SoFi Stadium, Inglewood

SoFi Stadium sits in Inglewood, just south of the LAX flight path, at 1001 S. Stadium Drive. It opened in September 2020, seats 70,240 and can expand past 100,000 for the largest events, and its bowl is sunk roughly 100 feet into the ground so the fixed, translucent roof can clear the runway approach without towering over the neighborhood. LA28 lists it as the official venue for swimming, and as the venue for the Paralympic opening ceremony. Unlike a stadium built for one sport, SoFi hosts football, concerts and now Olympic swimming on the same footprint, which is worth knowing before you go: gate times, bag-rule enforcement and the exact drop-off point can all vary a little by event, so what follows is what's true across events, with anything event-specific flagged as such.

SoFi Stadium does not publish one gate time for every event: check your ticket for the exact entry time, and expect parking zones to open two to four hours before the event starts. Bags are restricted to clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bags no larger than 12 by 6 by 12 inches, one-gallon clear plastic freezer bags, and small clutch bags up to 4.5 by 6.5 inches. Backpacks, briefcases, coolers, fanny packs, diaper bags, cinch bags, luggage and camera bags are not allowed — diaper bags are a stricter rule than some venues, so families should plan around it. A bag that fails the check can be taken back to a car or checked at a bag valet at the stadium's corners for a fee, free for SoFi cardholders, but there is no guarantee a free option is available, so leaving a bag at your accommodation is the safer plan. Check the official policy before you travel, because it can change between events.

The free SoFi Stadium Express is the way to do this as a group for football and similarly ticketed events. It leaves from Bus Bay 8 at LAX/Metro Transit Center Station, served by the Metro C Line and K Line, every three to five minutes starting three hours before kickoff. Return service starts at the beginning of the fourth quarter and runs for ninety minutes after the game. When the Express is not running for a particular event, Metro Bus Lines 115, 117 and 212 also serve the stadium, and a standard one-way Metro fare is $1.75. From Union Station, the regional route is the A, B or D Line to 7th Street/Metro Center, then the E Line toward Santa Monica. Confirm before you travel that the Express is operating for your specific event, since the timings above are documented for football and may run differently for a swimming session.

SoFi Stadium sits inside its own large sports and entertainment campus in Inglewood, alongside the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum, rather than in a walkable city neighborhood. Arriving by the free shuttle from LAX/Metro Transit Center avoids the campus's parking lots entirely, which is the simplest way for a group to stay together on the way in. If you are meeting people arriving separately, the transit center itself — a real, well-known rail interchange — is easier to describe and find than any point inside the stadium campus.

The general emergency number in the United States is 911. Because SoFi hosts very different event types, the biggest risk to a group is inconsistent expectations: don't assume the gate time, bag-rule enforcement or shuttle schedule from a football game will match a swimming session or concert exactly. Agree on one meeting point and one meeting time before anyone splits up, and note your exact seating section when you sit down. As with any stadium of this size, mobile signal can be unreliable when it is full, so do not rely on being able to call or message once you're inside.

SoFi Stadium's translucent canopy roof is what photographs differently here than at most stadiums: it diffuses daylight into the bowl by day and glows from outside at night, so an exterior shot in the last hour before an evening event captures something few other venues can. For a group photo, the concourse level before the crowd builds is easier than your actual seats. Check current camera-equipment rules before you travel, since these are not detailed on the general stadium policies page and can be set per event.

SoFi Stadium is a fully cashless venue: pay by card or mobile wallet everywhere, and use a ReadySTATION kiosk to convert cash to a prepaid card if you need to. English is the working language of the venue; Los Angeles as a whole has a very large Spanish-speaking population. Because the stadium hosts football, concerts and now Olympic swimming, build your evening around the specific event's own running time rather than assuming any one sport's pacing.

This guide does not describe specific accessible seating, accessible parking or step-free routes at SoFi Stadium, because those have not been verified for it. Contact the venue directly about accessible seating and parking before you book, and confirm current shuttle accessibility for the SoFi Stadium Express rather than relying on this section.