L.A. Memorial Coliseum Commission officials Thursday acknowledged that they “would be unable to keep their promise to USC to make nearly $60 million in sorely needed renovations to the 88-year-old stadium,” according to Rong-Gong Lin II of the L.A. TIMES. The admission leaves USC with “a number of options under its contract for playing Trojan football home games there.” Pursuant to the terms of its agreement, USC "could make renovations on its own instead of paying rent to the commission; it could leave; or it could ask to receive a master lease giving it day-to-day authority over the publicly owned Coliseum.” If USC receives a master lease, the university would “oversee repairs, maintenance, the booking of events and require it to pay rent to the commission or the state.” USC officials indicated that they “want to work at staying at the Coliseum.” Amid the announcement was the “particularly sobering disclosure Thursday that the commission essentially has no cash reserve.” Records show that the account “has eroded from a high of nearly $12 million in 2008 to $1.6 million now.” Without the money USC pays to lease the Coliseum for football games, “about $1.8 million a year,” the commission "would fall into the red.” Coliseum Commission interim GM John Sandbrook told commissioners that the stadium's books “look stable for at least the next 12 months” (L.A. TIMES, 6/17).
