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LAFC unveils stadium renderings following city council approval

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Los Angeles FC’s stadium plan took another step towards reality on Friday.

The LA City Council unanimously approved the Final Environmental Impact Report and other environmental and entitlement agreements for LAFC on Friday. The approval provides LAFC formal permission to begin work on the site and proceed with the start of the project.

Demolition of the current Sports Arena is expected this summer, while the new facility will be ready for the club’s inaugural 2018 season.

“LAFC’s promise is to unite the world’s city through the world’s game,” said Henry Nguyen, LAFC managing partner and owner. “Today, through the collaborative vision and efforts of the City Council and the people of Los Angeles, we continue to work towards that promise.  Everyone has invested a tremendous amount of time, hard work, thought and energy and we are now one step closer to making our shared vision a reality.”

“We are excited to bring innovation and creativity to LA and deliver on our commitment to bring a state-of-the-heart experience to the community,” added Peter Guber, LAFC executive chairman and owner. “Together with City leadership and City staff, we listened to and received input from the community in order to put forth a comprehensive plan that sets new standards for all future stadium projects.”

In addition, LAFC released an additional rendering of the stadium project, which can be seen below:

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What do you think of the renderings? Excited for the new stadium?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’m optimistic, but so far seeing positive. My optimism might not go away about this team until five years after they begin play.

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  2. I was in LA (Englewood) this morning and I’m surprised by the lack of public transport in this city. Will there be dedicated lines for bus and rail coming to this area? LA as a whole has horrid public transportation.

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    • It’s Inglewood. Where are you from? Didn’t you know that LA is famous for being auto centric?The LA public transit system is actually much better than it used to be. Now they at least have a couple hundred miles of light rail, which is being expanded, and a downtown subway. Being a long time Southern Californian, I can remember when public transit in Southern California consisted only of poorly run buses. San Diego was the first to put in a light rail system in the late 70’s, followed by LA a few years later. You can now go from San Diego to LA completely on public rail (not Amtrak) and all the way into Riverside County also.

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  3. Great location and close to precious public transit in the region. Downtown LA is undergoing some Shangai-ification so the skyline should look pretty robust when this stadium is completed.

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    • I’m also highly skeptical of the claim it will be ready for the 2018 season since they haven’t even started the tear down yet. I suspect over the next few months we’ll see the “everything is on schedule!” quotes followed by “we’ll be in it halfway through 2018”, followed by “no sense in rushing, it will be ready for 2019”- like we saw in Orlando and San Jose and to a lesser extent in Philadelphia.

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  4. Having sprung from the wreckage of the Chivas USA debacle, frankly I’ve gone from a skeptic, to guarded, but am very pleasantly surprised w/ the progress of the birth of LAFC. It’s becoming apparent that this is a huge upgrade with a quality ownership group that so far is pulling all the right strings… doing things the right way, slowly building momentum w/ savvy branding, a development system, stadium/location. Very curious and anticipating what kind of a team/manager they put forth.

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    • Considering how many sports franchises have left (or failed) LA or play outside LA (despite referring to themselves as LA) means cautious optimism is incredibly reasonable.

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  5. And here’s an interesting side question: if this soccer specific stadium gets built right next door to the Colliseum, does it force USC to put together a men’s soccer program? Only school in the Pac 12 without one. Considering the school’s location smack in the middle of one of the major development regions in the U.S. for youth soccer (not to mention smack in the middle of an enormous hispanic population), you’d think they’d want to capitalize on this opportunity.

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    • Hunky, there are multiple teams in the Pac-12 without men’s programs. ASU, UofA, USC, Oregon, Washington State, Utah, Colorado. And San Diego State competes in the Pac-12.

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      • I stand corrected. But still, I got you to call me Hunky!

        And USC should have a men’s soccer program.

      • As a San Diego State grad, I will point out that our soccer program has produced US internationals Eric Wynalda, Marcelo Balboa, Christopher Sullivan, Joe Corona, and Jimmy Conrad before he transferred to UCLA

      • This is actually a myth. Title IX requires equality in awarding athletic scholarships. What sport uses up the most scholarships? In division I, football, and it’s not even close. Then, programs prioritize on the basis of money generated which means men’s basketball is always provided for. What often results is that lesser men’s programs get the shaft because women already have to get so many scholarships to make up for men’s football. Many schools choose to include soccer and eliminate things like volleyball, golf, water polo, or other such. USC has chosen, obviously, to not fund a men’s soccer program. It is the football program that stifles soccer and the decision of the athletic program, not Title IX. Without Title IX the US women’s soccer team would not be repeat world champs. Of course, you could choose to not treat men and women’s sports funding equally by doing away with Title IX, but I think gender equity has now become so pervasive and well established in our culture, that a lawsuit would inevitably result and all state funded institutions not providing equality would be ruled to be violating the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

  6. Having lived in LA for the last 25 years, I am still shocked at the ease with which this project is moving through City Hall. Anyone who’s lived here and follows sports can tell you how incredibly difficult stadium building is in this city. City taxpayers, god bless them, have steadfastly refused to vote through any taxpayer funded support for stadiums, which is why the NFL hasn’t been back for twenty years. I can guess at the reasons this stadium project appears to be succeeding where so many others have failed – no taxpayer funding; smaller venue in a pre-existing stadium location; or maybe the city council just loves soccer. Who knows? But it’s almost a miracle that this stadium project has made it this far. If it actually get’s built? Truly a miracle.

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  7. Los Angeles is clearly the sports mecca now. Off the top of my head, the only legitimate 6 sport city. What is a 6 sport city you ask? One that has Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Hockey, and a power-house division 1 college/university. Los Angeles checks every box, and almost twice for each (Lakers/Clippers; UCLA/USC; Galaxy/LAFC; Dodgers/Angels; Kings/Ducks). Add the new LAFC soccer stadium and the new Rams stadium that is supposed to put Jerryworld in Dallas to shame, and what else can you say?

    Oops I left the water faucet running, no bueno.

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      • +1. And a reminder to UCLA that a) Ducks and Angels are not in the Los Angeles market, no matter how much they wish they were, and b) there’s only one powerhouse college football program in Los Angeles. And it’s not UCLA.

        Bam. Oh yes I did.

      • Hunky Dory, yes Football is the one thing SC is desperately trying to hold on to, but it is slipping away. Ucla had a nice win streak over SC up until last year. Freshman year out of the way, The Chosen One Mr. Rosen will lead UCLA to big things!

        UCLA is above SC in everything else.

    • What struck me is how many stadiums LA will soon have. As a former analyst, it seems like a waste of money when you could get by with half as many. And, as a college BB fan, not sure UCLA is still a major basketball program since Alford took over.

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      • Gary, I might as well be President of the Fire Alford Club. So yes I agree.

        As far as stadiums, yes that’s probably true also but you know those millionaires/ billionaires each want their own toy. At least the Rams stadium in Inglewood is all privately funded. Not sure about LAFC stadium.

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