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Ari Gold Bringing His NFL Team to Downtown Stadium

By Eric Richardson
Published: Sunday, July 25, 2010, at 11:02PM
Entourage Screen Capture from 'Entourage' / HBO

"Entourage" superagent Ari Gold stands in front of a rendering of a Downtown NFL stadium.



DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Ari Gold won't be taking his NFL team to the City of Industry.

The "Entourage" superagent played by Jeremy Piven showed off his plans for an NFL stadium to a room full of rich men in tonight's episode, using a model and renderings that show the "Los Angeles Stadium" next to Staples Center and L.A. Live.

That's exactly where a proposal backed by Casey Wasserman -- who played himself in the episode as one of the men at the meeting -- and AEG's Tim Leiweke would put a stadium. Word of that proposal first leaked out in April.

Piven is no stranger to the L.A. Live complex. He was sitting courtside for the Lakers championship win in June and just last week sunk a trick shot from the Nokia Plaza balcony to best former Laker Rick Fox and Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro.

The Downtown proposal is up against Staples Center partner Ed Roski's plan to put a stadium in the City of Industry. While Roski's efforts had a significant head start, the race really comes down to who can be the first to get a team to commit.

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User_32

Russell Brown on July 25, 2010, at 11:41PM – #1

What better commercial for the sales job of the new stadium that a TV episode creating the foundation for a new reality.

The more I understand the specifics, the more this makes amazing sense.

This would not just be a football stadium, it would be a multi-purpose event center with a retractable roof.

Just read the specifics of the Moto X Freestyle Final and you can start to imagine the re-purposed campus.

Pasadena Rose Bowl hosts many events that have little to do with football. The LA LIVE campus with the stadium and an integrated Convention Center would truly have venue facilities for events from small to colossal.


User_32

Nancy Richardson () on July 26, 2010, at 07:17AM – #2

In other news, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson ("The Closer") really, really hates the new LAPD building. She has yet to comment on the new sod which resently replaced the failed sod.


Guest 1

Guest on July 26, 2010, at 11:15AM – #3

Build it on top of the LATC Railyards between USC Medical and the river. Close proximity to Metrolink and proposed Silver Line LRT, and such a "building-on-top-of-railyard" concept has been thought of before (New York's 2012 Summer Olympic bid).


User_32

J-M on July 26, 2010, at 11:20AM – #4

For the love of God, please do not bring a football team Downtown!!! It will max out our infrastructure capacities. And, can you imagine pitting Lakers fans against, say, Raiders fans?!? (Actually, that's not a bad idea) Couldn't we focus on some amenities for residents before turning Downtown into the eye of the storm for entertainment seekers from out of town?


User_32

Tornadoes28 on July 26, 2010, at 03:19PM – #5

Put it in the Dodger stadium parking lot.


Guest 2

Guest on July 26, 2010, at 07:17PM – #6

I think they should build it in the area known as "Skid Row". That would help clean up the area and give the growing "Historic Core" a better neighboring community than it has now. It would also help to revitalize Central City East.


Guest 3

Guest on July 26, 2010, at 07:45PM – #7

I agree...let's build an NFL stadium in Skid Row...and let's move the displaced Skid Row residents to Guest #6's block. We all win...touchdown!


Guest 4

Guest on July 26, 2010, at 08:52PM – #8

When I first saw the headline of "Bringing...NFL Team to Downtown Stadium" -- and since I've never watched the "Entourage" TV show to realize "Ari Gold" is a purely fictional name -- and thinking the headline referred to an authentic news story, I got excited. I immediately thought "did blogdowntown come up with another scoop---similar to its late-breaking news report on Eli Broad finalizing his decision to locate his museum on Grand Avenue!!?"

The joke is on me.

My bad.


Guest 5

Guest on July 26, 2010, at 10:27PM – #9

This idea is growing on me. And for all of you worried about traffic, NFL games are on Sunday and downtown actually has some decent public transportation, better than City of Industry. I prefer a rehab of the Coliseum, but I guess you can't have everything.


User_32

Russell Brown on July 27, 2010, at 12:37PM – #10

Would love to see the rehab of the Coliseum as my first choice also. But that dead horse has been beaten and trotted out so many times, with no audience from the NFL- the real decision makers on this.


Guest 6

Guest on July 27, 2010, at 02:46PM – #11

I vote for an LA Coliseum reno. USC won't be needing it for a good while anyways....


Guest 7

Guest on July 27, 2010, at 10:09PM – #12

Forget Ari Gold, let's move Beverly D'Angelo Downtown.


Guest 8

Guest on July 28, 2010, at 02:34AM – #13

That thing looks as ugly as the original convention center. So now that we've finally got a convention center hotel, we're going to reduce the size of the convention center????


User_32

J-M on July 28, 2010, at 01:54PM – #14

As much as I like Entourage, that's a really insidious way of planting an idea in Angelenos' heads without them realizing.


Guest 9

Guest on July 28, 2010, at 05:38PM – #15

The stadium next to L.A. Live might be a good idea, but who is going to pay to build a new convention center building?


User_32

Russell Brown on July 28, 2010, at 09:33PM – #16

Reminder, Staples Center was built where the North Hall of the Convention Center previously existed.

St. Louis and Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium are already multi-use facilities. New York has planned a similar facility.

Here are some reference articles on multi-purpose stadiums and convention centers from other cities.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/05/cowboys-owner-downtown-la-stadium-makes-sense.html

Los Angeles http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/16/sports/la-sp-nfl-la-

The article quotes "Although that (a retractable roof) might seem like a minor distinction, proponents of that project say that a retractable roof would greatly enhance the versatility of the building, making it ideal for major sporting events such as the Final Four, championship title fights, and all sorts of national conventions.

...quintessential site for Super Bowls but also could play host to the Pro Bowl; the NFL draft (alternating years with New York); the scouting combine (alternating years with Indianapolis); and the finals of the World Cup in 2022. The NFL has made it clear that any new stadium in Southern California should be able to accommodate two teams...

All signs point to it being at least a year before any project gets the kind of traction needed to move forward, which gives the downtown (LA) concept time to catch up.

San Diego And this article on a multi-use facility:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/20/roofed-stadium-makes-sense/

New York http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/iotw//200/931 Bringing the Jets Home

Unlike facilities that are used solely for sports, the New York Sports and Convention Center is designed to be truly multi-purpose. It will only be used 15 to 20 days a year for stadium events. But it will be used another 100 plus days a year for conventions, trade shows and expositions, and at least one week for super events, like the Final Four, the Super Bowl and political conventions.

R


User_32

jojinks on July 29, 2010, at 12:01PM – #17

Who cares where the put this thing, JUST GIVE US SOME FREE OR INEXPENSIVE PARKING STRUCTURES ALL AROUND DOWNTOWN so these football cretins can come and eat, stay in the hotels and give us (and our communty) some of their damn money!!!!!


Scott Mercer on August 03, 2010, at 01:08PM – #18

I still think rehabbing the Colliseum is a better way to go. It would be somewhat cheaper, it would keep the historic structure usable (though significantly altered), and there IS going to be mass transit access to the place when the Expo Line starts running. You wouldn't catch me on that line 2 hours before a game day, though.



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