L.A. Memorial Coliseum Turning Profits Without NFL Tenant

L.A. Memorial Coliseum Pulling In Profit Despite Not Having NFL Tenant

Despite all the "rejected NFL plans and all the talk that the 85-year-old" L.A. Memorial Coliseum is "unmarketable, the yawning stadium and its companion Sports Arena actually make money," according to Paul Pringle of the L.A. TIMES. Financial statements indicate the enterprise is "netting about $2[M] annually in operating income." Coliseum GM Patrick Lynch: "We're doing very well. Nobody could ever say that we're not fiscally aggressive." Lynch keeps the nonprofit Coliseum Commission "in the black" by booking non-football events at the Coliseum including soccer matches, and leasing out the Sports Arena to "giant rave parties, Bruce Springsteen concerts and an ongoing shoot of 'American Gladiators.'" The Coliseum Saturday will host a Red Sox-Dodgers exhibition game that is expected to attracted more than 100,000 fans. The venue was "bleeding cash" early in Lynch's tenure, which began the year before the Raiders left for Oakland. Lynch said that Univ. of Southern California (USC) football, which plays its home games in the Coliseum, accounts for "well over half" of the venue's revenues, although two-thirds of the commission's total "comes from non-USC events." Last year's events included a Mexico-Guatemala soccer match, Latin dance performances, a Cinco de Mayo festival and a robotics contest (L.A. TIMES, 3/27).