The StubHub Center, located on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson, Calif., will host the Los Angeles Chargers during the 2017 NFL season. (Photo by German Alegria)
Create more seating. Expand the turf and grounds team. Maybe add a few video boards.
Nothing's set in stone yet, but Katie Pandolfo is looking at a raft of potential upgrades to the StubHub Center, Carson, Calif., in preparation for its reception of the newly rechristened Los Angeles Chargers, who are relocating from San Diego. The professional football team is scheduled to debut at their new, temporary home during the 2017 NFL season. That leaves Pandolfo, the venue's general manager, with mere months to prepare the stadium for a torrent of pro football fans.
Nonetheless, Pandolfo is energized.
"I think it's exciting," she said. "I think it's amazing that we're going to have an NFL team coming to play here in this intimate setting."
But before the Chargers can hit the gridiron, Pandolfo and her crew have work to do.
EARLY PLANNING STAGES
The StubHub Center will be the Chargers' temporary home while a new stadium is built in Inglewood, Calif. The new venue is scheduled to open in 2019, meaning the Chargers are scheduled to play at the StubHub Center in 2017 and 2018, Pandolfo said.
StubHub Center is no stranger to professional athletics. It's home to the Los Angeles Galaxy, a Major League Soccer team. However, playing host professional football is another game entirely. Pandolfo said she expects sellout crowds for every Chargers game. That's because the stadium's seating capacity is small compared to a typical National Football Leeague venue, she added.
To accommodate larger crowds, Pandolfo is entertaining the idea of adding bleachers to the corners of the stadium, which would bring the overall seating count to 30,000, she said. Nevertheless, it's going to be a tight squeeze for Chargers fans next season. Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, the team's current home, can seat upwards of 70,500, according to the venue's website. That's more than 40,000 additional seats than the StubHub Center's current maximum capacity.
It's no surprise, then, that Pandolfo and her team are looking to squeeze as much mileage as they can from existing spaces. They're studying ways to create as many amenity-equipped premium seats as possible. Another potential option: Erecting a tent in the venue's tennis stadium, which can provide hospitality for 300 to 400 more people, she said.
"We'll definitely be looking at every single area and [determining] how we can maximize every space that we have to add as much hospitality as we can," she added.
Because a typical football event day lasts longer than most soccer matches, administrators will also be directing more resources to merchandising, food and beverage services, and restrooms. Pandolfo is also considering adding a few more members to the turf and grounds team to ease the "transition from the soccer pitch to the football field," she added.
Adding more video boards could be a possibility, too, she said.
But, nothing's been set in stone. Pandolfo and her team are still in the early stages, trying to pinpoint what changes they need to make to receive the Chargers, she said.
Their biggest hurdle lies on the field itself. The stadium uses natural grass as its playing surface, which "will present even more of a challenge than if it were synthetic," she said.
StubHub Center will continue to host Galaxy games during the Chargers' temporary stay. That means staff must consider the surface needs of both sports. Still, Pandolfo said she is "confident" that her crew can craft a solution.
"And that's one of our highest priorities," she added. "You need to have a good playing surface."
TRY TO FIND TIME AND ENJOY IT
You don't need to explain to Joe Furin the complexities of preparing a non-NFL stadium for an NFL team. Furin, general manager of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for University of Southern California, has already been there.
When the Rams announced they would move to Los Angeles in 2016 and make their temporary home at the L.A. Coliseum, he and his staff had to figure out how to make the collegiate stadium accommodate an NFL team and its fans, he said.
"The first thing to wrap our arms around was how the NFL does business," he said. There's a big difference between collegiate and professional football, especially where technology is concerned. For example, Coliseum officials enhanced the venue's infrastructure with Wi-Fi "so we could meet the NFL and the Rams' requirement," he said.
Fortunately for them, however, the Rams worked closely with the L.A. Coliseum and didn't require widespread changes to the venue, he added. Preparing for the Rams required little structural renovation. The highest profile on -site change was the installation of walk-through metal detectors at all the Coliseum's entrances, Furin said. "Our biggest challenge came about when we had back-to-back games," he said.
If a University of Southern California game took place on a Saturday and an NFL game followed on Sunday, "we had a much shorter window to clean the stadium [and] restock food and beverage, including beer sales," Furin said. "We do not sell beer during college games, yet it's sold during the NFL games."
So, without any beer or beer portables on hand during the day, "we had to move all that stuff in overnight," he said.
While some crews were shuttling in beverage supplies, others were charged with swapping out branding, which included covering up the University of Southern California's branding with the Rams' blue and gold, he said.
"It's all doable," he said, later adding, "We just had to throw extra bodies in it and pull an all-nighter and get it done."
Long hours aside, "Hosting an NFL game is a privilege," he said. "It's obviously a very high profile event. It's a lot of work, but professionals in this industry, that's what we do. I'm sure Katie and her team are going to have a lot of success."
A final bit of advice for other venue managers tapped to host a pro football team: "While it's a lot of work, try to find time and enjoy it," he said.
Interviewed for this story: Katie Pandolfo, 310-630-2054; Joe Furin, 213-765-6342