With both stadiums slated to open in 2020, facilities in Las Vegas and Inglewood could be options to host future Pac-12 championship games.
Earlier this week, the Pac-12 revealed that it will keep its annual championship at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium--home to the San Francisco 49ers–through at least the 2019 season. Levi’s Stadium has hosted the game since 2014, but other options could be made available to the Pac-12 down the road.
Among those potential candidates are the new stadiums in Las Vegas and Inglewood. The new Las Vegas stadium could begin hosting UNLV football and the relocating Oakland Raiders by 2020. The Inglewood facility, meanwhile, will debut in the same season as the shared home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams.
According to a report, representatives from both the Rams and the Raiders have reached out to the Pac-12, though conference commissioner Larry Scott added that it was not “an active conversation” between the Pac-12 and the teams. More from The Los Angeles Daily News:
As part of the extension with the stadium, the conference has an option for 2020, coinciding with the planned openings of two additional new NFL stadiums on the West Coast. There is a $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood for the Rams and Chargers, as well as a $1.9 billion stadium in Las Vegas for the Oakland Raiders, who are re-locating there.
Representatives from the Rams and Raiders contacted the Pac-12 to discuss hosting the conference title game, according to Larry Scott, the conference commissioner.
“It’s exciting to be in a part of the country where there’s going to be these big investments in new, state-of-the-art NFL venues,” Scott said, “but that’s down the road. We’re in the right place for us now.”
Scott later added it was not “an active conversation” between the conference and Rams and Raiders officials.
Construction on the Inglewood stadium has already begun. It was one point slated to open in 2019, but had its debut pushed back because of complications caused by severe rainfall in the early phases of the construction process. The facility is expected to host Super Bowl LVI in 2022.
In Las Vegas, officials are working to complete several tasks before beginning construction. The Raiders’ relocation proposal was approved by the NFL in March.