Stan Kroenke and the Los Angeles Rams hoped to open SoFi Stadium with a bang in 2020 but instead they were forced to play their first season of games in an empty venue. Fans weren’t allowed to attend games that year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’ve since been treated to a fantastic experience at the magnificent venue in Inglewood.
SoFi Stadium is a one-of-a-kind arena, which is why it landed so high on The Athletic’s stadium rankings heading into the 2023 season. Thirty writers from the outlet voted on stadiums across the league and ranked them from best to worst, with SoFi Stadium coming in second – behind only the Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium.
“I hate indoor football stadiums, but I grudgingly understand why they are preferred/necessary for NFL teams,” Falcons reporter Josh Kendall wrote. “SoFi manages to ‘feel’ like an outdoor stadium while still offering the benefits of being indoors. Throw in the bells, whistles and the fact that you can walk to one end of the concourse and see the Forum (I mean, it’s the Forum) makes SoFi a winner.”
SoFi Stadium has a transparent roof that also features an LED board on the outside, so it can display pretty much anything for the world to see from above – including those who fly into and out of LAX. The Infinity Screen hanging over the field is the world’s largest 4K video board, and is double-sided so it can be viewed from anywhere.
And while it is technically a dome, it has an outdoor feel thanks to the open ends of the stadium that let fresh air in. There really isn’t another stadium like it right now and the Rams are lucky to play all of their home games there.
