The Los Angeles Rams opened up their new home on Saturday afternoon, competing in their first scrimmage at SoFi Stadium, which completed construction this offseason.
When Rams owner Stan Kroenke decided to move the team back to L.A. and built a new stadium, he envisioned it being one of the nicest venues in the world that can host events of all kinds in the future.
He certainly bared no expenses in making his dream become a reality, and now that it is complete, SoFi Stadium is looking as nice as advertised.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff commented on playing in the stadium for the first time, and he couldn’t help but come away impressed, via Gary Klein of the L.A. Times:
“It was really amazing,” Goff said. “It’s truly unbelievable and truly one of the crown jewels in sports right now.”
SoFi Stadium has a roof, but there also is natural air that flows through to help keep it cool, which Goff appreciates:
“As a quarterback, anytime it’s indoors you love it,” he said. “And it’s a little bit of both — there’s that little breeze you can feel at times. But it is fairly indoors for the most part. The ball jumps here.”
Unfortunately for the Rams, the opening of SoFi Stadium isn’t what they hoped it would be as fans are unlikely to be allowed in during the 2020 season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
That has forced the team to utilize fake crowd noise, which Sean McVay wasn’t a fan of when they tested it during Saturday’s scrimmage:
“There’s nothing like real crowd noise,” McVay said, “In some instances, that fake crowd noise is nothing but irritating.”
Regardless of the crowd noise, McVay was also impressed with SoFi Stadium, where he could be coaching for the next few decades.
With the preseason and all the concerts that were scheduled to take place at SoFi Stadium cancelled, the Rams will officially open their new home when they host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in Week 1.
