Site of the Olympic Games, the Super Bowl and the World Series, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has hosted some of the most historic sporting events in American sports history. Although teams from numerous sports have called the Coliseum home throughout its history, the University of Southern California Trojans have been its primary tenant since the 1930s.
Construction of a new football stadium in Los Angeles began in the early 1920s. Completed in less than two years, the Coliseum opened on October 6, 1923, when the USC Trojans played Pomona College in the first game ever held at the stadium. Nearly 76,000 bleacher seats surrounded the playing field, making the Coliseum one of the largest football stadiums in the country at the time.
The Coliseum soon became a major part of Los Angeles history. In 1930, the city was awarded the 1932 Olympic Games, prompting more than $950,000 to be spent expanding the stadium. The improvements increased the capacity to nearly 101,000 for the Summer Olympics. Although the Coliseum was built primarily for football, it later became home to professional baseball. In April 1958, the Los Angeles Dodgers moved into the Coliseum while Dodger Stadium was being constructed. The Dodgers shared the facility with USC, creating a unique configuration that allowed the Coliseum to host baseball games. In 1959, the first World Series game ever played in California took place at the Coliseum when the Dodgers faced the Chicago White Sox. The Dodgers remained at the Coliseum through the 1961 season before moving into Dodger Stadium.
Following the major expansion for the 1932 Olympics, the Coliseum changed relatively little for several decades. In 1993, a $15 million renovation replaced the original bleachers with individual seats and added 14 rows of seating. The playing field was also lowered by 14 feet, increasing the seating capacity to approximately 92,000. However, the massive Northridge earthquake of 1994 caused significant damage to the stadium and required more than $93 million in repairs. Before the 1995 season, a new $6 million press box was constructed.
Throughout its history, the Coliseum has been home to several professional teams, including the NFL’s Los Angeles Raiders and Los Angeles Rams. The stadium has also hosted countless major sporting events, including the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games, the 1959 World Series and multiple Super Bowls. Despite its enormous capacity, USC has often covered sections of the seating bowl for football games, creating a more intimate atmosphere for fans.
The Coliseum has also been the backdrop for an extraordinary amount of success by the USC Trojans. The program has won numerous conference championships and national championships and has produced seven Heisman Trophy winners. Generations of USC players and fans have made the Coliseum one of the most recognizable venues in college football.
In October 2015, USC announced plans for a $270 million renovation of the Coliseum. The project began following the 2017 football season and was completed before the start of the 2019 season. Every seat in the stadium was replaced with a wider seat, reducing the seating capacity to 77,500 while also increasing the number of aisles. A new building was constructed on the south side of the stadium featuring luxury suites, club seats and a new press box. The iconic peristyle was also restored to more closely resemble the Coliseum’s original design, while two new HD video boards were installed at the east end of the stadium.
Today, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum remains one of the most historic and recognizable sports venues in the world. Few stadiums can match its combination of Olympic history, professional sports, college football tradition and iconic moments. For USC and college football fans, the Coliseum remains a truly legendary home. It will once again be the site of the Olympics, when the summer games return to Los Angeles in 2028.
