Not even the clouds could dampen LAFC’s stadium plans on Monday morning.
By Ivan Yeo
The start of the day on Monday at Exposition Park in Los Angeles was mixed.
It started with an overcast hovering above the city, with even a few spots of drizzle coming down. As the day progressed however, the clouds moved away and the sun started to shine down on Expo Park.
In a way, the change in weather pattern was kind of reflective of the evolution of a second MLS franchise in Los Angeles. The dark clouds and the negativity of Chivas USA have moved on and LAFC has shined a whole new light in the next chapter of professional soccer in the City of Angels. LAFC wrote the latest chapter in the lead up to its first season in 2018 when they unveiled their plans to construct a brand new, expensive soccer-specific stadium in Exposition Park on late Monday morning.
“We want it to be one of the cathedrals of soccer in this country and around the world,” said Henry Nguyen, LAFC lead investor and venture capitalist. “The great opportunity here is that L.A. is the world’s city and this is the monument to the world’s game here.”
The day started off with students from the Alliance Patti and Peter Neuwirth Leadership Academy as well as members of the LAFC supporters group marching into the press conference, which was held just outside of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, singing LAFC-themed chants.
Co-owner and team president Tom Penn started off the day with opening remarks, which was then followed with statements from its other co-owners, starting with Nguyen, Peter Guber, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra. Also giving statements were MLS Commissioner Don Garber and LA City Council Members Curren Price and Herb Wesson.
A rendering of the inside of LAFC’s potential future home.
The stadium LAFC plans to build will sit next to the Coliseum, where the aging and underutilized Sports Arena currently sits. The stadium will seat 22,000 and will feature a conference center and a “world football museum.” The price for the project is a steep one though, as the stadium is expected to cost around $250 million, though LAFC states the project will be entirely financed privately.
Despite the high price for the stadium, LAFC touted the impact that its new stadium could bring to the areas surrounding the stadium, the University of Southern California included. LAFC states that the new stadium will bring in 1,200 immediate construction jobs along with 1,800 permanent jobs. In addition to LAFC matches, the stadium will also host its share of concerts and over events and USC, which has control of the land where the Sports Arena and the LA Coliseum currently sit, are also expected to use the stadium for some of its sports teams, most likely its Women’s Soccer team.
LAFC also anticipates the prospect for development around the stadium that they believe could net the area around $275 million per year.
“What I’m really happy about is over those 1,200 construction jobs,” Magic said during the press conference. “We can put people to work who live here, and that’s really important. And then the 1,800 permanent jobs — let’s clap for that too. … It’s very important that we include the community.”
LAFC had originally planned to start in 2017, but further politics, namely an environmental impact report and also the demolition of the Sports Arena as well as any future dealings with the city and the state made the LAFC ownership group decide that pushing the team’s debut season back another year was the best option to ensure success both on and off the pitch. Penn expects the next stage of the stadium process to take about 10 months before construction of the stadium begins.
“There’s always challenges right,” Penn said. “This is really just the beginning of trying to make this a reality.”
While Nguyen stated that he was slightly disappointed that the team’s launch had to be pushed back, he quickly stated that the wait will certainly be worth it when the I’s are dotted, the T’s are crossed, and the team takes the field three from now in a brand new glitzy stadium.
“You only have one chance to make a first impression and we want to do it in our new stadium, in our new home,” Nguyen said. “We stressed to the league that we wanted to build the stadium and have that pressure and start in our own venue when we kick off.”
