USC Could Become Coliseum, Sports Arena's New Landlord
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — USC and the state are in talks to sell the Coliseum and the Sports Arena to the university.
If a deal is made, the University of Southern California would become the collector of rents from the Coliseum Commission.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is the only stadium in the world to host the Olympics twice, in 1932 and 1984, and it is 43 years younger than USC, which was founded in 1880. The Coliseum is also the home field of the USC Trojan football team.
The Coliseum and Sports Arena are owned by the city, county and state. The state would still be part of the Coliseum Commission, which would have the same lease it currently has on the land, roughly $600,000 annually, according to The Times. The commission's lease expires in 2054.
"USC has a vested interest in preserving the Coliseum," Kristina Raspe, the school's associate senior vice president of real estate and asset management, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday night. "This enables us to work more closely with the Coliseum Commission to ensure the success of the venue."
The school is also in negotiations to buy several parking lots in neighboring Exposition Park. Museums and the surrounding lots are not included in the talks.
The deal was first reported by wearesc.com, and it would allow USC to address daytime parking shortages without affecting weekend and evening events at the Coliseum, Raspe said.
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