​INGLEWOOD, California, July 12 (Reuters) – After a busy stretch of World Cup crowds, a temporary grass pitch, and heightened security around politically delicate matches, SoFi Stadium is looking ahead to its next major events with renewed confidence, according to a senior venue executive. The $5 billion stadium in Inglewood hosted eight World Cup games, including the United States’ opener and two matchups involving Iran, all without major incident. Otto Benedict, senior vice president of facility and campus operations at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, said the experience validated years of planning.
“From a public safety perspective, I think that went very, very well,” Benedict told Reuters in a recent interview. “The number of matches, the size of our matches, having two matches with Iran — all of our law enforcement partners, our federal assets and even our local assets worked collaboratively to create a very safe environment.”
The World Cup run served as a high-profile test for a venue that will host February’s Super Bowl, as well as swimming events and the opening ceremony for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Benedict noted that the stadium’s systems for ticketing, crowd management, food and beverage service, and entry and exit handling held up well under the repeated demand of World Cup conditions, when many fans were visiting the venue for the first time.
“At no point as we walked around did we see areas where we thought, ‘Hey, we’re actually too tight here, there’s not enough space here,’” he said. “We saw everything flowing very well.” Benedict explained that soccer crowds created a different operational pattern than NFL crowds, with more fans leaving their seats during halftime and simultaneously pressing concourses, concessions, and restrooms. The stadium weathered these surges, he added, providing staff with valuable data for planning future events.
The venue also drew praise for the temporary natural grass surface installed for the tournament. Benedict said the pitch exceeded expectations and grew more vital as the event progressed, though he acknowledged that maintaining grass permanently would be impractical for a stadium that hosts two NFL teams, concerts, and other events. “It just wouldn’t be a feasible operation,” he explained, pointing to the stadium’s below-ground depth, canopy structure, and year-round event schedule.
While Benedict asserted that SoFi should have hosted a semi-final or final, he emphasized that the World Cup nonetheless demonstrated the stadium’s readiness for another Super Bowl, following the NFL championship game hosted in 2022 and the upcoming LA28 Games. “It gives us the ability to say to anybody coming in, and even for our own operations, that what we’re doing is the right consistency,” he added. “Let’s keep moving these items forward.”