The NFL’s largest football stadium is getting a Super Bowl showcase.
SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California – home to the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers teams – is playing host to the big game between the Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals on Feb. 13.
It’s a lavish and expensive building that maximizes its Southern California location with unique architecture and landscape design.
“We designed this building to be something that was authentically Californian and Southern California in particular,” says Lance Evans, principal at HKS Architects. “We did that through the design of the exterior of the building — was shaped, it was inspired by the coastline of California, the energy of the wave. But then also, we wanted to really translate and transfer how the experience of a patron into the building can be different.”
The stadium – 3.1 million square feet with the ability to accommodate up to 100,000 people – features a unique “indoor-outdoor” design. It’s capped by a massive, clear roof arching from the ground across the entire arena bowl and an adjoining plaza with a separate 6,000-seat performance venue- but the building also is open at each end and on its concourses.
The roof is made of material that dissipates the heat, and just under it is a unique and massive two-sided oval video board. The vertical seating area keeps fans close to the action.
“Half of the stadium is actually underground, so fans’ expectations and visual cues of the stadium from the parking lot or from the lake are so much different once they cross that threshold of the ticket line and they come to the edge of the bowl,” Evans said. “You know, you see the true magnitude and scale of the building, and it’s great to see a patron’s face, you know, and the fan’s face when they come in for the first time and they see how the seating bowl is vertically oriented. They’re so much closer to the action, the natural light pouring through this building, through the ETFE roof and the Infinity board, you know, kind of immersing them in digital content — it’s almost this attack on the senses that a fan gets once they come to SoFi.”
The stadium’s upscale amenities include 260 luxury suites and more than 13,000 premium seats. Several club areas are intended for attendees who may not even be interested in the games. Several large, connected suites called “Bungalows” sit just beyond the end zones.
“Whether you be a hardcore fan, a fanatic, or you’re a tagalong customer — you just happen to come to the game because your significant other wanted to be here — we wanted to provide spaces around SoFi,” Evans said. “So whether it’s these clubs, the Champagne bar or the whiskey bar, tequila bar, fan platforms throughout each level, we want to provide spaces throughout the stadium that would cater to those unique desires for a fan base and have them equally excited to be a part of the party at SoFi.”
After the 56th Super Bowl, SoFi will host college football’s national championship game in 2023. The 2026 World Cup seems likely to hold matches at the stadium, which is also expected to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
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