If you’re after an intimate stadium to watch national live sport, the Dignity Health Sports Park is one of the best on offer in Los Angeles.
Formerly known as the StubHub Center, and Home Depot Center, the multi-use sports complex consists of a soccer stadium, tennis stadium, a track and field facility and a velodrome.
At the time of writing, the Dignity Health Sports Park is home to the LA Chargers in the NFL, and the LA Galaxy in the MLS. With a crowd capacity of 27,000, the venue is currently the smallest stadium in the NFL, providing spectators one of the most intimate atmospheres to watch professional American Football.
Located on the campus of California State University, in Carson, California, the Dignity Health Sports Park is approximately 23 kilometres south of downtown Los Angeles, and easy to get to for tourists and locals.
Getting your tickets
Having planned your trip to Los Angeles, head to our page for Dignity Health Sports Park to see if a game is on while you’re in town. After that comes the hard part: deciding where to sit.
Where to sit
As Dignity Health Sports Park is one of the NFL’s smaller stadiums, there aren’t really any bad options when it comes to choosing where to sit.
When booking tickets, it’s important to remember that Dignity Health Sports Park is an outdoor stadium, open to plenty of natural light. It doesn’t rain too often in California, so you probably won’t have to worry about being exposed to any potential rainfall, but you might want to consider how the sun behaves throughout the afternoon and how it may affect your viewing.
Tickets to sit on the west side of the stadium generally cost a little but more, but you won’t have the sun in your eyes as you would on the east side. Sections 226-238 are also a bit elevated and therefore have longer amounts of shade during matches. The rows in this section are named AA, BB, CC and so on – and anything in these sections after about Row HH will be guaranteed to have shade for the entire game.
Generally speaking, there aren’t many ‘bad seats’ at the Dignity Health Sports Park, and no section that requires you to stand.
If you do want to be close to the sidelines and right in the thick of all the action, anything in the 100s sections will provide great viewing along the lower ring of the stadium.
Getting to Dignity Health Sports Park
There are several options when it comes to taking public transport to Dignity Health Sports Park. As Los Angeles is such a spread out city, reaching the arena can be a little complicated for tourists.
Driving (and parking)
Driving into the Dignity Health Sports Park is one option. Travelling through LA is fairly easy, and outside of major peak hours traffic isn’t as bad as some other cities in the US. The venue also has ample parking.
Parking itself, though, can be a little expensive at the stadium. To get a park in the Red, Blue or Green lots, where tailgating is prohibited, is $60. While parking in the Silver lots, where tailgating is permitted, is $100.
Ridesharing
Ridesharing is another great way to get to and from the stadium. LA is home to many ride sharing apps and finding a taxi is also super easy.
There is a designated drop off and pick up point at Gate A, located on Avalon Blvd. and 184th Street. Guests will see the Uber beacon on the far right of the inbound lane at Gate A.
The Lyft Lot is the official rideshare lot for the Los Angeles Chargers. It is located at Towne Avenue Elementary School, 18924 Towne Ave, Carson, CA 90746.
Public transport
Another option is to take the metro silver line to Artesia Transit Center and then catch a bus or taxi from there. Bus 52, 130, 205, and 246 pass by the stadium on Avalon Blvd or Victoria Street. The bus ride from Artesia Transport Center will only take a few minutes.
If you’re travelling from downtown LA, Bus 52 will take you straight to the stadium. However the area the bus travels through is not considered to be very safe, so do travel with caution, especially if travelling alone.
Team shuttles in Carson
The LA Galaxy and LA Chargers do offer free non-stop shuttles for home games at the Dignity Health Sports Park (from Harbor Gateway Transit Center and Del Amo Station). These run every 10 minutes and begin 2 and a half hours before kickoff. More info on both of these services can be found here.
What to do before and after the game
The Dignity Health Sports Park is located in Carson, a short drive out of downtown LA. Carson itself isn’t well known for it’s great bars, restaurants and nightlife. And apart from a few places to eat and drink nearby the stadium, there isn’t a whole lot to do before or after the game in Carson.
Tailgating, however, is allowed in parking lots 10, 11, 12 and 13. Parking lots open three hours prior to kick-off. It’s prohibited at certain sections in the venue, so check this map for Galaxy games and this map for Chargers games before making plans to visit a tailgate.
Keep in mind through that public intoxication and anti social behaviour will be monitored closely by police and security at the venue.
Watching a game at Dignity Health Sports Park
The people
Being such a large, global city, Los Angeles is home to abundance national sporting teams. However, up until a few years ago the city itself did not have a team in the NFL. For this reason, you can expect NFL games to have a large contingent of ‘Away’ fans seemingly packing out a small venue.
The LA Galaxy, on the other hand, are one of the most storied franchises of the MLS, having been in Los Angeles for over 20 years and winning 5 MLS Cup titles in that time (the most of any team in the league). Stars like David Beckham and, more recently, Zlatan Ibrahimovic have kept the Galaxy in the conversation in a city known for its stars. The three main supporter groups for the LA Galaxy also help to create a great atmosphere.
Good weather and a lack of rain will also make the spectating experience enjoyable!
Taking a stadium tour
It appears that stadium tours are not currently being advertised at the venue.
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