Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a memorial to Los Angeles veterans of World War I. Completed in 1923, it will become the first stadium to have hosted the Summer Olympics three times when it hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics, previously hosting in 1932 and 1984. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 27, 1984, a day before the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics.
The stadium serves as the home of the University of Southern California Trojans football team of the Big Ten Conference, and is located directly adjacent to the school's main University Park campus. The Coliseum is jointly owned by the State of California's Sixth District Agricultural Association, Los Angeles County, and the City of Los Angeles. It is managed and operated by the Auxiliary Services Department of the University of Southern California.
USC granted naming rights to United Airlines in January 2018. After concerns were raised by the Coliseum Commission, which has public oversight of USC's management and operation of the Coliseum, the airline agreed to become the title sponsor of the playing field, naming it United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Coliseum was the home of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League from 1946 to 1979, when they moved to Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, and again from 2016 to 2019, before the team's move to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The facility had a permanent seating capacity of 93,607 for USC football and Rams games, making it, at the time, the largest football stadium in the Pac-12 Conference and the NFL. The stadium also was the temporary home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1958 to 1961, and was the host venue for games three, four, and five of the 1959 World Series. It was the site of the first AFL–NFL World Championship Game and Super Bowl VII. Additionally, it has served as a home field for a number of other teams, including the 1960 inaugural season for the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL from 1982 to 1994, and UCLA Bruins football.
From 1959 to 2016, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was located adjacent to the Coliseum before it closed in March 2016. BMO Stadium, formerly Banc of California Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium and the home of Major League Soccer 's Los Angeles FC, was constructed on the former Sports Arena site, and opened in 2018.
In 2019, USC completed a two year long major renovation of the stadium that included replacing the seating along with the addition of luxury boxes and club suites. The $315 million project, funded solely by the university and managed by architectural firm DLR Group, was the first major upgrade of the stadium in twenty years. The improvements and added amenities resulted in a reduced stadium capacity from 92,348 to 77,500.
Operation
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, which consists of six voting members appointed by the three ownership interests and meets on a quarterly basis, provides public oversight of the master lease agreement contract with USC. Under the lease, the university has year-round day-to-day management and operation responsibility for both the Coliseum and BMO Stadium properties. USC's Vice President of Auxiliary Services is the Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and Coliseum employees are employees of the university.Until 2013, USC had a series of mostly one and two year agreements with the Coliseum Commission - which up to that time had been directly operating the stadium. Those agreements were limited to the university only renting the stadium for USC home football games. On July 29, 2013, after the previously governing Coliseum Commission failed to deliver promised renovations, the Coliseum Commission and USC implemented a significantly more extensive master lease agreement that transferred to USC the responsibility for the long-term management and operation of both the Coliseum and the adjacent BMO Stadium property and the capital renewal of the Coliseum. The 98-year agreement required the university to make approximately $100 million in initial physical repairs to the Coliseum. Additionally, it requires USC pay $1.3 million each year in rent to the State of California for the state-owned land the property occupies in Exposition Park; maintain the Coliseum's physical condition at the same standard used on the USC Campus; and assume all financial obligations for the operations and maintenance of the Coliseum and BMO Stadium Complex.
USC
The Coliseum is primarily the home of the USC Trojans football team. Most of USC's regular home games, especially the alternating games with rivals UCLA and Notre Dame, attract a capacity crowd. The current official capacity of the Coliseum is 77,500, with 42 suites, 1,100 club seats, 24 loge boxes, and a 500-person rooftop terrace. USC's women lacrosse and soccer teams use the Coliseum for selected games, usually involving major opponents and televised games. USC also rents the Coliseum to various events, including international soccer games, musical concerts and other large outdoor events.In May 2021, due to the previous year of local COVID-19 restrictions, USC held commencement ceremonies in the Coliseum for graduating students from the classes of 2020 and 2021. Ceremonies were held in the Coliseum twice a day for a week, with over 36,000 diplomas awarded. It was the first time in 70 years that USC had held its commencement in the stadium. In September 2024 the university announced that its main commencement ceremony was regularly attracting more than 60,000 guests and had outgrown all venues on campus, and beginning with the May 2025 ceremony it would be permanently moving to the Coliseum.
History
Planning
Before the stadium was built, Exposition Park was the staging ground of various agricultural expositions and was operated by the Sixth District Agricultural Association. William Miller Bowen, head of the association, announced plans in January 1919 to build a football field for the University of Southern California in the park. Separately, the executive board of the Community Development Association determined in November 1919 that Los Angeles needed a municipal stadium capable of seating about 75,000. William May Garland, the CDA's president, advocated for the stadium to be built as a potential host of the 1924 Summer Olympics. A municipal bond issue was placed on the ballot on August 31, 1920; it required a two-thirds majority to pass and was narrowly defeated. Instead, in November 1921, the CDA leased part of Exposition Park from the city, built the stadium itself, and rented the venue back to the city and Los Angeles County until its debts were paid.The Coliseum was commissioned as a memorial to L.A. veterans of World War I. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 21, 1921, with construction being completed in just over 16 months, on May 1, 1923. Designed by John and Donald Parkinson, the original bowl's initial construction costs were $954,873. When the Coliseum opened in 1923, it was the largest stadium in Los Angeles, with a capacity of 75,144. In 1930, however, with the Olympics due in two years, the stadium was extended upward to seventy-nine rows of seats with two tiers of tunnels, expanding the seating capacity to 101,574. The physical structure of a bowl-shaped configuration for the Coliseum was undoubtedly inspired by the earlier Yale Bowl which was built in 1914. The now-signature Olympic torch was added, and the stadium was briefly known as Olympic Stadium. The Olympic cauldron torch which burned through both Games remains above the peristyle at the east end of the stadium as a reminder of this, as do the Olympic rings symbols over one of the main entrances. Originally for the 1984 games, burnable Olympic Rings and a 25-step hydraulic staircase were added inside in the front of the coliseum to allow the cauldron to be lit by lifting up the stairs to the burnable Olympic Rings, which brought the flame to the cauldron on top. The football field runs east to west with the press box on the south side of the stadium.
The current jumbotrons to each side of the peristyle were installed in 2017, and replaced a scoreboard and video screen that towered over the peristyle dating back to 1983; they replaced a smaller scoreboard above the center arch installed in 1972, which in turn supplanted the 1937 model, one of the first all-electric scoreboards in the nation. Over the years new light towers have been placed along the north and south rims. The large analog clock and thermometer over the office windows at either end of the peristyle were installed in 1955. In the mid- and late 1950s, the press box was renovated, and the "Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum" lettering and Olympic rings, lighted at night, were added to the eastern face of the peristyle tower. Between the double peristyle arches at the east end is the Coliseum's "Court of Honor" plaques, recognizing many of the memorable events and participants in its history, including a full list of 1932 and 1984 Olympic gold medalists.
Renovations
For many years, the Coliseum was capable of seating over 100,000 spectators. In 1964, the stadium underwent its first major renovation in over three decades. Most of the original pale green wood-and-metal bench seating was replaced by individual theater-type chairs of dark red, beige and yellow; these seats remained until 2018, although the yellow color was eliminated in the 1970s. The seating capacity was reduced to approximately 93,000.The Coliseum was problematic as an NFL venue. At various times in its history, it was either the largest or one of the largest stadiums in the league. While this allowed the Rams and Raiders to set attendance records, it also made it extremely difficult to sell out. The NFL amended its blackout rule to allow games to be televised locally if they were sold out 72 hours before kickoff. However, due to the Coliseum's large size, Rams games were often blacked out in Southern California, even in the teams' best years.
From 1964 to the late 1970s, it was common practice to shift the playing field to the closed end of the stadium and install end zone bleachers in front of the peristyle, limiting further the number of seats available for sale. For USC-UCLA and USC–Notre Dame games, which often attracted crowds upward of 90,000, the bleachers were moved eastward and the field was re-marked in its original position. When a larger east grandstand was installed between 1977 and 1978, at the behest of Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom, the capacity was just 71,500. With the upcoming 1984 Summer Olympic Games, and under the direction of H. D. Thoreau Jr., a new track was installed and the playing field permanently placed inside it. A new scoreboard was also installed in 1983 before the 1984 Olympics. However, the combination of the stadium's large, relatively shallow design, along with the presence of the track between the playing field and the stands, meant that some of the original end zone seats were as far from the field by the equivalent length of another football field. To address these and other problems, the Coliseum underwent a $15 million renovation before the 1993 football season, which included the following:
- The field was lowered by and 14 new rows of seats replaced the running track, bringing the first row of seats closer to the playing field.
- A portable seating section was built between the eastern endline and the peristyle bleachers.
- The locker rooms and public restrooms were "modernized".
- The bleachers were replaced with individual seating.