On a sweltering Italian day in 1998 ““ so hot that gelato quickly became ge-not-o ““ I walked the concourse of the world’s most legendary stadium. Here in the Roman Colosseum, men fought jaguars, lions, bears, panthers and the wild whims of their owners.
“Are you not entertained?” Russell-Crowe-as-Maximus yells from the Colosseum floor in the film “Gladiator.” “Is this not why you are here?”
A dozen summers later, almost to the day, I find myself in what may be the modern equivalent. The spanking new, fantastical Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas is a testament to American architecture and arrogance, a structure seemingly built by a kid who wouldn’t be stopped until his building was the best. You can’t spell LEGO without ego.
Super-stadiums have been around for thousands of years, and really, what’s changed? Here in Arlington, the home team still faces Jaguars, Lions, Bears and Panthers. They’re still controlled by a tyrannical owner.
Point is, special stadiums MEAN something. As much as we want to roll our eyes at the Cowboys’ 160-foot long video screen ““ and it would take a while to roll our eyes all that way ““ the thing is memorable, and boy is it a spectacle.
So the more I hear about Farmers Field, the more excited I get. The proposed football stadium would be constructed downtown, adjacent to Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre. On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that would expedite any legal challenges that the project may face.
It’s happening, and the question we’re asking should evolve from “Will it happen?” to “What kind of impact will it have?” ““ especially on the college football scene in this city.
My immediate thought: the annual UCLA–USC game in a state-of-the-art NFL stadium right in the heart of the entertainment capital of the world. Is it merely a pipe dream?
“We’d have to think it,” USC Athletic Director Pat Haden told me. “It’d be exciting to think about.”
His counterpart here in Westwood wasn’t quite as enthusiastic. UCLA is steadfastly maintaining its loyalty to its longtime Pasadena palace.
“We have recently extended our lease to another 30 years at the Rose Bowl, which we believe to be the greatest college stadium in the nation,” Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said.
The Rose Bowl is in the midst of a $152 million renovation and certainly needs it. Still, when the construction dust settles, can its grandeur and location compete with Farmers Field? Despite UCLA’s contract with the Pasadena complex, the new lease allows for one non-conference game in the Los Angeles or Orange County area in a five-year span. Should the new L.A. stadium be completed, UCLA would be well served to take advantage of the condition.
USC has a contract of its own with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which Haden says the school is happy with as a regular home venue.
The most important consideration in all of this, of course, is the simple truth that where there’s an NFL stadium, there is sure (or at least very likely) to be an NFL team in its wake. And that means competition, not in a football sense but in financial cents.
“There are only so many corporate marketing dollars to be spent here in Los Angeles, and the NFL is the 800-pound gorilla,” Haden said. “To me, selfishly, that’s negative ““ because there are less of those dollars to go around to UCLA and USC.”
On a bigger scale, Farmers Field would have to be an option for the Pac-12 Championship Game (currently, the game is to be held at the home stadium of the division winner with the better record).
Given Los Angeles’s L.A.-ness and central location in terms of the Pac-12, playing the conference championship there just makes too much sense, especially economically.
The biggest possible complaint might come from a team in the North that had a much better record than a South-winning UCLA or USC, who would get to play close to home. Not a big enough obstacle.
For years the landmark game in the Big 12 conference was the duel between rivals Texas and Oklahoma, held in Dallas.
Wouldn’t it be great if UCLA and USC could pull off something similar? Assuming, that is, that the two teams could maintain a high enough level of consistent success to make the rivalry relevant.
The opportunities are certainly fun to consider. Haden seems to agree with that, and maybe Guerrero can be swayed too. College football at an innovative palace in the glamour capital of the world, and one question will be on everyone’s mind: Are you not entertained?