FOX will be broadcasting the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks
With a chance to play in Super Bowl LX, the Los Angeles Rams (12-5) are taking on the Seattle Seahawks (14-3) in the NFC Championship game Jan. 25 at Lumen Field, Washington, with 3:30 p.m. Pacific time scheduled for kickoff. The division rivals went 1-1 against each other during the regular season.
In their all-time history against each other, the #Seahawks are 29-28 against the #Rams.
For anyone looking to watch the game, FOX will be broadcasting the game nationally, so it can be watched on the FOX network, local FOX affiliates — Los Angeles’ is FOX 11 — and on the FOX Sports App. For those without traditional TV service, the game can also be watched on stream services that carry FOX, such as YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, among others, and on NFL+ for those looking to watch on mobile devices.
The Rams are also hosting an NFC Championship watch party at SoFi Stadium that starts at 3:30 p.m. and doors open at 2 p.m., but tickets for the event have already sold out.
The Rams advanced to the NFC Championship after they beat the Chicago Bears in an overtime thriller on a cold and snowy night in Chicago. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, the Bears tied the game on a fourth-down pass from the 40-yard line. In overtime, when it seemed like all the momentum was with Chicago, Rams safety Kam Curl intercepted the ball, and the Rams went on to kick a successful field goal and win.
The winner of this game will play either the New England Patriots or Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
K-pop megastars BTS announced its upcoming world tour dates Tuesday as the group is set to return to California in May and September.
The announcement was made on Weverse, a K-pop community platform, with each member’s handwritten name noted on the poster for the 2026 BTS world tour in North America and Europe.
The first California stop will be Stanford in Northern California on May 16 and May 17. Then the group will head to Las Vegas and other cities in Europe and other parts of the U.S. before returning to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for shows on Sep.1, Sep.2, Sep. 5 and Sep. 6.
When the world’s biggest boy band performed at SoFi Stadium in 2021, daily rates at nearby hotels jumped by nearly three times as visitors from around the world came to Southern California.
When the group performed nearly five years ago, all four shows in Inglewood were sold out, with the band reportedly making over $33 million for the four-night concert.
Here are the tour dates in the United States:
Tampa: April 25-26
El Paso: May 2-3
Stanford: May 16-17
Las Vegas: May 23-24, May 27
East Lutherford: Aug. 1-2
Foxborough: Aug. 5-6
Baltimore: Aug. 10-11
Arlington: Aug. 15-16
Chicago: Aug. 27-28
Los Angeles: Sep. 1-2, Sep. 5-6
When tickets go on sale
Presale for LA shows on Sep. 1-2: From 3 p.m. to 9:59 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 22
Presale for LA shows on Sep. 3-4: From 3 p.m. to 9:59 p.m., Friday, Jan. 23
General sale for all LA shows: From 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24
On June 12, Peggy Orenstein’s inbox flooded with booking requests for her Inglewood Airbnb.
The date seemed random, but after a quick search, the influx of interest became clear. It was exactly a year before one of the biggest events in American soccer history, when the U.S. will kick off its World Cup in a match against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, and Orenstein had set up the system to only accept booking requests up to a year in advance.
Orenstein’s rental sits just across the street from the venue. Suddenly, her Airbnb became one of the hottest homes in the Southland.
She hadn’t adjusted the prices yet to reflect the rabid demand, so she declined the requests and tweaked the rates. Typically, a two-night stay at the house would cost around $1,000. For a two-night stay during the Americans’ opening match June 12, it’ll now cost more than $10,000.
Roughly 6.5 million people are expected to travel to North America during the 2026 World Cup, and many of them will be heading to L.A., where SoFi Stadium is hosting eight games, including two U.S. matches during the group stage. Airbnb hosts are viewing the games as a gold mine, hoping soccer fans will shell out thousands to stay near the stadium.
The World Cup rental market will serve as a test case for the 2028 Olympics, when an estimated 15 million people are expected to visit Southern California.
For the night of the opening match June 12, more than 70% of short-term rentals in Inglewood have already been booked, according to data site Inside Airbnb. That’s a 58% increase compared to typical reservation rates on normal days.
Rates are rising as well. On June 1, the average booked rate for an Airbnb in L.A. is $245, according to data platform AirDNA. On June 12, when the U.S. plays Paraguay, it’s $382 — a 56% jump.
In Inglewood, prices are even wilder. Homes that normally rent for hundreds are listed for thousands. The nightly price for a one-bedroom apartment a block from SoFi is typically around $400. On June 11, the day before the game, it’s $713. On June 12, the day of the game, it’s $1,714.
“It’ll be interesting to see how much people will pay,” Orenstein said.
Some hosts use an algorithm to determine their nightly rates, but Orenstein sets the prices herself. She arrived at the $10,000 number by looking at nearby hotels, which are mostly sold out for the nights of the eight World Cup matches.
“The Lum Hotel had a suite available during the World Cup for $1,943. Meanwhile, our house can accommodate eight guests with four bedrooms, plus a kitchen and yard,” she said.
There are classic amenities such as a grill and hot tub, but the biggest amenity is proximity. Orenstein is banking on visitors ponying up for the convenience of parking at the property and walking to the stadium while everyone else navigates traffic jams and long rideshare waits.
“It gets crazy out there,” she said. “I’ve had people offer to pay me $40 to use the bathroom while walking by during a Taylor Swift concert. Our neighbor sold parking spots for $1,000 during the Super Bowl.”
David (pictured) and Peggy Orenstein, run an Airbnb across the street from SoFi Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Colin Johnson has been renting out his home near SoFi Stadium for two years. It’s his actual residence, meaning when someone stays there, he has to book a hotel or crash on a friend’s couch. But he said the payouts are worth it.
“There are so many events and venues around us, why wouldn’t we take advantage?” he said.
A typical two-night stay in the three-story townhouse runs about $600. For the U.S. opening match, it costs more than $3,000.
Johnson said demand is roughly 60% Americans and 40% foreigners, but he expects foreign interest to pick up as the games get closer.
Demand isn’t limited to Inglewood. Luxury rentals across Los Angeles are being booked for eye-popping numbers, according to Mokhtar Jabli, founder of luxury rental platform Nightfall Group.
He’s booked two so far. The first was rented by a Florida client coming to Los Angeles to see Iran play two matches at SoFi Stadium against New Zealand and Belgium. The modern home in Hollywood Hills, complete with an infinity pool overlooking the city, rented for $33,000 for seven nights from June 15 to 22.
The second was booked by a New York client coming to see the U.S. play Paraguay. The 7,000-square-foot mansion in Malibu comes with a movie theater, butler, security and full-time staff. For 10 days, it rented for $100,000.
Jamie Lane, chief economist for AirDNA, expects a surge across L.A. County — not just in demand, but in supply.
“There’s a lot of interest right now in what you can make as a host,” Lane said. “In most cities, there won’t be enough lodging, so that pushes rates higher.”
He added that since Airbnb is the official “Alternative Accommodations and Bookings Platform” of the World Cup, the company is urging people to host. AirDNA has hosted multiple bootcamps around the country for people interested in renting out their homes during the World Cup, teaching them how to furnish homes, how to set prices during the games and more.
Lane expects a boost in listings early next year, which would mirror Paris in the months leading up to the 2024 Olympics, when active listings soared by 40%.
It’s unclear how proactive Southern California cities will be in cracking down on illegal listings as homeowners look to make a quick buck by renting out their rooms. Many cities have strict short-term rental regulations, but haven’t taken the steps necessary to enforce them.
Last year, the L.A. Housing Department estimated that 7,500 short-term rentals were violating the city’s Home Sharing Ordinance, but the city only issued 300 citations.
Orenstein said it won’t be easy in Inglewood.
“You have to jump through hoops to have an Airbnb,” she said. “Apply for permits, do inspections, pay your taxes every month. It has to be done right.”
The Chargers most recently fell 35-6 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, ending the team’s three-game win streak
Omarion Hampton’s return will have to wait another week.
After missing the Los Angeles Chargers’ last six games, the No. 22 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft will be kept off the gridiron Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium against the Las Vegas Raiders in the Chargers’ No. 12 game of the 2026-2026 season. The Chargers are coming off a bye week and a 29-point loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 16 – ending the three-game win streak.
The former RB1 returned to the Chargers’ practices this week, and despite being ruled out of Sunday’s contest, offensive coordinator Greg Roman has stated that the Los Angeles squad will utilize a 1-2 punch from the backfield with Hampton and Vidal – the team’s main tailback since losing Hampton and running back Najee Harris.
Vidal has been inconsistent in his time as the Chargers’ featured back, running for 95-plus yards in alternating weeks from Oct. 12 onwards, including a 124-yard performance against the Miami Dolphins, a 117-yard rushing attack against the Minnesota Vikings and a 95-yard night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, Vidal’s high-performance games are balanced by inefficient production in the weeks in between, notching 20 yards against the Indianapolis Colts, 30 ground yards against the Tennessee Titans, and just 13 yards in the Chargers’ most recent defeat by the Jaguars.
After a loss that brought the Los Angeles squad to 7-4, the Chargers should have a good opportunity for a rebound performance against the Raiders, their division rivals.
The Raiders are 2-9 in the NFL and rank last in the AFC West, and are riding a five-game losing streak. The Las Vegas squad has scored 20-plus points in just one of the Raiders’ last seven games, resulting in the removal of Chip Kelly as the team’s offensive coordinator.
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Under Kelly’s tutelage of the offense, the Raiders offense tied for No. 31 in scoring, ranked No. 30 in total offense, No. 31 in rushing offense – despite drafting Ashton Jeanty with the sixth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft – No. 25 in passing offense and No. 31 in sacks allowed.
Despite the departure of Kelly and the offense’s lack of prowess, quarterback Geno Smith looks to remain the Raiders’ starter under center. Smith has thrown for 2,367 passing yards and 13 touchdowns on a 66.6% completion percentage. However, Smith’s pitfall comes with his miscues – throwing 13 interceptions through 11 games, matching his passing touchdown total.
Smith’s main targets, and the Chargers’ threats to be aware of, include tight end Brock Bowers and outside wide receiver Tre Tucker. Bowers, who broke multiple rookie records last season, has amassed 510 yards – second most behind Tucker – and three receiving touchdowns.
Tucker leads the Raiders with 530 receiving yards and five touchdowns and has seen an increased role after the departure of wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Meyers has been essential to the Raiders’ offense over the past few seasons and still ranks third on the team in receiving yards despite only playing seven games in a Raiders uniform this season.
The Raiders offense has struggled all season long and is in disarray, setting up the Chargers for what could be a perfect bounce-back affair.
Fresh off a dominant display on home turf, the Rams have the chance to continue proving themselves on the road to hopefully earn their seventh win in a row
There’s a heap of excitement swirling around the LA Rams team and their wonderful fans. And can anyone be surprised? Now sitting atop the entire NFC conference, winning six in a row, boasting the front-runner for this year’s MVP, and playing an unstoppable level of football offensively and defensively, the Rams are not only legit Super Bowl contenders, they’re flat-out the best team in the NFL currently. Stafford has continued establishing his firm case for MVP alongside his all-star cast of offensive weapons. And on the other side of the ball, players like Emmanuel Forbes Jr, Jared Verse, and Byron Young, among others, have turned the defense into a clear-cut elite unit.
After a landslide 34-7 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, granted a few unlucky injuries sustained on their side, the Rams must now focus on an intriguing 6-6 Carolina Panthers team in week 13, who are currently second in the NFC South. Intriguing because, for a team that was considered bottom of the barrel last year, they’ve been teetering between greatness and lackluster throughout the current season.
There are plenty of promising positives surrounding this young and hungry Panthers team. Their new RB1, Rico Dowdle, has seemingly revived his career after a failed stint with the Dallas Cowboys. Many teams wrote off the six-year veteran as another journeyman running back, but upon signing with Carolina, Dowdle has since turned into one of the best running backs in the league.
When former starting running back Chuba Hubbard went down with a calf injury earlier in the season, Dowdle stepped up in historic fashion. He became the first running back since Dalvin Cook in 2020 to post two back-to-back games of 200 yards, one in week 5 against the Miami Dolphins with 206 rushing yards and 28 receiving yards, and the other in week 6 against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, with 183 rushing yards and 56 receiving yards. He seemingly overtook the starting job at the RB position, much to everyone’s surprise, including the Panthers’ coaching staff.
Another bright spot is their rookie wide receiver, Tetairoa McMillan, who has easily become their best receiving threat, and a standout among the entire rookie class this year. He is well on his way to earning more than 1,000 receiving yards, along with roughly 80 receptions. McMillan clearly has Pro Bowl level talent and should help elevate this team in the coming years.
Long gone are the days of Carolina’s defensive unit being the punchline of every joke. They are currently 16th in passing yards and 19th in rushing yards—while it certainly isn’t the best, it’s definitely a huge upgrade from what we’ve seen in recent years. And this is largely due to arguably their best player, cornerback Jaycee Horn. Horn was the former 8th overall pick in the 2021 draft, and has proved to be one of the more notable players at the position since then, and is now seen as a top 10 cornerback in the NFL.
The shaky area of the team still surrounds quarterback Bryce Young. Sure, he’s made massive strides of improvement from last year as a player and an overall leader. He’s had stellar games, like his otherworldly 448 passing yards and 3 touchdown performance in week 11 against the Atlanta Falcons, but he’s also shown flashes of his old self, like his previous match against the San Francisco 49ers where he had 169 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Bryce has given us glimpses of excellence, but lacks the consistency to take him over the hump to be considered an actual threat.
The injuries for Carolina are unfortunately plentiful, with CB Damarri Mathis (knee), G Robert Hunt (bicep), WR David Moore (elbow), LB Patrick Jones II (back), G Brady Christensen (achilles), and CB Corey Thornton (fibula) on the IR list. LB Claudin Cherelus (concussion), G Chandler Zavala (calf), C Cade Mays, LB Christian Rozeboom, LB Trevin Wallace, and CB Jaycee Horn (concussion) are listed as questionable.
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For the Rams, TE Tyler Higbee (ankle), S Quentin Lake (elbow), and OT Rob Havenstein (ankle) are on injury reserve. WR Tutu Atwell, who was on IR for the past few weeks, as been elevated to questionable, so hopefully he’ll fully return to action come Sunday. The other players listed as questionable are OT David Quessenberry and WR Xavier Smith.
Sunday’s game should be a fun one after the Thanksgiving festivities have cooled down. If your leftovers make it from Thursday until then, nothing pairs with Rams football better than a delicious sandwich packed with all the Thanksgiving fixings. Catch Stafford and company attempt to continue their gridiron excellence at 10:00 AM PST, Sunday morning.
The Los Angeles Rams scored 31 points in the first half of their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, resulting in a 34-7 victory, moving them into the No.1 seed in the NFC
This is the first time the Rams have held sole possession of the NFC lead since Week 13 of the 2018 season, according to ESPN.
Coach Sean McVay said it’s a “good thing” to have the No. 1 seed with only six games to go, though he emphasizes the only thing the Rams can control “is to have a great week of preparation.”
“I love the way we’ve responded from some setbacks,” McVay said. “I love the way that we’ve handled a little bit of success. And through 11 weeks, I’m proud of them. Now, let’s see what we can do through 12.”
He adds, “And I’m very confident that we’re going to give ourselves the best chance to do that because I’m betting on the people in that locker room.”
Here are some highlights that allowed the Rams to have such a blowout against the Buccaneers, earning them their sixth consecutive win.
Cobie Durant ignited the stadium with a 50-yard interception return, flipping momentum, giving the Rams excellent field position to score a touchdown. Puka Nacua was equally electric on offense, pulling down 7 receptions for 97 yards and proving once again why he’s one of the most reliable playmakers in the league.
The Rams’ offense was driven by the steady play of Matthew Stafford, who threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns. He showed complete command of the offense, spreading the ball efficiently and delivering two of his touchdown passes to Davante Adams, who proved to be a reliable red-zone and big-play target throughout the night.
The Rams are now Super Bowl favorites. With his amazing performance during this game and the rest of the season, fans at SoFi Stadium chanted MVP after Stafford’s second and third touchdown passes. Stafford completed 25 of 35 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns in a game that was largely decided by halftime.
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If Stafford is named the league’s most valuable player, he would be the oldest ever player to win his first MVP, and the third oldest player to win it, period.
The Rose Bowl’s request for a restraining order was not granted as a judge claimed there was no imminent danger of UCLA leaving the venue
Yesterday, a judge denied a request by the City of Pasadena and the operators of the Rose Bowl for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would bar UCLA’s football team from playing its home games at any other venue in Los Angeles or Orange counties and from trying to terminate its Rose Bowl lease. The paperwork for this restraining order was submitted on Monday, in an attempt to prevent the stated actions from occurring while a lawsuit against UCLA and the UC Regents is pending. The RBOC and the City of Pasadena sued in late October, seeking to enforce the terms of their lease agreement, which consists of UCLA playing football at the Rose Bowl until 2044, as it seemed the Rose Bowl was looking to move operations to SoFi Stadium.
Judge James C. Chalfant explained his decision, “At this stage, it is denied from lack of an emergency”, because there was no evidence of an immediate emergency, as UCLA has made no progress in moving to SoFi. In most cases, judges only award a TRO when, among other factors, there is a risk of irreparable injury and immediate harm, which the judge did not find this time. However, he mentioned that the plaintiffs could reapply for an injunction at a later time after both parties obtain more evidence, which the Plaintiffs have made clear they will do, so UCLA could still lose at a later stage.
UCLA agreed with the Judge’s decision as Mary Oskao, UCLA Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications, stated, “while we continue to evaluate the long-term arrangement for UCLA football home games, no decision has been made,” mirroring UCLA’s original response to the lawsuit.
The Plaintiffs and their lawyers expressed their gratefulness to the judge because, although he did not award the TRO as “no emergency exists” with no actual movement from UCLA, he “concluded there is real and concrete evidence of injury and irreparable harm to the City not compensable to money damages alone” that would occur should UCLA abandon the Rose Bowl.
How the lawsuit will work out is still unclear, as both the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl believe “UCLA has confirmed its imminent departure, ” which would breach the specific performance provision in their lease. The remedy for such a breach would be a court order mandating UCLA remain at the Rose Bowl until 2044, when the lease is up, as monetary damages would not be substituted for the money they may lose. In the past, specific performance clauses have not always been effective, as they did not prevent the New Orleans Jazz from moving to Utah, the Cleveland Browns from moving to Baltimore, or the Seattle Supersonics from moving to Oklahoma City. But they have been successful in keeping the New York Jets, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins from playing home games elsewhere, so only time will determine which category UCLA will fall under.
The Rams will defend home field against a booming Colts team that’s been making waves of their own
The Los Angeles Rams take on the Philadelphia Eagles in week 3 of the 2025 NFL regular season.Credit: Los Angeles Rams
Like the Greek God Icarus, who flew too close to the Sun, the Rams dealt with their first real moment of adversity last week against the Philadelphia Eagles after dropping a sizable lead and ultimately dramatically losing the game. While it was a tough pill to swallow, it goes to show that no victory is ever given, regardless of how much of a hot streak a team is on or how big a lead is.
As we turn to week 4, the Rams will host the Indianapolis Colts, a team that has been on an absolute hot streak since the start of the season, thanks to QB Daniel Jones playing the best football of his career. After several failed seasons with the New York Giants, many people wrote off Jones as the next journeyman quarterback who would only fill the quarterback role for teams in transition to drafting their next QB.
But to everyone’s surprise, Jones is leading a historic offense with the Colts, who’ve scored a franchise record 103 points in their first 3 games, the most since 1967. They are also one of four teams in the Super Bowl era to score at least 100 points with 0 turnovers to start a season. And up to a certain point during their previous game against the Tennessee Titans, they were tied for 5th all-time for continuous offensive drives without a punt.
But Jones is not a one-man army by any means. At his side is the extremely cunning RB Jonathan Taylor, who’s been performing as the top running back in the league so far into the season, averaging just over 5 yards a carry, has scored 3 touchdowns, and leads the league in total rushing yards with 338.
Seasoned WR Michael Pittman Jr. and rookie TE Tyler Warren have also been very impactful in the passing game for Indy, with both players currently at 193 receiving yards each, and Pittman Jr. with 2 touchdowns thus far.
Safe to say, the Rams will need to bring their ‘A’ game.
For the Rams, they have a chance to take advantage of some of the injuries Indy is dealing with on the defensive side. CB Kenny Moore II is currently labeled as doubtful for Sunday’s game due to an achilles concern, which should ease the pressure off of Stafford’s shoulders when airing it out.
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The Los Angeles Rams take on the Philadelphia Eagles in week 3 of the 2025 NFL regular season.Credit: Los Angeles Rams
Another key piece for their defense is defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who is currently questionable to play due to a back injury. While we’d love to see Buckner (and Moore II) in action as true fans of the sport, this is something RB Kyren Williams can definitely target when penetrating their run-defense, especially at the goal line.
Unfortunately, the Rams also have some injuries of their own to deal with, including WR Davante Adams, who is coming off of a fantastic game last week. He is currently questionable to play due to a sore hamstring that prevented him from participating in practice on Wednesday.
Injuries aside, Sunday’s game could be another popcorn-thriller here at SoFi Stadium. Puka Nacua is poised to have another dominant performance against an undermanned secondary unit, and expect TE Tyler Higbee to step up should Adams need to sit out.
Want to catch the action in person? You can purchase tickets to Sunday’s game here.
A Rams victory from last weekend was overshadowed by a violent brawl at SoFi Stadium as the moment caught on camera garnered attention on social media.
The fight happened in the stands during the Rams’ first game of the season against the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Among several different videos from the altercation, one particular, profanity-ridden cellphone video showed the fight appearing to have started between two women, one in a Rams jersey and another in a Texans jersey.
The verbal argument escalated quickly as the Texans fan raised her leg in an apparent attempt to kick the Rams fan, who then pushed the other woman with both hands.
The melee, according to the three-minute video, reached another heated moment when the two groups physically collided before the woman in the Texan jersey was seen with a bloody nose.
It’s not clear how much of the cellphone video was edited, but security officers responded to the fight about a minute later in the footage then escorted the Texan fans out of the stadium.
The Inglewood Police Department did respond to battery reports at SoFi on Sunday, but it was not immediately confirmed they were related to the fight caught on camera.
NBC Los Angeles reached out to SoFi Stadium and the Rams organization for comments.
The Rams open the 2025 NFL season at SoFi with new firepower, a healthy Stafford, and a showdown against Houston’s rising stars
Rams QB Stetson Bennett. The Rams narrowly defeated the Chargers on Saturday nightCredit: Courtesy Los Angeles Rams
The 2025-26 NFL season is finally upon us as our Los Angeles Rams face the fully-loaded Houston Texans. Led by electrifying quarterback CJ Stroud and star receiver Nico Collins, the Texans are aiming to bounce back from a disappointing, injury-riddled season. So what does that spell for our Los Angeles Rams?
With the massive off-season acquisition of 6-time Pro Bowler Davante Adams after a failed stint with the Las Vegas Raiders, the Rams now boast one of the best receiver cores in the entire league as Adams is now paired alongside our absolute stud of a wide receiver, Puka Nacua. Puka, who quickly garnered recognition as one of the elite offensive playmakers since his rookie season in 2023, will hopefully take the next step into becoming a fully-fledged superstar. Surely the dynamic duo of Davante and Puka will make for some wildly entertaining play calling, but the success of the offense truly lies in the hands of seasoned veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford’s offseason has been anything but healthy, thanks to both an aggravated back injury involving a spinal disc and several blood clots that resulted in a month’s worth of absences from training camp. While he is certainly no stranger to injuries in his 16-year career, Stafford feels confident about being available to play in week 1 against the Texans. And should he hopefully stay healthy the entire season, he could achieve his best offense season to date, thanks to the staggering firepower at each side of the receiver position this year.
Coming off a career-high 14-touchdown regular season, running back Kyren Williams will once again spearhead an exceptional ground game for the Rams. Thanks to a fortified offensive line supporting him and a portion of the scoring pressure alleviated due to the team’s upgraded passing options, don’t be surprised if Kyren finishes as a top 5 running back in several offensive categories.
More importantly, it is essential that the Rams fire on all cylinders to make up for a mediocre 2024 season defensively, which resulted in being ranked 21st in total sacks and 26th in total yards per gain. Texans offensive leaders CJ Stroud and Nico Collins will put the pressure on the Rams’ secondary, either turning them to dust or into diamonds. And with their off-season addition of Nick Chubb, who will play the role of their productive workhorse in the absence of injured running back Joe Mixon, there is zero room for any mistakes. History has shown, the Texans’ offense can be difficult to control.
On the other side of things, emerging sophomore cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. is set to make a big impact for Houston’s pass defense once again, which may cause a bit of a headache for Stafford and company. A 5-interception rookie season is nothing to laugh at, and will be a prime concern for the Rams’ offensive play calling coming into week 1. At the front lines, defensive end Danielle Hunter will remind everyone why he is one of the highest-paid players at that position next to fellow defensive titans Max Crosby and Miles Garrett. Last year, Hunter produced 12 sacks, which to most players would be considered a breakout season, but for Danielle, it was simply an “off” year, proving that the Rams have their work cut out for themselves.
(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)Credit: Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
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There’s a lot riding on Sunday’s game for both teams in terms of establishing dominance early on. As a mostly young core, the Texans will certainly want to silence the doubters who’ve been labeling Stroud’s remarkable rookie season as a fluke, and to show that the team’s offensive line has made great strides of improvement in the offseason after a disastrous showing last year. But for the Rams, it is much, much more. It is not simply about asserting dominance, but it is about returning to form as a Super Bowl contender. When you have stacked talent on both sides of the ball, the potential is great, but the expectations are even greater. Whether this will be evident off-the-bat in game 1 or may surface as the season progresses remains to be seen. But one thing is definite, it will be an absolutely fun shoot-out of a game this Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
The ‘Midnight Mode’ looks comes as part of the NFL’s Rivalries program
Credit: Los Angeles Rams
From uniform drip to scoring a touchdown, the Los Angeles Rams always channel the powerful magnificence of SoFi Stadium.
Look no further than the team’s newest uniform, Midnight Mode, as part of the NFL’s Rivalries program.
Credit: Los Angeles Rams
“The Rivalries jersey embodies the intensity, grit and pride of what it means to be an Angeleno,” said Kathryn Kai-ling Frederick, Los Angeles Rams chief marketing officer. “This look incorporated insights from our players, fans and city, from the new Midnight color to the full curl of a horn on the sleeve. Above all, the design was inspired by the energy and glow of the Rams House at night with a look that will both pop in the sunshine during the day and shine under the bright lights in primetime.”
Credit: Los Angeles Rams
The NFL and Nike Rivalries uniform and fan gear program is comprised of gear that celebrates local traditions and treats fans to specialized designs. Kicking off with the 2025 season, Rivalries begins with six teams across the league: Rams, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. More are set to come in the 2026, 2027 and 2028 seasons.
Midnight Mode will stay in the Rams’ uniform rotation for three years, alongside other alternates. Set on a matte, almost black base with a touch of Royal blue, details reflect the contemporary architecture of the stadium, while Royal & Sol accents reflect its contemporary lighting system. In a tribute to the team’s history, the jersey sleeves feature a full horn curl design reminiscent of the Rams’ original jersey sleeves. Inside the collar, “Rams House” is spelled out in the same font as the old Hollywood Park Racetrack, which is where Sofi Stadium currently stands tall.
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Credit: Los Angeles RamsCredit: Los Angeles Rams
Furthermore, the uniform’s dark hue tips its cap to the many Angelenos who work well into the night —midnight and beyond — to make their dreams a reality.
The Los Angeles Rams will wear the Midnight Mode uniform on Nov. 16 to take on the Seahawks. Starting Sept. 10, fans can secure their own and other Midnight Mode gear online or at The Equipment Room at SoFi Stadium.
It was more than 60 years ago this month that the Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox and won their first World Series in front of more than 90,000 baseball fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
At the time, the Coliseum lit its torch to honor the team’s win, and now, after the Dodgers won their eighth World Series Championship, the Coliseum has once again lit its torch. And for the next two nights, the Coliseum’s peristyle will be illuminated in blue light.
Ever since the Dodgers’ miraculous comeback victory Wednesday night, some of L.A. County’s best-known buildings and attractions have been finding ways to celebrate the Boys in Blue, from the Pacific Wheel on Santa Monica’s Pier to L.A. City Hall.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose father, Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, helped bring the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, called for the Coliseum torch to be lit.
“I thought it would be fitting to light the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s torch in celebration of the Dodgers’ victory at the venue the team played their first World Series winning season,” Hahn said. “We love our team.
“Every corner of Los Angeles is celebrating today,” she said.
Up in the hills of Griffith Park, the letter “D” on the Hollywood sign was lighted in blue.
In Inglewood, a spokesperson for SoFi Stadium said the building’s rooftop Thursday night will display “2024 World Series Champions L.A. Dodgers” in blue lighting. A similar message was already on display on its Samsung infinity screen inside the stadium.
A study conducted by researchers at Caltech and UCLA has concluded that the 73,000 attendees at Taylor Swift‘s Aug. 2023 show at SoFi Stadium created seismic activity.
Her July tour stop at Seattle’s Lumen Field was similarly reported to have resulted in seismic activity the “equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake” last year.
The researchers released their findings in a report that was published on Wednesday. Titled Shake to the Beat: Exploring the Seismic Signals and Stadium Response of Concerts and Music Fans, the academic paper claimed the audience’s movements, as opposed to the music itself, generated “distinct harmonic tremors.”
The Los Angeles Times said the researchers focused specifically on the fifth night of Swift’s six-night run at SoFi Stadium. They installed motion sensors more than five-and-a-half miles from the venue.
The data was then analyzed by looking at graphs tracking wave length frequencies. Naturally, Swift’s biggest hit, Shake It Off, produced the largest local magnitude of 0.851. Love Story also had a significant amplitude.
The scientists compared the Swift shows by also looking at the “concert tremors” caused by other shows at the same venue from Beyoncé, Metallica, and Morgan Wallen.
Swift’s Eras Tour is the highest-grossing music tour of all-time.
Living in Inglewood these days is living in tension about change. Like many other places in and around L.A., its core is being transformed by development that’s become a spectacle, something I have been watching unfold with a mix of apprehension and disbelief.
SoFi Stadium is not just a stadium, it’s become shorthand for everything else in the built world of Hollywood Park: condos, retail and the soon-to-be-completed Intuit Dome, the new home of the Clippers, which rises at the corner of Prairie Avenue and Century Boulevard like a giant, space-age basketball.
All that glitters presses up against the neighborhoods in the last solidly Black city in the county, and while the outside world touts SoFi, etc., as progress, in Inglewood it feels very much like the reconfiguring is being done without the local population in mind.
But not entirely.
Gentrification in Inglewood has always worn a face of Black uplift, which is part of what causes the tension. Admittedly, that face can be gratifying. During Black History Month, SoFi featured a world-class Black art and historical-artifact exhibit, courtesy of the renowned collectors and philanthropists Bernard and Shirley Kinsey. This is an updated, enhanced version of the Kinsey exhibit that debuted in February 2023.
Next door to SoFi, in the walkway of a new retail development that includes a luxury movie theater, there are works by the celebrated Black sculptor Alison Saar. Last year that walkway was the site of a lively weekend festival for Black-owned businesses. On the side of a building is a striking mural of a Black woman floating in water by local artist Calida Rawles. And on other walls, ads depict Black residents enjoying the amenities of a chic, prosperous new city that attracts people of all colors from all over L.A., from all over the world, as the banners along Prairie declaring “A Global Stage” suggest.
It’s a heady vision of the future, one I would love to believe in. Every time I hurry through that walkway on my way to a movie, I marvel at museum-quality art here in the neighborhood, out in the open. It’s an upgrade I can’t argue with.
And yet the bigger picture is not all pretty. Part of the SoFi development deal with Inglewood was a commitment to commissioning public art in and around the stadium. It’s actually required of big developments like this. The city was supposed to oversee the process, but it more or less ceded that power to the developer, just as it ceded other kinds of oversight when it fast-tracked the stadium back in 2015.
City Hall has all along been willing to trade away almost anything for development, especially sports venues. Why? Because for way too long the city languished as what I call the South-Central of South Bay — struggling to attract even modest national chain stores because its Black and brown demographics automatically made it an undesirable market. The recession of the early 1990s compounded the problem, along with the chronic inability or unwillingness of elected officials to plan for serious change.
SoFi was thus sold to and by City Hall as our great change agent, the thing that would finally take Inglewood from moribund to modern.
The stadium’s engendering change all right, but the cost feels too high, destabilizing. Art is wonderful and welcome, but what Black people really need to secure their futures are affordable housing and decent schools. SoFi and all the rest secure neither. To the degree that the stadium and associated development have taken up public land in this large small city, it is actually making more affordable housing less attainable.
It’s not all bad, of course. Notable Black business and creative spaces have been popping up in the new Inglewood, including galleries, restaurants and coffee hangs. Hilltop Café, for instance, on La Brea Avenue is co-owned by local-girl-made-good Issa Rae.
These are the kinds of small but significant businesses that Inglewood has always had, but just not in a critical mass. Together they express the true character and promise of the city, make it a destination — in real estate marketing speak, make it “desirable.”
Hopefully, the new desirability won’t be synonymous, as it so often is, with “white.”
Rick Garzon, whose downtown gallery Residency recently moved to the Hollywood Park retail district close to SoFi, told me he’s confident that Inglewood will beat back the usual displacement narrative of gentrification and create a new one of real Black progress. It has the goods, he says, starting with a solid base of homeowners committed to the city who aren’t going anywhere. Development may be pressing down on us, but we won’t crumble, he says. We are changing the game.
I would love to believe that too. I would love the corporate campaign painting Inglewood as Black and prospering on its own terms — an equal partner in this breakneck development — to be true.
But history is against it. So is math — the economics of gentrification, intricately tied to have/have-not realities, including the racial wealth gap, virtually guarantee that new homeowners won’t be Black. The same is true of renters, who are actually the majority of Inglewood residents. The median price of a home in some Inglewood neighborhoods is nudging up to $900,000 now. That’s downright modest in L.A.’s overheated market but out of reach for the Black working-to-middle class that is the city’s foundation.
Inglewood is a mosaic, but also one community with common needs. That fact is what makes us truly unique, a work of art — in progress. The physical art — and the art to come — accurately conveys Black power and depth. We just have to live up to the image.
Erin Aubry Kaplan is a contributing writer to Opinion and a columnist at Truthdig.
A man in his early 20s drowned Friday night in the lake outside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, authorities said.
The incident is the second in two years where someone drowned in the body of water. In July of 2022, an unidentified man died after wading into the lake on a Wednesday.
The six-acre artificial lake holds about 11 million gallons of water and features a 12-foot-tall waterfall that cascades into two 4-foot waterfalls. It is about 15-feet deep.
In the latest incident, a man was seen entering the lake around 9:30 p.m. Friday and did not resurface, Inglewood Police Lt. Cilia Islas said.
A dive team responded and the body was found shortly before 11 p.m., Islas said. CPR was administered, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, she said.
Islas said it is believed to be an accidental drowning and the identity of the victim has not been released.
“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of an individual last evening,” according to a statement from SoFi Stadium. “Our deepest condolences go out to the individual’s family and friends for their loss. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.”
The 2022 incident saw police respond to security reports that the man jumped into the water shortly after 6 AM. Authorities were notified of the trespasser earlier, according to Inglewood Mayor James Butts, who held a Wednesday afternoon news conference.
The man moved toward the lake’s center, but security lost sight of him as he moved toward the middle of the water. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Enforcement Bureau and L.A. County firefighters were called at 6:21 AM
The man’s body was recovered at 9:48 AM, Butts said.
Federal officials have pledged up to $1 billion for an elevated train connecting SoFi Stadium and other venues to the Crenshaw Line, marking a major milestone for a marquee project that could open ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.
The Federal Transit Administration commitment would finance half of the project’s $2-billion price tag.
To lock down the award, the city of Inglewood and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority must clear several more hurdles, including securing the other half of the money and making substantial progress to prepare the project for construction.
“It’s going to improve the fan experience,” said Inglewood Mayor James Butts, who has championed the project. “Fans, our residents and the employees deserve affordable and efficient transit options. This system will be good for the environment. It will again create jobs.”
Known as the Inglewood Transit Connector, the fully automated three-stop people mover will roll through Inglewood’s downtown and ferry fans to the city’s growing list of entertainment venues, which include the Kia Forum and the soon-to-be opened Inuit Dome. It’s expected to ease traffic during major events.
The city and Metro, which together form the project’s joint powers authority, say they have secured about 85% of the total $2-billion tab, counting the federal commitment. Although that commitment is not finalized, officials say it signals the viability of an ambitious project they aim to open before the 2028 Olympic Games.
“This federal support is a force multiplier on our momentum and an endorsement of all levels of government working together to benefit the public. We will get the next step done,” said Lisa Trifiletti, who is overseeing the project for the authority.
And although officials hope the people mover will be running by 2028, Federal Transit Administration documents show that it isn’t expected to open until 2030 and will cost $33 million a year to operate.
If the connector does open in time for the Olympics, Inglewood, a city of about 104,000, would be center stage, starting with the opening ceremonies at SoFi Stadium. Transit officials plan on creating a car-free Olympics and have been using events at SoFi, including Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, as a testing ground for not only the Olympics but how to deal with changing ridership patterns.
Backers say the elevated people mover and the tourists it brings will also help revitalize downtown Inglewood. But dozens of business will be forced to relocate to make room for it. And transportation experts question whether the people mover, which has increased in price by more than half a billion dollars over the last few years, is worth the cost and will deliver on its promises.
On a busy weekday, hundreds come through the door of Fiesta Martin Bar & Grill at Florence Avenue and Market Street. Esaul Martin, who runs the downtown Inglewood restaurant with his sister, is among those who will be forced to relocate.
“We don’t have a choice in what to do,” he said. The outside patio is teeming on weekends, and he has a steady local clientele.
Though his family owns several restaurants in town, he said, this is the most successful.
“Most people aren’t happy about it,” Martin said about other businesses nearby. “The options that they are giving us doesn’t come close. Either it doesn’t have parking, it’s too small, or the rent is four times this.”
Martin has hired a lawyer. But, he said, no relocation fee can replicate what he has created here. And he worries about his 45 employees.
Butts said change is hard, but the relocation packages are generous.
“This is major progress in the evolution of the city. Things are not going to be the way they are,” he said. “The benefits of this project far outweigh the angst of displacement, because everyone in Inglewood wins.”
Transit experts say the other big winners are people like Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
The $5-billion SoFi Stadium, home to the Rams and Chargers, opened in 2020. It had bypassed the lengthy environmental review process typically required in California, which would have quantified the traffic, pollution and noise that would come with a 70,000-seat stadium. Often, the developer must mitigate those impacts.
Instead, the project was approved six weeks after it was announced.
“There is definitely a good case to be made that at least there should be some financial contribution from the stadium owners,” said Jacob Wasserman, a research project manager at UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies. “It is going to serve the customers there who pay money to go see events and games. All transit serves businesses, and it’s a public service, but I think that this is disproportionately focused on these event venues.”
Butts said providing transportation is the job of municipalities.
The authority estimates that the people mover will have 4 million boardings in 2028 and nearly 8 million by 2078, which Wasserman said is likely overly optimistic.
Environmental studies show regular weekdays will be much quieter, bringing 414 passengers during peak hours and carrying 11,450 riders the hour after games.
Three pre-qualified teams are now preparing bids for the project, and the authority expects to choose one this summer.
Is it worth it?
James Moore, founding director of the USC Transportation Engineering Program, said it probably isn’t. He pointed to the half billion dollars it cost to connect the Oakland Airport to BART, which, he said, ended up having no measurable effect on either airport traffic or BART ridership.
“The bus was doing just fine,” he said. “If the goal is to connect riders from the event generator to the rail line, this is an expensive way to do it.”
While U.S. flags come out on Memorial Day, poppies are more identified with Veterans Day. Originally called Armistice Day and commemorating the Nov. 11, 1918, armistice that ended the fighting in World War I, the date is linked internationally to the opening lines of the haunting war poem “In Flanders Fields”:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row.
The commemoration became a U.S. national holiday in 1935 and was renamed in 1954. Unlike Memorial Day, a holiday dating from the end of the Civil War and honoring those who died while serving in the armed forces, Veterans Day honors all veterans.
Andrew Guiding Young Cloud Morales, from the Gabrieleno (Tongva) Band of Mission Indians, offers a blessing during a Veterans Day ceremony held at Plaza Park on Friday in San Gabriel.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Attendees stand among 201 flags installed for the Veterans Day ceremony at Plaza Park.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Navy veteran Ruth Pico, left, with her 8-year-old son Nathan, pays her respects on Veterans Day at National Cemetery on Saturday in Los Angeles.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Color Guard members from John C. Fremont High School in South Los Angeles listen to a panel of retired, Black, high-ranking military veterans discussing their military service and career challenges. The panelists also spoke about their work relating to the renaming commission, which seeks to assess the plausibility of renaming Confederate monuments. Later, the Color Guard members explored the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection exhibit at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Marine Corps Reserve Maj. Gen. Leo V. Williams III, center, takes pictures with John C. Fremont High School students, including Eenni Alay Mendez,16, on his right, while looking at the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection exhibit at SoFi Stadium. Williams took part in the panel discussion as well.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Allyson, 3, hits during the Dodgers Veterans Day batting practice event with her father, Marine Corps veteran John Lemus, on Friday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
James Courson, 95, a WWII-Korean War veteran, left, Larry Stevens, 99, a WWII U.S. Air Force veteran, and Mike Valdivia, 97, a WWII Navy veteran, sit with others being honored at a Veterans Day ceremony at Plaza Park on Friday in San Gabriel.
On Tuesday’s edition of her weekly podcast, “The Morning After,” Kelly Stafford talks about a very adult scene that played out in one of the suites at the game, which she attended with her daughters and nephews. In what has been described as a strip-club atmosphere, Blueface could be seen throwing dollar bills at several women in thongs who were dancing while bent over with their exposed rear ends in the air.
“This is our game-day experience.” Stafford said.
“What I am so mad about is this is supposed to be a family experience, coming to a football game. There were children in the suites next to them. … If you have that kind of stuff happening at games, adults are not gonna want to bring their kids.”
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford celebrates with wife Kelly and their four daughters after winning the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in February 2022.
(Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
A SoFi Stadium spokesperson told The Times on Thursday that the stadium and the Rams do not condone the lewd behavior that took place inside Blueface’s suite and did not give permission for such activity to take place. When stadium officials were made aware of the situation, security was sent to the rapper’s suite, according to the spokesperson. Blueface and his companions were allowed to remain at the game and no further inappropriate activity occurred, the spokesperson said.
Blueface posted a video of the NSFW scene that took place in his suite on his Instagram Stories during the game, and Stafford said on Tuesday’s podcast that footage made it back to her and her young companions.
“My nephews, who are older, have Instagram. They were at the game, and they were like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Look what’s going on here.’ They found it,” Stafford said. “And my daughters are sitting right next to them. They were like, ‘Mommy, there’s a lot of butts here.’ I go, ‘Butts? What are you talking about?’ And then I got sent it and I was like, ‘Oh!’
“So my daughters saw that. Not OK! And not OK that my nephews saw it either.”
She added: “It’s just a little disappointing. It makes me not want to take my kids to the game, ‘cause I’m like, ‘What’s gonna happen next?’”
The Times reached out to Republic Records for a comment from Blueface and did not receive an immediate response. But the rapper does not seem to be bothered by any backlash for his antics.
He reposted two X (formerly Twitter) users who made negative comments about the footage of him and the dancers — one read, “First and Last Rams game attended for Blueface today,” and the other said, “Rapper BlueFace brought a bunch of females to the #Rams game today and then started throwing a lot of money all over them. With kids sitting right there [flushed-face emoji].”
Blueface had a lot going on at the game, as he also proposed to rapper Jaidyn Alexis, who was not one of the dancers and is the mother of two of his children. She said yes, and he posted a video from the happy occasion on Instagram.
