LASEC Newsletter: December 2020 Updates

LASEC Friends and Supporters,

We hope you and your family are safe and healthy this holiday season. This year, our city came together to redefine, protect, and strengthen our communities. Together, Los Angeles stood up to every challenge this year could throw our way. When new COVID-19 testing locations were needed, Dodger Stadium became a local testing site for increased access to care. During the election, venues across Los Angeles became local voting centers to provide safe and socially distant areas for voting. 17,000 workers helped complete the new state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium that opened in September. Our teams came together, and with the support of the City of Angels behind them, the Lakers and Dodgers brought home championship trophies.

This past year, Los Angeles was awarded the 2024 NCAA Division Men’s Basketball West Region Championship, which will be held at STAPLES Center. We have been busy preparing for Super Bowl LVI, which will be hosted in Los Angeles in February 2022, almost 30 years after the last Super Bowl was played in our region. And as we continue to work on our 2026 FIFA World Cup™ bid, we look forward to showing off our incredible venues to the selection committee during the site visits next year, which is the next step in the process.

This past week, Los Angeles was named the Best Sports City for 2020 by the Sports Business Journal. “There’s no question the Dodgers and Lakers are our traditional L.A. iconic teams, and to see them return to winning is awesome, and great for the city,” said Casey Wasserman, Wasserman CEO and LA28 Chairman. “The caliber, the quantity and the scale of the sporting events alone we’re going to have in L.A. in the next 10 years is probably unprecedented. I think this is really not going to be L.A.’s year, but L.A.’s decade.”

2020 Highlights

Featured Image Credit: SoFi Stadium/Rich Fury

• SoFi Stadium Opening – The new SoFi Stadium opened in Inglewood on September 8, 2020. SoFi Stadium will host Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2023, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
  • Sports History Trivia: Super Bowl LVI will be Los Angeles’ first time hosting the Super Bowl since 1993. Can you remember the two teams that were in the game that year? (Answer is at the end of the newsletter.)
• The Lakers – Congratulations to the Lakers for winning their 17th NBA Championship in franchise history and to Jeanie Buss for becoming the first female controlling owner to win an NBA championship.
• The Dodgers – Also, congratulations to the Dodgers who beat the Tampa Bay Rays in six games to win the World Series Championship for the first time since 1988. What a way to cap off the year for LA!
• The Alliance – All 11 professional sports organizations in Los Angeles County and Orange County came together with LA84 to form The Alliance, and made a five-year commitment to drive investment and impact for social justice through sport.
• Angel City FC – Angel City Football Club launched, and announced that Banc of California will be its home venue. The team will start playing in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Spring 2022.
• March Madness – Los Angeles and STAPLES Center were awarded the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball West Region Championship.

“We have been through a heartbreaking tragedy with the loss of our beloved Kobe Bryant and Gianna. Let this trophy serve as a reminder of when we come together, believe in each other, incredible things can happen,” said Jeanie Buss on the Lakers winning the NBA Championship in 2020.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT DECADE

SPORTS HISTORY TRIVIA ANSWER

Super Bowl XXVII in 1993 Teams: Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills.

OUR PARTNERS

Thank you to our year-round LASEC Marketing and Corporate Partners, who continue to support our mission to attract, secure and support high-profile sports and entertainment events in Los Angeles.

MARKETING PARTNERS

CORPORATE PARTNERS

Mobilitie
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling
Special Events Staffing, Inc.
Troika Media
Uniball-Rodamco-Westfield
Western Asset Management Company