Dean Spanos, owner of NFL American football franchise the Los Angeles Chargers, has remarked that the under-construction LA Stadium and Entertainment District project is “so impressive.”
The LA Chargers, along with rivals the LA Rams, will move into the upcoming LA Stadium at Hollywood Park, which is a part of the new entertainment district, when it opens in 2020.
The stadium and surrounding development around the site will include a new entertainment complex with 8.5 million square feet for business parks, a 6,000-seat music and theatre venue, ballrooms, indoor and outdoor room, a multiplex movie theatre, a lake with multiple waterfall fountains, luxury hotels, high-scale dining, and an NFL Network Flagship Campus studio for the league’s digital properties.
Work got underway on the 70,000-capacity, state-of-the-art facility back in November but an unprecedented level of rainfall back in May impacted working conditions, with up to two months of potential construction time having been lost. The stadium is now scheduled to open in the fall of 2020 – and not 2019 as originally planned.
Spanos, who is also chairman of the Chargers’ board, said: “It’s still three seasons away, but you can just see the enthusiasm from the sales group. When you start looking at the monitors that show the stadium being built in real time, (you realise) it’s physically happening. It’s a reality, and you can’t do anything but get excited when you see it.
“It’s clearly going to raise the bar for NFL stadiums as well as the expectations of fans and all event-goers. Our aim is to provide Chargers fans with an amazing game-day experience, and that’s exactly what this stadium will do. It’s why we’re so excited about this project, it aligns perfectly with our Chargers values.”
Suite and premium potential customers can take a virtual reality tour of all their options throughout the stadium to see what different tiers will look like from the interiors to the view of the field at the Premiere Center which opened last month.
The Premiere Center, based at Playa Vista just five miles from the LA Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park, is an 11,000sqft platform designed to showcase the stadium development.
Spanos said: “We still have a ways to go, but I think the end product here is going to be something special for the people of Los Angeles and the people of the world to see. This is going to be a world-class venue, and we’re excited to be a part of it.”
A recent report showed that the decision by various franchises in the NFL to build new stadiums, relocate to a new home or develop their existing venue has led to a sharp increase in construction spend in the US. Real stadium construction spend in the country has increased by 80 per cent during the past five years.
