A high-powered ownership group featuring Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Mia Hamm and Tony Robbins unveiled plans Monday for a 22,000-seat stadium to open in 2018 in South Los Angeles. The $250 million development on the site of the old L.A. Sports Arena will also include restaurants, a conference center and a soccer museum.
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“Los Angeles is a city famed for its creativity and innovation,” Peter Guber, LAFC’s executive chairman, said in a press release. “In that tradition we look forward to building a premier club, in a state-of-the-art stadium delivering a state-of-the-heart experience, and bringing the world’s game to the City of Angels.”
The Los Angeles area has had an MLS team since the league’s inception in 1996, but the Galaxy has played its home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and the StubHub center in Carson. Chivas USA also called the Carson stadium its home during its 10-year MLS run before ceasing operations last fall.
LAFC was originally set to begin MLS play in 2017 after being awarded an expansion franchise last season. But the team will wait a year to get its stadium project on line.
It’s unclear if that change will affect MLS’s overall expansion timeline. In addition to LAFC, a new Atlanta team also was slated to join the league for the 2017 season, and Minnesota United was set to move up from the NASL in 2018 with the completion of its own soccer-specific stadium.
