L.A. Sports Arena Releases Draft Environmental Impact Report The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena could be demolished, yielding to either an amphitheater or a soccer stadium under draft plans released earlier this week to reinvigorate the publicly managed, cash-strapped and deteriorating entertainment venue that has been short on programming. The other option envisions a 22,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium, offering some competition to the Home Depot Center in Carson. The stadium plan calls for MLS games, exhibition games and USC soccer games to be played there. At the varsity level, USC only has a women's team. Local teams would be allowed to practice there as well. More info in the link... So does Chivas USA have the juice to implore LA to get this done? Would that location work for CUSA?
It would be very good for the league. On another bright side, maybe they would rebrand like KC did! Except this would be a positive one because it can't get worse than Chivas USA!
Chivas USA does not deserve to share anything with the great USC program. If anything, just make them play in the Coliseum. Why spend money in a team that has 0% Los Angeles identity. Change your name before you move to the heart of LA.
Well it is in one of the worst neighborhoods in LA, so their fans would fit right in. In all honesty, Chivas USA would have to want this to happen. They would be moving from one location where they pay rent and don't control concessions to another stadium where they pay rent and don't control concessions. We'll see.
It was one of the worst neighborhoods about 10 years ago. The Coliseum/USC/Expo/Figueroa area is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I'd be jealous as all hell if this happened, since I'd be a 15 minute car ride, or a 15 minute light rail ride away next season. The Sports Arena has been a dump for a long long time, its about time they demolished it and started fresh. For all those "we need Downtown stadiums," well here's your chance to be heard. This is about as good as you're likely to get in Los Angeles. It's a crazy central location, easy access from multiple freeways, a new light rail line opening next door, and more and more things to do in the neighborhood. This would be a big deal for Chivas USA, if they marketed it right... oh wait, never mind.
Say's the guy who lives in Fullerton The USC/Exposition Area is beautiful and getting better everyday. Back to the topic; Figueroa Avenue pretty much connects all the major sports teams in LA ( Dodgers, Lakers, Clippers,Kings, USC Football & Basketball ). All these attractions are a mere 10-15 minutes away from each other. The soccer team that lands this area is going to triumph in a very major way. Maybe the L.A Galaxy can move in and snatch up the opportunity???
Yes, the rendering looks amateurish, but the purpose of an environmental impact statement (EIS) isn't to say "this is what a stadium would look like and this is what we'll use to excite creditors, municipal officials and ticket buyers." The purpose is merely to say "if we had a stadium with 20,000 seats that is used 40 times a year, this is what the traffic, air and water pollution, parking, etc., impacts would be. It can be very, very conceptual for these purposes.
a stadium location like this would be completely wasted on Chivas USA. maybe the Galaxy can build themselves a new stadium there and bequeath HDC to Chivas USA. they are used to playing second fiddle and getting handmedowns. but if the stadium won't be owned and controlled by the MLS team i am not sure i see the point.
Sometimes teams like to rebrand themselves after opening new venues, so it wouldn't be such a bad deal if that happened with Chivas.
LA Aztecs, baby! The only logical choice. Build a stadium while you are at it, too! Just don't build one where you end up paying rent to those cheaters over at Fake USC.
For those that don't know LA -- which might I remind you is practically everybody reading this -- HDC to USC is about 15 minutes w/ no traffic. Which is pretty much never, except well outside standard business hours. Although LA isn't "united" by a downtown, per se (and that's changing w/ the metro system and more and more housing going up in and around the financial district), downtown LA is pretty central to much of the LA Basin. HDC is almost on the west side and south of LAX, which is a traffic nightmare. So it limits fans from the north (the Valley, for instance). The Galaxy gets a lot of fans from the San Fernando Valley, and it gets fans from the east of downtown.
As a San Fernando Valley resident, I approve of this message. And I also have to leave at least 2 1/2 hours before game time on a Saturday night....
Which is what you get for living in the Valley. While the SFV, Hollywood, and the Westside might be closer to the media jobs, the HDC is actually closer to the center of LA.
Competing with AEG to build an MLS stadium doesn't seem the most prudent thing to do. (The back-link, http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/67379, goes over AEG's proposal for the area, which is an NFL/WC stadium. That, itself, has competition from the City of Industry propsal.)
What governmental entity theoretically has the cash to do this? The city deficit is horrible and growing. Don't know about the county. And the sports authority has so many upgrade needs at the Coliseum that I can't see them taking on a new project. I wouldn't bet on this ever getting beyond the idea floating stage.
Right. Because that 30 minute drive from Fullerton makes it prohibitive for me to have been to that neighborhood at all in the past several years. I've had to be in that neighborhood dozens of times in the past couple of years for work. That area is a shit hole. If you travel one block in any direction away from the Exposition area you are dealing with crackheads and pimps.
That's probably a good thing. The way that school cheats, their squad would probably have a bigger salary budget than Red Bull. ...or more ringers than a Salvation Army Christmas.
The neighborhood may not be all that great, but transit access would be excellent - far, far better than to the HDC. This would be a terrific location, close to downtown LA. Sure, some fans will miss out, but the Expo line will take fans right to the site. This would be awesome for MLS!
Right...so Chivas fans will fit right in! I keed I keed. As other people have said, Its actually a very interesting area because of the amount of new development happening in and around the coliseum. Yes, it is close to some of the worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles, you have to remember that the HDC is a nine-iron away from Compton. In fact, it's between Compton and Long Beach, which means - as Snoop and Dre remind us - you know you got trouble. As far as "Government Agencies" go that would build this? Ironically, it would have to involve the Coliseum Commision, which is currently arch-enemies with? Drumroll please.... AEG! That's right, because AEG wants to bring a massive new NFL Stadium to LA Live, a hop-skip-and-a-jump from the Coliseum.