Curious about SoFi Stadium? Some key questions, answered
The internet is abuzz with questions about Inglewood's SoFi Stadium, the site of Super Bowl LVI, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. How many people can it seat? What's the seating map like? Are the seats comfortable? Does it have air conditioning? What's up with the roof? Let's dig in. And if you have questions we didn't answer here, let us know in the comments.
What is the seating capacity of SoFi Stadium?
About 70,000. For comparison, Dodger Stadium seats 56,000. At Crypto.com Arena — the venue formerly known as Staples Center that hosts the Lakers, Clippers and Kings — it depends on the event. It's just under 20,000 for a concert, a little over 19,000 for a basketball game, and about 18,000 for hockey. The L.A. Memorial Coliseum seats 77,500 as of 2019, but in 1963 more than 134,000 people packed the stadium for an event with Billy Graham. The Rose Bowl has also held more than 100,000 people, but its current maximum capacity is 91,136.
What's the seating map?
It's a big stadium, and there are many maps on the Rams and Chargers websites. You can also tour the stadium virtually — which will give you a sense of the ticket prices in various sections. (They aren't cheap, especially not for the Super Bowl.) Still curious about the stadium but not ready to shell out for a ticket? You can take an in-person tour, starting at $30.
Does SoFi Stadium have air conditioning?
It does not, unless you count the natural breeze. Back in 2020, Times football writer Sam Farmer toured the soon-to-open stadium and reported that on a hot August day, it felt 10 degrees cooler inside. That's due partly to the breeze — "Construction workers told me that cross breeze is pretty much constant," he tweeted — and partly to the very fancy roof.
Tell me about that roof.
Sam Lubell, an architecture writer, explained in The Times:
"In classic SoCal fashion, the stadium, its edges open to the outdoors along the sides, blurs the line between interior and exterior, inviting visitors, and views, inside. It pulls in ocean breezes through its aerodynamic shape, its permeable flanks, the lifting of its seating bowl above the ground-level concourse and massive (60 feet by 60 feet) adjustable openings in its roof that can slide like sunroofs on cars. These openings can 'tune' the wind flow, according to HKS, which designed recent stadiums for the Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys.
"The roof, which covers and unifies the stadium bowl, plaza and adjacent arena, is clad in ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, or ETFE, a tough, translucent plastic that, thanks to its dotted frit pattern, shades fans from about half of the sun’s heat. (If you’ve roasted at the Coliseum or at Dodger Stadium, you will appreciate that.) The ETFE also will allow concerts, community gatherings, e-sports, the Super Bowl and the Olympics to carry on in the rare case of rain."
What about the video board?
The double-sided video board hanging from said roof is 70,000 square feet in size and 122 feet above the field. It was built by Samsung and is called the Infinity Screen. Haven't we been living in an infinity screen for a couple of years now?
Are the seats comfy?
I guess this matters if you're paying an average price of more than $7,500 for a place to sit. And yes, the endless commercial breaks and plus-sized halftime show make for one long afternoon of potential discomfort. But if you've scored one of the most highly coveted tickets in the country, how much are you going to care, really, about how your butt feels?
Is the field grass?
Nope, it's artificial turf. But it has properties that give it a look similar to real grass, according to an extremely detailed post on the Rams' website, so you can be forgiven for thinking it's natural.
Where am I supposed to park? How do I get there?
And you may ask yourself, where is my large automobile? Ahem.
Getting to SoFi and finding a place to park sounds complicated and frustrating. Which makes it ... the same as other L.A. sports venues. Here's a detailed guide with a fun video. If you're going to the game, but especially if you aren't, you should know about the Super Bowl-related road closures.
What should I eat and drink?
Not the crispy shrimp tacos. The Times' Jenn Harris tried all of the regular-season food at SoFi Stadium so you don't have to.
And The Times' Food staff has a list of the best places to eat and drink around the stadium. If you'll be watching from home, make a crowd-pleasing dip.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
