Planning Before the stadium was built, Exposition Park was the staging ground of various
agricultural expositions and was operated by the Sixth District Agricultural Association.
William Miller Bowen, head of the association, announced plans in January 1919 to build a football field for the University of Southern California in the park. Separately, the executive board of the Community Development Association determined in November 1919 that Los Angeles needed a municipal stadium capable of seating about 75,000.
William May Garland, the CDA's president, advocated for the stadium to be built as a potential host of the
1924 Summer Olympics. A municipal bond issue was placed on the ballot on August 31, 1920; it required a two-thirds majority to pass and was narrowly defeated. Instead, in November 1921, the CDA leased part of Exposition Park from the city, built the stadium itself, and rented the venue back to the city and
Los Angeles County until its debts were paid. The Coliseum was commissioned as a memorial to L.A.
veterans of
World War I (rededicated to all United States veterans of the war in 1968). The
groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 21, 1921, with construction being completed in just over 16 months, on May 1, 1923. Designed by
John and Donald Parkinson, the original bowl's initial construction costs were $954,873. When the Coliseum opened in 1923, it was the largest stadium in Los Angeles, with a capacity of 75,144. In 1930, however, with the Olympics due in two years, the stadium was extended upward to seventy-nine rows of seats with two tiers of tunnels, expanding the seating capacity to 101,574. The physical structure of a bowl-shaped configuration for the Coliseum was undoubtedly inspired by the earlier
Yale Bowl which was built in 1914. The now-signature Olympic torch was added, and the stadium was briefly known as
Olympic Stadium. The
Olympic cauldron torch which burned through both Games remains above the
peristyle at the east end of the stadium as a reminder of this, as do the Olympic rings symbols over one of the main entrances. Originally for the 1984 games, burnable Olympic Rings and a 25-step hydraulic staircase were added inside in the front of the coliseum to allow the cauldron to be lit by lifting up the stairs to the burnable Olympic Rings, which brought the flame to the cauldron on top. The football field runs east to west with the press box on the south side of the stadium. The current
jumbotrons to each side of the peristyle were installed in 2017, and replaced a scoreboard and video screen that towered over the peristyle dating back to 1983; they replaced a smaller scoreboard above the center arch installed in 1972, which in turn supplanted the 1937 model, one of the first all-electric scoreboards in the nation. Over the years new light towers have been placed along the north and south rims. The large analog clock and thermometer over the office windows at either end of the peristyle were installed in 1955. In the mid- and late 1950s, the press box was renovated, and the "Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum" lettering and Olympic rings, lighted at night, were added to the eastern face of the peristyle tower. Between the double peristyle arches at the east end is the Coliseum's "Court of Honor" plaques, recognizing many of the memorable events and participants in its history, including a full list of 1932 and 1984 Olympic gold medalists (the complete roster of honorees can be seen below).
Renovations For many years, the Coliseum was capable of seating over 100,000 spectators. In 1964, the stadium underwent its first major renovation in over three decades. Most of the original pale green wood-and-metal bench seating was replaced by individual theater-type chairs of dark red, beige and yellow; these seats remained until 2018, although the yellow color was eliminated in the 1970s. The
seating capacity was reduced to approximately 93,000. The Coliseum was problematic as an NFL venue. At various times in its history, it was either the largest or one of the largest stadiums in the league. While this allowed the Rams and Raiders to set attendance records, it also made it extremely difficult to sell out. The NFL amended its
blackout rule to allow games to be televised locally if they were sold out 72 hours before kickoff. However, due to the Coliseum's large size, Rams (and later Raiders) games were often blacked out in
Southern California, even in the teams' best years. From 1964 to the late 1970s, it was common practice to shift the playing field to the closed end of the stadium and install end zone bleachers in front of the peristyle, limiting further the number of seats available for sale. For USC–
UCLA and USC–
Notre Dame games, which often attracted crowds upward of 90,000, the bleachers were moved eastward and the field was re-marked in its original position. When a larger east grandstand was installed between 1977 and 1978, at the behest of Rams owner
Carroll Rosenbloom, the capacity was just 71,500. With the upcoming 1984 Summer Olympic Games, and under the direction of
H. D. Thoreau Jr., a new track was installed and the playing field permanently placed inside it. A new scoreboard was also installed in 1983 before the 1984 Olympics. However, the combination of the stadium's large, relatively shallow design, along with the presence of the track between the playing field and the stands, meant that some of the original end zone seats were as far from the field by the equivalent length of another football field. To address these and other problems, the Coliseum underwent a $15 million renovation before the 1993 football season, which included the following: Additionally, for Raiders home games,
tarpaulins were placed over seldom-sold sections, reducing seating capacity to approximately 65,000. The changes were anticipated to be the first of a multi-stage renovation designed by
HNTB that would have turned the Coliseum into a split-bowl stadium with two levels of mezzanine suites (the peristyle end would have been left as is). However, after the
1994 Northridge earthquake, the $93 million was required from government agencies (including the
Federal Emergency Management Agency) to repair earthquake damage, and the renovations demanded by the Raiders were put on hold indefinitely. The Raiders then redirected their efforts toward a proposed stadium at
Hollywood Park Racetrack in
Inglewood before electing to move back to the
Oakland Coliseum before the
1995 NFL season. In 2000, Bentley Management Group (BMG) was hired as the project manager to complete work at the Coliseum and Sports Arena funded by FEMA. In addition to seismically bracing the Sports Arena while it remained open for events, BMG also coordinated the Coliseum's new press box elevator, various concession stands, restroom improvements, and concrete spalling repairs.
New videoboard In August 2011, construction began on the Coliseum's west end on a new
HD video scoreboard, accompanying the existing video scoreboard on the peristyle (east end) of the stadium. The video scoreboard officially went into operation on September 3, 2011, at USC football's home opener versus the
University of Minnesota, with the game being televised on
ABC.
2018–2019 renovation project After USC took over the Coliseum master lease in 2013, they began making plans for major renovations needed and as stipulated in the master lease agreement. On October 29, 2015, USC unveiled an estimated $270 million project for a massive renovation and restoration the Coliseum. The upgrades included: replacing all seats in the stadium, construction of a larger and modern
press box (with new box suites, premium lounges, a viewing deck, a V.I.P. section, and the introduction of
LED ribbon boards), adding new aisles and widening some seats, a new
sound system, restoration and renaming of the peristyle to the Julia and George Argyros Plaza, stadium wide
Wi-Fi, two new
HD video jumbotrons, new
concession stands, upgraded entry concourses, new interior and exterior lighting, modernization of plumbing and electrical systems, and a reduction in capacity of about 16,000 seats, with the final total at approximately 78,500 seats. The plans were met with mixed reactions from the public. The
Los Angeles 2028 Olympic bid committee contemplated additional renovations to support its bid. On January 8, 2018, USC began the project to renovate and improve the Coliseum. The project, which was solely funded by the university, was completed by the 2019 football season, and was the first major upgrade of the stadium in 20 years. Originally, Memorial Coliseum was to be retained in the name of the stadium by the condition of the Coliseum Commission's requirement in its master lease agreement with USC. while United did not approve of any change from the stadium and stated that they were willing to step away from the deal. On March 29, 2019, USC suggested the name United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum instead of the planned United Airlines Memorial Coliseum. Although United also did not support this and considered withdrawal, the two parties agreed to the name on June 7. During Los Angeles Rams home games for the
2019 season, the stadium reverted to its original name, and all signage indicating "United Airlines Field" was covered due to the franchise's sponsoring partnership with
American Airlines.
Notable events 1920s and
USC On October 6,
1923,
Pomona and
USC played in the inaugural game at the Coliseum, with the Trojans prevailing 23–7. Situated just across the street from Exposition Park, USC agreed to play all its home games at the Coliseum, a circumstance that contributed to the decision to build the arena. From
1928 to
1981, the UCLA Bruins also played home games at the Coliseum. When USC and UCLA
played each other, the "home" team (USC in odd-numbered years, UCLA in even), occupied the north sideline and bench, and its band and rooters sat on the north side of the stadium; the "visiting" team and its contingent took to the south (press box) side of the stadium. Excepting the mid-1950s and 1983–2007, the two teams have worn their home jerseys for the
rivalry games for the
Victory Bell. This tradition was renewed in
2008, even though the two schools now play at different stadiums. UCLA moved to the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena in
1982.
1930s–1940s In 1932, the Coliseum hosted the
Summer Olympic Games, the first of two Olympic Games hosted at the stadium. The Coliseum served as the site of the
field hockey,
gymnastics, the
show jumping part of the
equestrian event, and
track and field events, along with the opening and closing ceremonies. The 1932 games marked the introduction of the
Olympic Village, as well as the victory podium. The former Cleveland Rams of the National Football League moved to the Coliseum in
1946, becoming the Los Angeles Rams; however, the team later moved again, first to
Anaheim in
1980, then to
St.Louis in
1995, only to move back to Los Angeles in
2016. The
Los Angeles Dons of the
All-America Football Conference played in the Coliseum from 1946 to 1949, when the franchise merged with its NFL cousins just before the two leagues merged. The Coliseum hosted the
NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in
1934,
1939,
1949, and
1955. It also hosted several Coliseum Relays and several Compton-Coliseum Invitational (track and field) events from the 1940s until the 1970s.
1950s–1960s Among other sporting events held at the Coliseum over the years were
Major League Baseball (MLB) games, which were held when the
Brooklyn Dodgers of the
National League moved to the West Coast in 1958. The Dodgers played here until
Dodger Stadium was completed in time for the
1962 season. The Coliseum was extremely ill-suited even as a temporary baseball venue due to the fundamentally different sizes and shapes of football and baseball fields. A baseball field requires roughly 2.5 times more area than a football gridiron, but the playing surface was just barely large enough to accommodate a baseball diamond. As a result, foul territory was almost nonexistent down the first base line, but was expansive down the third base line, with a very large
backstop for the catcher. Sight lines also left much to be desired; some seats were as far as from the plate. Also, from baseball's point of view, the locker rooms were huge as they were designed for
football (not baseball) teams. Even allowing for its temporary status, the corners that were cut in order to shoehorn even an approximation of a baseball field onto the playing surface were especially severe. The left-field fence was set at only from the plate. This seemed likely to ensure that there would be many "
Chinese home runs", as such short shots were called at the time. Sportswriters began jokingly referring to the improvised park as "O'Malley's Chinese Theatre" or "The House that
Charlie Chan Built", drawing protests from the
Chinese American community in the Los Angeles area. They also expressed concern that cherished home run records, especially
Babe Ruth's 1927 seasonal mark of 60, might be in danger.
Sports Illustrated titled a critical
editorial "Every Sixth Hit a Homer!"
Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick ordered the Dodgers to erect a screen in left field to prevent 251-foot pop flies from becoming home runs. Its cables, towers, wires, and girders were in play. The "short porch" in left field looked extremely attractive to batters. In the first week of play during
the 1959 season, the media's worst preseason fears seemed to be realized when 24 home runs were hit in the Coliseum, three of them by
Chicago Cubs outfielder
Lee Walls, not especially distinguished as a hitter. However, pitchers soon adapted, throwing outside to right-handed hitters, requiring them to pull the bat hard if they wanted to hit toward left. Perhaps no player took better advantage than Dodgers outfielder
Wally Moon, who figured out how to hit high fly balls that dropped almost vertically just behind the screen. By the end of the season, he had hit 19 homers, all but five of them in the Coliseum. In recognition, such homers were dubbed "
Moon Shots". This rule was revoked (or perhaps, simply ignored) when the
Baltimore Orioles launched the "retro ballpark" era in 1992, with the opening of
Oriole Park at Camden Yards. With a right field corner of only , this fell short. However, baseball fans heartily welcomed the "new/old" style, and all new ballparks since then have been allowed to set their own distances. (LA Dodgers and Chicago White Sox) Late that season, the screen figured in the National League
pennant race. When the Braves were playing the Dodgers at the Coliseum on September 15, 1959,
Joe Adcock hit a ball that cleared the screen but hit a steel girder behind it and got stuck in the mesh. According to ground rules, this should have been a home run. However, the umpires ruled it a ground-rule double. The fans shook the screen, causing the ball to fall into the seats. The umpires changed the call to a homer, only to rule it a ground-rule double At the end of the regular season, the Dodgers and Braves finished in a tie. The Dodgers won the ensuing playoff and went on to win the World Series. Although less than ideal for baseball due to its poor sight lines and short dimensions (left field at and power alleys at ), the Coliseum was ideally suited for large paying crowds. Each of the three games of the
1959 World Series drew over 92,000 fans, with game five drawing 92,706, a
record unlikely to be seriously threatened anytime soon given the smaller seating capacities of modern baseball parks. In May 1959, an exhibition game between the Dodgers and the
New York Yankees in honor of legendary catcher
Roy Campanella drew 93,103, the largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in the Western Hemisphere until a 2008 exhibition game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the
Boston Red Sox to mark the 50th anniversary of MLB in Los Angeles. The Coliseum also hosted the second
1959 MLB All-Star Game. The Coliseum was also the site of
John F. Kennedy's memorable acceptance speech at the
1960 Democratic National Convention. It was during that speech that Kennedy first used the term "the
New Frontier". The Rams hosted the
1949,
1951, and
1955 NFL championship games at the Coliseum. The Coliseum was also the site of the first AFL–NFL World Championship Game in 1967, an event since renamed the
Super Bowl. It also hosted
Super Bowl VII in 1973, but future Super Bowls in the Los Angeles region would instead be hosted at the Rose Bowl, which has never had an NFL tenant. The Coliseum was also the site of the NFL
Pro Bowl from
1951 to
1972, and again in
1979. In
1960, the
American Football League (AFL)'s
Los Angeles Chargers played at the Coliseum before moving to San Diego the next year; the team moved back to the L.A. area in
2017. The
United States men's national soccer team played its first match at the stadium in 1965, losing to Mexico in a 1966 World Cup qualifier. Also, the Los Angeles Wolves of the
United Soccer Association played their home games at the Coliseum for a year (1967) before moving to the Rose Bowl.
1970s–1980s In June 1970, the first Senior Olympics (known as the Senior Sports International Meet) took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In July 1972, the Coliseum hosted the "Super Bowl" of
Motocross. The event was the first motocross race held inside a stadium. It evolved into the
AMA Supercross championship held in stadiums across the United States and Canada. The Coliseum last hosted the event in 1998. On August 20, 1972,
Wattstax, also known as "Black-Woodstock", took place in the Coliseum. Over 100,000 black residents of Los Angeles attended this concert for African-American pride. A documentary was released about the concert in 1973. In 1973,
Evel Knievel used the entire distance of the stadium to jump 50 stacked cars. Knievel launched his motorcycle from atop one end of the Coliseum, jumping the cars in the center of the field, and stopping high atop the other end. The jump was broadcast on
ABC's
Wide World of Sports. Also in 1973, the Coliseum was host to Super Bowl VII, which saw the AFC champion
Miami Dolphins defeat the NFC champion
Washington Redskins 14–7, becoming the only team in NFL history to attain an undefeated season and postseason. The
Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group hosted the first stadium short course off-road race at the Coliseum in 1979. The event was last held in 1992. The Los Angeles Rams played their home games in the Coliseum until 1979, when they moved to
Anaheim before the
1980 NFL season. They hosted the NFC Championship Game in 1975 and 1978, in which they lost both times to the
Dallas Cowboys by lopsided margins. The
Los Angeles Aztecs of the
North American Soccer League used the Coliseum as their home ground in 1977 and 1981. In
1982, the former
Oakland Raiders moved in. The same year, UCLA decided to move its home games to the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena. The Coliseum was also home to the
USFL's
Los Angeles Express between 1983 and 1985. However, Express games, like those of the Rams and Raiders before them, were frequently swallowed up in the environment. It was so cavernous that even crowds of 25,000 people, a decent-sized crowd by USFL standards, looked sparse. During their run, the Express hosted the longest professional
American football game in history: on June 30, 1984 (a few weeks before the start of the 1984 Summer Olympics), a triple-overtime game between the Express and the
Michigan Panthers that was decided on a 24-yard game-winning touchdown by Mel Gray of the Express, three and a half minutes into the third overtime, to give Los Angeles a 27–21 win. Until 2012, this game marked the only time in the history of professional football that there was more than one kickoff in overtime play in the same game. The Coliseum was also the site of the
1982 Speedway World Final, held for the first and only time in the United States. The event saw
Newport Beach native
Bruce Penhall retain the title he had won in front of 92,500 fans at London's
Wembley Stadium in
1981. An estimated 40,000 fans were at the Coliseum to see Penhall retain his title before announcing his retirement from
motorcycle speedway to take up an acting role on the television series
CHiPs. Los Angeles hosted the 1984 Summer Olympics, and the Coliseum became the first stadium to host the
Summer Olympic Games twice, again serving as the primary
track and field venue and as the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. The Coliseum played host to the California World Music Festival on April 7–8, 1979.
The Rolling Stones played at the stadium on their 1981
Tattoo You tour (October 9 and 11), supported by
George Thorogood, the
J. Geils Band, and
Prince. Relatively unknown at the time, Prince was not well received by fans and was booed off the stage the first night. He did not intend to return for the second show until he was convinced by Stones frontman
Mick Jagger to do so. The Stones played for 90,000 for each of two nights in 1981 and a record 90,000 fans for four nights in 1989. players
Ricardo Bochini and
Diego Maradona at the Coliseum, where
Argentina played against
Mexico in May 1985 The
Argentina national soccer team played a friendly match against
Mexico on May 14, 1985, as part of Argentina's tour of North America before the
1986 FIFA World Cup that would be won by the squad managed by
Carlos Bilardo.
Bruce Springsteen and the
E Street Band concluded their
Born in the U.S.A. Tour with four consecutive concerts on September 27, 29, 30, and October 2, 1985, in front of 82,000 people each night. These shows were recorded and eight songs from the show of September 30 appear on their box set
Live 1975–85. The September 27 show was released through Springsteen's website in 2019.
U2 played at the stadium during leg three of their breakout
Joshua Tree tour on November 17 and 18, 1987. They later returned to the stadium for their
PopMart Tour on June 21, 1997. Los Angeles natives
Mötley Crüe played at the stadium on December 13, 1987, during the second leg of their
Girls, Girls, Girls World Tour, with fellow Los Angeles band
Guns N' Roses as the opening act. At that time, Mötley Crüe was one of the most popular and successful acts in the world, while Guns N' Roses was one of the largest up-and-coming acts. The latter would later return for four shows in October 1989 as the opening act for the Rolling Stones, then again on September 27, 1992, as part of their infamous
co-headlining tour with
Metallica. The stadium played host to The
Monsters of Rock Festival Tour, featuring
Van Halen,
Scorpions,
Dokken, Metallica, and
Kingdom Come, on July 24, 1988. A second show was planned to take place on July 23, but was later canceled. The stadium also played host to
Amnesty International's
Human Rights Now! Benefit Concert on September 21, 1988, headlined by
Sting and
Peter Gabriel and also featuring
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,
Tracy Chapman,
Youssou N'Dour, and
Joan Baez.
1990s–2000s The Raiders began looking to move out of the Coliseum as early as 1986. In addition to the delays in renovating the stadium, they never drew well; even after they won
Super Bowl XVIII in 1984, they had trouble filling it. The NFL scheduled all of the Raiders' appearances on
Monday Night Football as road games since the Los Angeles market would have been blacked out due to the Coliseum not being sold out. Finally, in 1995, the Raiders left Los Angeles and returned to
Oakland, leaving the Coliseum without a professional football tenant for the first time since the close of World War II. In the mid-1990s, the Coliseum was planned to be the home of the Los Angeles Blaze, a charter franchise of the
United League (UL) which was planned to be a third league of
Major League Baseball. In 2000, the
Los Angeles Dragons of the
Spring Football League used the Coliseum as their home stadium. The
Legends Football League began as a halftime spectacular known as the
Lingerie Bowl. The first three years (2004, 2005, and 2006) were played at the Coliseum. From 2009 to 2011, a couple of
Los Angeles Temptation games were played in the Coliseum. Beginning in 2015, the Temptation resumed playing at the Coliseum after three seasons at
Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. The
1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer tournament was also held at the Coliseum. The
United States national team beat
Honduras in the final. The Coliseum also staged the final match of the Gold Cup in
1996,
1998 and
2000. In October 2000, the United States played its last match at the stadium in a friendly versus Mexico. Since then, the team has preferred the
Rose Bowl Stadium and
Dignity Health Sports Park as home stadiums in Greater Los Angeles. The stadium hosted the
K-1 Dynamite!! USA mixed martial arts event. The promoters claimed that 54,000 people attended the event, which would have set a new attendance record for a mixed martial arts event in the United States; however, other officials estimated the crowd between 20,000 and 30,000. In May 1959, the Dodgers had hosted an exhibition game against the reigning
World Series champion
New York Yankees at the Coliseum, a game which drew over 93,000 people. The Yankees won that game 6–2. As part of their West Coast 50th anniversary celebration in 2008, the Dodgers again hosted an exhibition game against the reigning World Series champions, the
Boston Red Sox. On March 29, 2008, the middle game of a three-game set in Los Angeles was also won by the visitors by the relatively low score of 7–4, given the layout of the field; Red Sox catcher
Jason Varitek had joked that he expected scores in the 80s. Between 1958 and 1961, the distance from home plate to the left field foul pole was with a screen running across the close part of left field. Due to the intervening addition of another section of seating rimming the field, the 2008 grounds crew had much less space to work with, and the result was a left field foul line only , with a screen, which one Boston writer dubbed the "Screen Monster". Even at that distance, is also short of the minimum legal home-run distance. This being an exhibition game, balls hit over the temporary screen were still counted as home runs. There were only a couple of home runs over the screen, as pitchers adjusted (and
Manny Ramirez did not play). A diagram () illustrated the differences in the dimensions between 1959 and 2008: :2008 – LF – LCF – CF – RCF – RF :1959 – LF – LCF – CF – RCF – RF A sellout crowd of 115,300 was announced, which set a
Guinness World Record for attendance at a baseball game, breaking the record set at a
1956 Summer Olympics baseball demonstration game between teams from the US and Australia at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Coliseum formerly hosted the major U.S.
electronic dance music festival, the
Electric Daisy Carnival. It last hosted the event in 2010; following the drug-related death of an underage attendee at EDC that year, the festival's organizer
Insomniac Events was blacklisted from hosting future events at the venue, and the festival subsequently moved to
Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011. In 2003, select events of the
X Games IX action sports event were held at the Coliseum. In 2010, the
X Games XVI were held at the venue. In 2006, Mexican band
RBD held a concert during their U.S. tour before 70,000 people, with tickets sold out in less than 30 minutes. It was the highest-attended event by a Mexican act since
Los Bukis' 1993 and 1996 concerts. On June 23, 2008, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission announced that they were putting the
naming rights of the Coliseum on the market, predicting a deal valued at $6 million to $8 million a year. On June 17, 2009, the Coliseum was the terminus for the
Los Angeles Lakers' 2009
NBA championship victory parade. A crowd of over 90,000 attended the festivities, in addition to the throngs of supporters who lined the parade route. The Coliseum peristyle was redesigned in purple and gold regalia to commemorate the team, and the Lakers' court was transported from
Staples Center to the Coliseum field to act as the stage. Past parades had ended at Staples Center, but due to the newly constructed
L.A. Live complex, space was limited around the arena.
2010s–present 's performance at LA Coliseum, September 2022 On July 30, 2011, the LA Rising festival with
Rage Against the Machine,
Muse,
Rise Against,
Lauryn Hill,
Immortal Technique, and
El Gran Silencio was hosted at the Coliseum.
Roger Waters continued his
The Wall Live at the stadium on 19 May 2012 to a sold-out crowd. On April 27, 2013, the stadium hosted a round of the
Stadium Super Trucks off-road race. On September 13, 2014, the Coliseum hosted the fifth-place game, third-place game and final of the
2014 Copa Centroamericana in front of 41,969 spectators. In August 2015, the Coliseum hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the
2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games. On June 16, 2018,
Shannon Briggs hosted the first press conference for a
celebrity boxing event with
KSI, Deji,
Jake Paul, and
Logan Paul. On September 14, 2021, the
NASCAR Cup Series announced that the annual
Busch Clash would take place at the Coliseum, at a purpose-made quarter-mile track. On December 9, 2021,
Kanye West performed a benefit concert for the long-imprisoned
Larry Hoover with special guest
Drake at the Coliseum. On September 23 and 24, 2022 German band
Rammstein performed two shows as part of the North American leg of their
Rammstein Stadium Tour On December 10, 2022,
Deadmau5 and
Kaskade performed as their collaborative project
Kx5 to a crowd of 50,000. Making it the largest ever one-day EDM headlining event in North America at the time.
Return of the Los Angeles Rams 2016–19 On January 12, 2016, the NFL gave permission for the
St. Louis Rams to move back to Los Angeles. The Rams resumed play at the Coliseum while awaiting completion of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. On August 13, 2016, the Coliseum hosted its first NFL game at the stadium since 1994, as the Rams hosted the
Dallas Cowboys at a preseason game in front of 89,140 people. On September 18, 2016, the Coliseum hosted the first Rams regular season home game since 1979, against the
Seattle Seahawks following an impromptu pregame concert from the
Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Rams would boast a 9–3 victory over Seattle in front of a crowd of 91,046 in attendance. On January 6, 2018, the Coliseum hosted its first Rams playoff game since the 1978 NFC Championship game, a 26–13 wild card round loss to the defending NFC champion
Atlanta Falcons. On November 19, 2018, the Coliseum hosted its first
Monday Night Football game since 1985, with the Rams taking on the
Kansas City Chiefs. That game, which was originally scheduled to be played at
Estadio Azteca in Mexico City that night, was moved to the Coliseum due to poor field conditions at the former. The Rams won the game,
54–51 in the highest-scoring game in
Monday Night Football history. On January 12, 2019, the Coliseum hosted its most recent NFL playoff game, where the Rams defeated the
Dallas Cowboys 30–22 in an NFC Divisional Playoff. The most recent
Sunday Night Football game played at the Coliseum was on December 8, 2019, in which the Rams defeated the rival
Seattle Seahawks 28–12 in front of a crowd of over 77,000 people. On December 29, 2019, the Rams played their final game at the Coliseum, beating the
Arizona Cardinals 31–24 before moving to SoFi Stadium in time for the
2020 NFL season. The Rams finished with a record of 16–14 playing their home games at the Coliseum in their second stint as tenants from 2016 through 2019. On February 16, 2022, three days after winning
Super Bowl LVI, the Rams hosted their victory celebration before thousands of fans in front of the Coliseum's peristyle end.
2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will host athletics during the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics as well as the closing ceremonies of both events. The Coliseum will be the first stadium to host these Olympic events for three different editions of the Olympic games. ==Seating and attendance==