With USC set to carry out a dramatic renovation to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, some season ticket holders will be relocated in the coming years.
USC is approaching some key dates for its Coliseum renovation, which was originally announced in 2015 and is to begin after the 2017 football season. Along with modernizing many of its amenities, USC plans to reduce the seating capacity at the Coliseum–which will fall from 93,607 to 77,500.
The intention to reduce the seating capacity at the Coliseum follows a clear trend in recent NCAA renovations. Just as other projects have done, the Coliseum overhaul will give USC a chance to provide more aisles, wider seats, more premium seating, increased leg room, and other features that are designed to increase fan comfort.
That plan will require some ticket holders to change their seating locations. During the renovation period, USC will look to implement a plan to transition ticket holders into new seats, with many being relocated by the beginning of the 2018 season, coinciding with an early reduction in capacity. More from The Sun:
About one-third of the seats in the stadium will require a “restoration gift” to purchase season tickets, similar to personal seat licenses, which range from $100 to $6,000 per seat. That comes in addition to fees for Trojan Athletic Fund memberships, costing from $200 to $50,000 per year. When meeting with reporters this week, Steve Lopes, the chief operating officer for USC’s athletic department, said the gifts differed from PSLs since the donations were able to be paid off over four years and were also tax deductible.
Most of the 9,000 midfield season-ticket holders will be moved to the north side. Reseating priority in those sections and throughout the stadium will be determined by membership level in the Trojan Athletic Fund and lifetime giving to the department, the school said Thursday. Remaining season-ticket holders will be re-sorted in the summer of 2018.
“We understand there’s going to be tension,” Lopes said.
The tower’s construction is scheduled to begin in early 2018 and continue through the rest of the year, when the capacity will start shrinking. That fall, tickets for about 84,000 seats will be sold for home games.
In its announcement, USC outlined some details on the process. “During the next 15 months, USC Athletics representatives will contact Trojan Athletic Fund (TAF) members and invite them to visit the Coliseum Renovation Preview Center to consider available seating solutions that best suit their needs,” the announcement stated. “Priority for seat selection will be determined by TAF membership level followed by lifetime giving to USC Athletics. Then, in the summer of 2018, remaining current season ticketholders will be contacted about their seating options. Every effort will be made to accommodate those who wish to continue to sit together.”
The Coliseum renovation is expected to completed be prior to the 2019 season. That will also be the year that the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams–who are using the Coliseum on a temporary basis–move to their new stadium in Inglewood.
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