Interesting news out of the Rams and Chargers camps during the past week. Los Angeles’ ownership teams asked for an additional $500 million from the NFL owners to complete funding for SoFi Stadium. The entertainment complex was already projected to cost $5 billion when all said and done, but the price tag just went up by 10% somehow. The NFL owners have voted and approved the lending of the money to complete the stadium on Tuesday evening.
What’s even crazier, is that the Rams also asked to pay the money back in double the amount of time normally given by the league, spanning 30 years instead of just 15.
SoFi Stadium was supposed to be completed by the end of July for a two-night Taylor Swift concert, but she postponed her entire tour due to coronavirus. The next event on the schedule at SoFi was a Kenny Chesney concert on Aug. 1, but his tour has also been postponed.
Guns N’ Roses is currently still slated to perform a show there on Aug. 8, which is the last event on the calendar before the 2020 preseason – during which the Rams will play three games at SoFi Stadium, one as the road team against the Chargers.
Even if we assume that the August event will be postponed, why is an LA-based building hurting so much financially? All of their money issues were present way before any virus issues hit the United States, so that’s not really an excuse that they can currently make at this time.
Construction of the stadium hasn’t necessarily been delayed, but the coronavirus pandemic is clearly having an effect on the stadium’s opening due to current California restrictions.
There has been recent scrutiny among the contract/money situations of the current Rams roster, and how that has affected the team’s performance and future post their Super Bowl LIII appearance. In addition, since moving to LA from San Diego, the Chargers haven’t necessarily been welcomed with open arms either.
