As the popularity of Major League Soccer expands in North America, so must its facilities. That’s why one of the biggest teams in the league is preparing to unveil a brand new state-of-the-art stadium to house its team.

Los Angeles FC will be taking up residence at the new Banc of California Stadium come April. Located in Exposition Park, next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the new stadium will solidify soccer as a marketable and profitable sport in America.

News of the new stadium first came in 2015 when the Los Angeles Times reported that the site had been scouted for the construction of a new sports complex. The project was approved on May 6, 2016 with construction beginning later that year in August. The stadium is now near completion with an opening date set for April 29, 2018.

Upon completion, the stadium will accommodate up to 22,000 soccer fans. It will be the first open-air stadium built in Los Angeles since 1962. The surrounding area will feature 125,000 square feet of walkways and plazas open to the public. Five percent of the parking spaces will be able to accomodate electric vehicles as well as 440 spaces for bicycles which will connect to a bike path that leads from the stadium to the city.

Along with soccer, the stadium will also play host to the Rugby Sevens tournaments and will be the permanent home of the Grand Prix Rugby Series. Furthermore, the stadium will be included in the Downtown Sports Track and will be a venue for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and will hos track and field events as well as men’s and women’s soccer matches during the games.

Managing partner for Lucentem Media Group, Layth Gafoor, was invited to a private tour of the stadium this week as construction nears completion.

On February 28, stadium representatives announced that all 17,500 season memberships for 2018 had sold out. The first match of the stadium will take place on April 29 as Los Angeles FC takes on the Seattle Sounders.

Find out more at https://www.lafc.com/stadium