Photos by Andrei Ojeda, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.43
SoFi Stadium
1001 Stadium Dr
Inglewood, CA 90301
Year Opened: 2020
Capacity: 70,240
The Art of Bowling
Now in its 4th season since its inception, the LA Bowl has been hosted by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and currently hosted by four time Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski. It features teams from a current or Pac-12 legacy school and the Mountain West Conference. The annual bowl game is held at SoFi Stadium, home to the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers.
Prior winners of the LA Bowl:
2021 Utah State 24-13 over Oregon State
2022 Fresno State 29-6 over Washington State
2023 UCLA 35-22 over Boise State
Food & Beverage 4
The variety of food and beverages are vast, offering your usual stadium basics from hot dogs, burgers, soft pretzels to your basic boxed candy and bagged Frito Lays chips. Soda offerings are provided by Pepsi products
Domestic beer offerings from Modelo and Michelob are available as well as a vast choice of premium cocktails such as those from Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray and Crown Royal.
Local favorites such as chicken/carne asada vampiros tacos, chicken/carne asada papa asadas and L.A. Street Dogs are offered. Other featured eats available range from pastrami dips to chopped cheese as well as kosher options offering the standard Kosher Dog, roast beef sandwich and turkey sandwich.
An LA Bowl exclusive provided by The Grill Dads of The Food Network is The Gronk Smash, a smash burger named after the game’s host Rob Gronkowski.
Atmosphere 3
The fun starts from the time the gates open as fans can partake in the pregame fanfest at the American Airlines Plaza where fans of both schools are revved up by the marching bands and spirit squads of both schools. Once inside the actual seating bowl the mood is somewhat muted due to the sparse crowd inside a huge NFL venue. This is to be expected when attending a lower tiered bowl.
Neighborhood 3
Aside from being the neighbors to the Kia Forum and the newly opened Intuit Dome the surrounding area does not offer much in regards to pre or postgame activities. Along Century or Manchester Blvd you may find your usual chains such as McDonalds, Jack in the Box or Starbucks but not much else. Cosm Los Angeles is also close by offering a high tech viewing experience of major sporting events giving fans the feel of being at a live event.
Fans 3
For a lower-tiered bowl game played before the Christmas holiday the fan turnout is what you would expect. Don’t expect much hoopla from either side that you would see from a major bowl or CFP (College Football Payoff) game. The percentage of fans representing each school are even with the most die-hard of these fans excited for the opportunity of attending any bowl game.
Access 4
Due to its status as a lower tier bowl, getting around the venue should not be too difficult. However this being Los Angeles, depending what part of the L.A. area you will be arriving from, you will still want to allow yourself some extra time when driving out to SoFi Stadium. The major streets around SoFi, Century and Manchester Boulevards, both lead to either the 110 or 405 freeways while Prairie Avenue leads you to the 105 Freeway.
Because of the anticipated sparse crowd, only the first three levels are open, making navigating the seating bowl easier in spite of the venues massive size.
Parking is also plentiful however no pregame activities are permitted for this event.
Return on Investment 4
The nice thing about a lower tiered bowl game is the reasonable prices. Tickets for this game start as low as $31 with the most expensive being $275. Because only the first three levels are open, no matter your seating location you will never be far from the action. The reasonable affordability of this event should leave you some extra change should you want to explore the L.A. area and other sports and entertainment venues during your stay.
Extras 3
Aside from the pregame hoopla at the fan plaza, don't expect too many other bells and whistles throughout the game; this is the general expectation for a game like this. Fans looking to purchase gameday souvenirs can make their purchases at the various pop up stands located throughout each concourse rather than the main flagship store that is closed for this particular game.
Throughout the game fans are treated to holiday tunes as well as trivia contests involving both schools and L.A. themed landmarks giving fans a chance to guess the famous L.A. venue that is displayed on the stadium’s massive halo video board.
Final Thoughts
Catching one of these under-the-radar bowl games could also allow an opportunity to witness some under-the-radar talent as well who just may be on their way toward a nice Sunday payday.
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