd of 70,000 can pack into SoFi Stadium, expandable up to 100,000, and will benefit from some 260 luxury suites, more than 13,000 premium seats, and over three million square feet of usable space.

A 27,000SF SoFi-branded VIP activation space inside the stadium will be employed for special events, including a dedicated SoFi lounge for its members to access, one of kind opportunities the company plans to offer members as part of its naming-rights partnership.

Apart from the stadium naming rights, SoFi will be an official partner of each of the teams, as well as a partner of the performance venue and surrounding entertainment district.

LA Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park and SoFi are entering into a 20-year agreement that makes the digital personal finance company the exclusive naming rights partner of SoFi Stadium.

The Los Angeles Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park is transforming the site of the former Hollywood Park Racetrack to a year-round sports and entertainment destination for the enjoyment of people throughout Southern California.
 

Largest NFL stadium

SoFi Stadium is the first indoor-outdoor stadium to be constructed. In close proximity to the stadium and under the same roof canopy are a 6,000-seat performance venue and the 2.5-acre American Airlines Plaza. The performance venue will stage several events, including concerts, esports events, award shows, as well as community gatherings.

Hollywood Park will boast more than 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space initially, 2,500 residences, a hotel, and more than 20 acres of parks. At 3.1 million square-feet, SoFi Stadium is the largest stadium in the NFL.

Representing Hollywood Park was Legends Global Partnerships division, which sourced, negotiated and represented Hollywood Park in securing the wide-ranging naming-rights partnership with SoFi.
 

Cutting-edge technology

Hollywood Park and Cisco have entered into an alliance that establishes the technology leader as the official IT network services partner of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park. The agreement includes an end-to-end deployment of Cisco’s best in the industry sports and entertainment solutions across SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park to create one of the most innovative and futuristic mixed-use developments in the world.

Hollywood Park will be built on Cisco’s intent-based networking technology. The secure platform will allow SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park to make operations a smooth affair, facilitate IT and business innovation, and redefine what is possible for fans as part of the live event experience with new content, experiences and engagement opportunities.

The Cisco Connected Stadium Wi-Fi network at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park will utilize Wi-Fi 6, the next-generation wireless standard, and be the largest deployment ever of the technology in a sports venue. More than 2,500 Wi-Fi 6 access points in SoFi Stadium will deliver faster speeds for immersive-experience applications, more bandwidth (four times greater capacity than the previous Wi-Fi standard) and higher reliability, all while being less taxing on a device’s battery. The high-density network will also allow SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park to leverage one secure Wi-Fi platform for employees, operations and fan-facing services.

Jason Gannon, Managing Director, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, informed, “SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park are the future of live sports and entertainment. We envision SoFi Stadium not just hosting world-class events like the Super Bowl and the Olympics, but also serving as a dynamic media platform. Our partnership with Cisco will set a new standard for the fan experience through cutting-edge technology that will enhance the way guests interact with live events, not only at SoFi Stadium but across all of Hollywood Park.”

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