The Los Angeles Rams’ transition to the West Coast is sort of full. After taking part in the previous 4 seasons in the Coliseum, the National Football League’s oldest stadium, they’re going to now be taking part in in the NFL’s latest: a $5 billion state-of-the-art indoor-outdoor stadium. But after they take the sphere in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, they’re going to do it without fans.

“I do not assume once we sat on the drafting board 5 years in the past, we ever conceived that we’d open up without fans, however I do not assume there’s something about 2020 that any of us ever might have conceived,” Kevin Demoff, the Los Angeles Rams COO, advised CNBC.  

Located in Inglewood, California, SoFi Stadium is unfold out over practically 300 acres of land, or 3 times the scale of Disneyland. The venue will host each the Rams and the Chargers in addition to varied leisure occasions, equivalent to a Taylor Swift present that was scheduled for July 25 earlier than it was canceled due to Covid-19. The stadium has already secured Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the school soccer nationwide championship recreation in 2023 and the opening ceremonies of the 2028 Olympic Games.

SoFi Stadium holds a number of new titles: It’s the biggest NFL stadium at 3.1 million sq. toes, the primary indoor-outdoor stadium to be constructed and has the largest video display screen in the league.

Rams quarterback Jared Goff not too long ago bought a tour.

“Wow, it’s superb! It is gorgeous,” he mentioned in response to the 4K, 120-yard-long video board that surrounds the stadium. 

The open-air stadium may have seating capability of roughly 70,000, and it will likely be expandable up to 100,000 when wanted. It will even characteristic 260 luxurious suites and 13,000 premium seats.

“I feel for our gamers, they’re going to step into essentially the most technologically superior, most trendy stadium ever constructed. It’s going to make them really feel like they’ve a aggressive benefit,” mentioned Demoff.

The translucent roof is exclusive. Clear panels encompass the stadium which can be ready to open to let recent air in, a characteristic Demoff mentioned shall be particularly useful in welcoming fans again safely. 

“If you are going to open up a constructing in a pandemic, the silver lining is by being the largest, by being essentially the most trendy, by having six instances the Wi-Fi functionality of some other stadium, we are able to make this technologically secure. We could make it very secure for fans to socially distance, without having to change any of our design, and that is the beauty of constructing the stadium for 2020,” he mentioned.

Demoff mentioned the workforce is following the recommendation and pointers of native officers, that are for now prohibiting fans at dwell sporting occasions. The Rams hope to give you the option to deliver again fans into the stadium this season, however for now they may supply digital experiences. The workforce will characteristic greater than 1,000 fans just about in the stands in the tip zone and likewise supply augmented actuality experiences to give Rams fans a 360-degree view of the new stadium. The workforce can also be working with its sponsors, together with Pepsi, to transition their campaigns from in stadium to digital.

Demoff mentioned Pepsi recorded its halftime performances forward of time and different model companions may have video campaigns all through the stadium.

Despite the pandemic, Rams fans are nonetheless anxious to get into the new stadium. The workforce mentioned solely about 20% of their season ticket holders have requested for refunds and the bulk opted to roll their tickets over to subsequent season.

The pandemic may have a serious short-term influence on the workforce’s backside line as income streams from all the things from concessions to parking disappear. But Demoff says the workforce’s funding in the stadium has all the time been for the lengthy haul.

“When we constructed this stadium, we constructed it for the following two or three many years,” he mentioned. “Hopefully, we are able to resume again to our regular projections for 2021 and past, the identical means each different enterprise in the world is their 2020 backside line proper now.”