Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World, the first major event with spectators at SoCal’s brand new SoFi Stadium, was held on May 2, 2021 – three months before the two home teams, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, played their NFL pre-season match (attendance near capacity at 70,000) on August 14, 2021. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place almost a year prior, on September 8, 2020.

Inside view of SoFi Stadium

The stadium’s Wikipedia page provides a wealth of information. It mentions 2028 Olympics’ soccer and archery competitions, the Infinity Screen by Samsung; the state-of-the-art, 6,000-seat YouTube Theater; the NFL Network Media Building, etc. For more amusing facts, one must join the onsite tour:

  • The archery event will be held not inside the stadium, but at the vacant lot next to the 6-acre environmentally responsible artificial lake – a spectacular component of the new public park that greets visitors before they enter the stadium.
Lake next to SoFi Stadium with rows of seagulls
  • Seagulls not only find footing but also practice their cadet formation on the lake.   Trained hawks, not decoy, patrol the stadium to prevent their distant, distant relatives from attacking the stadium.
  • The final construction cost is over $6 billion. Wikipedia currently specifies an estimate between $5 and 6 billion.
Samsung Infinity Screen
  • The Infinity Screen by Samsung – the enormous LED video board suspended from the roof – is three stories high.  Technicians must take a platform lift to reach the ovular display system. There is even a restroom up there! 

Many visitors considered the “Tunnel Run Experience onto the Field” the tour’s climax:  Eye-popping videos accompanying earsplitting music to mobilize and energize – overpaid NFL players are so pampered! A team of gregarious young employees were stationed across the field, conducting more fun activities.  The young lady at the target practice encouraged guests to throw an official NFL ball. I could not resist and asked her, “So this ball is heavier than the one Brady used?” Her reaction – subtle smile and silence – were professional, most appropriate; to which I responded, “Deflategate!” Common sense teaches that when an athlete performs exceptionally well during an extended period of time, likely something disturbing, even sinister is brewing contributing to his or her unnatural superhuman success –  the reason I have never heeded personalities like Lance Armstrong. 

My Connecting Baseball with Tea post published this past January briefly mentions MLB and Snapple’s two-year partnership. Lipton, NFL’s official iced tea sponsor, commissioned a mixologist to concoct 4 NFL Team Cocktails to Celebrate Game Day: Washington Tea-C, Rowdy’s (Dallas Cowboys Mascot) Refresher, Empire Brew (New York Jets), and a fourth drink not worth mentioning, again due to Deflategate.

Not only for afternoon teas, the stadium is an ideal venue for any occasion – be it a birthday party, a wedding, or graduation ceremony when cost is of no concern. (Those who are interested in suites’ rates could visit the official websites of Chargers and Rams, respectively.) The field cabana (pictured) sponsored by Bootsy Bellows, a nightclub in West Hollywood, adds the much needed feminine touch to the space.

Field Cabana at SoFi Stadium

Every Wikipedia entry recounts a journey and an achievement! While writing this post I read some of the very first write-ups.  The current version, dated October 21, 2021, aggregates and processes so many volunteer contributors’ research and insight. Older versions do have their charms and strengths: For example, the new stadium’s location is specified as “immediately adjacent” to the Forum, a multi-purpose arena opened in 1967, while in the newer versions it is “southeast of the Forum” – extraneous information considering most Wikipedia visitors are not cartographers.

Panorama of the SoFi Stadium entrance and lake

As an annual donor I was invited to attend the special celebration and fundraiser for Wikipedia’s 20th birthday on November 9th. Through the years I find myself visiting this multilingual online encyclopedia slightly less frequently, ever since my 2012 T Ching post Tea Gowns Are Not For Tea Parties was referenced in 2013, then removed in 2014, in the Notes section of Wikipedia’s Tea Gown page. The contributor who deleted the entry took the right action. My post does not merit any consideration. Wikipedia remains the go-to site; however, from time to time I double-check the information in this monumental knowledge repository.

Images provided and copyright held by author