SoFi Stadium Tour: Home of the Rams and Chargers

The SoFi Stadium tour is a guided, non-game-day walk through the building that opened in 2020 as the shared home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. It's run through the stadium's official tour program, and it gets you into areas a ticket holder never sees on a normal Sunday — player tunnels, premium suite levels, and sometimes a locker room, depending on what's being used for upcoming events that week.

This isn't a theme-park-style experience, and I'd set expectations accordingly. You're not getting rides or an interactive museum like the Hall of Fame experience in Canton, Ohio. What you are getting is a close look at a stadium that cost roughly $5 billion to build — one of the most expensive sports venues ever constructed — and that hosted Super Bowl LVI in February 2022. For architecture fans or anyone who appreciates engineering on a massive scale, that alone justifies the visit.

Why Go: Architecture and Atmosphere

The reason to book this over, say, a generic stadium tour elsewhere comes down to the building itself. SoFi Stadium's signature feature is its translucent canopy — a woven, oculus-topped roof that covers the stadium and the surrounding plaza without fully enclosing it, so it's neither indoor nor outdoor in the traditional sense. The massive oculus video board hanging above the field, visible from nearly every seat, is reportedly the largest in the world for a sports venue. Compare that to the Kia Forum a few minutes down the road, a much older and more conventional arena, and you understand why SoFi gets so much attention from design and sports media alike.

Typical Tour Highlights

Expect stops at field level (sideline, not always on the turf itself), a walk through a team tunnel, a look at premium club spaces, and views from the upper concourse where you can take in the canopy from underneath. Some tour dates include a locker room visit, though that varies based on stadium operations that week — it's not guaranteed on every departure. Guides typically cover construction facts, Super Bowl LVI history, and how the building handles both NFL games and concerts. Budget around 60 to 90 minutes for the full route, plus time to browse the team store before or after.

There are really two ways to experience this place, and they deliver completely different things. One is the quiet, guided walk-through on a non-event day. The other is showing up with 70,000 people for a Rams or Chargers game, where the building does what it was actually designed to do. Neither is wrong, but they serve different travelers — solo visitors and architecture-minded couples tend to prefer the tour, while families chasing an NFL experience usually want the game.

A non-game-day tour gives you access and explanation, while a Rams or Chargers game gives you the full-crowd experience — pick based on what you actually want to feel.

SoFi Stadium visit options compared: tour, game day, and travel time from LA

Durations and travel times are typical estimates; always confirm current schedules and traffic conditions before you go.

Independent Visit and Getting There

SoFi Stadium sits in Inglewood, about 3 miles from Los Angeles International Airport — close enough that you could realistically do a tour on a long layover if your flight schedule cooperates. Driving from central LA or Santa Monica typically takes 20 to 40 minutes depending on traffic, and parking is available on-site for a fee that varies by event. There's no direct Metro rail stop at the stadium's front door, though the Metro K Line's Downtown Inglewood and Hollywood Park stations are within a 10 to 15 minute walk, making rideshare or a short walk from the K Line the most practical no-car options. If you're staying in Hollywood or Downtown LA, factor in real travel time — this isn't a quick hop like Santa Monica to Venice.

Guided Tour vs Game Day Experience

A guided tour gets you access and explanation but no crowd energy — you're walking through an empty bowl. A game day gets you the opposite: no backstage access, but 70,000 fans, tailgating in the parking lots, and the canopy doing its job of amplifying sound. If you only want one, ask yourself what you're after. Architecture and photos favor the tour. Noise, rivalry, and the feeling of an NFL Sunday favor buying tickets to a Rams or Chargers game instead. I'd avoid trying to combine both in a single trip unless you have at least two separate days in LA to spend on it.

Tour tickets are sold directly through SoFi Stadium's official tour website, and pricing is tiered — a standard walking tour costs less than an upgraded version that includes extras like a locker room stop or photo opportunities on the field. Treat any published price you see elsewhere as a rough guide only; check the official site for current rates and tour dates before you commit to a travel day around it.

Booking in Advance

Tours run on a set schedule, usually several days a week, and they sell out around busy LA travel periods — holiday weeks, summer weekends, and the days right before a home game weekend. Book at least a few days ahead if you have a fixed LA itinerary; same-day availability exists sometimes but isn't something to count on, especially if you're traveling with a group of four or more. If the stadium has a concert or event load-in happening, specific tour areas (like the locker room) may be closed off that day, which the official booking page usually flags.

Entry Rules and Accessibility

SoFi Stadium enforces a clear bag policy on both tour days and game days — generally small clutch bags or clear bags under a certain size, similar to what you'll find at most modern NFL stadiums. Leave the backpack at your hotel; it will slow down entry or get turned away at the door. The stadium was built to current ADA standards, with accessible routes throughout the tour path, and wheelchairs can typically be arranged for games with advance notice through guest services. Bring a photo ID, especially if your tour or game tickets are mobile-only, since will-call and ticket verification usually require it.

Buying tickets to an actual NFL game is a different process than booking the stadium tour, and it's where a lot of first-time visitors get it wrong. Rams and Chargers home games split the same building's calendar during the NFL season, typically September through early January, so check both teams' schedules if you just want "an NFL game in LA" rather than a specific matchup.

Where to Buy Safely

Start with the official Rams or Chargers websites, which link to authorized primary and resale marketplaces including Ticketmaster and the NFL's own ticket exchange. Secondary markets like StubHub or SeatGeek are legitimate and often cheaper close to kickoff, but verify the listing includes mobile transfer and check seller ratings before paying. Avoid buying from third-party sellers on social media or classified sites — counterfeit or duplicate mobile tickets are a real problem at high-demand NFL venues, and SoFi's entry scanners will reject a ticket that's already been used.

Choosing Seats and Sections

Upper-level sideline seats give the best view of the oculus board and the canopy overhead, and they're usually the better value per dollar compared to end zone seats, which sit further from the action on both teams' sidelines. If budget allows, lower-level sideline sections near midfield offer the clearest sightlines to read plays, similar to premium sideline seating you'd pay for at a Chargers or Rams road game in a smaller venue. Avoid sections directly behind the goalposts if it's your only NFL game in LA — the view of the full field gets partially blocked during scoring plays.

Timing changes the entire experience here, more than at most LA attractions. A Tuesday morning tour and a Sunday night Chargers game are barely the same building.

Tour Days vs Event Days

Weekday tours, especially mid-morning, tend to be quieter and less likely to overlap with event setup crews moving equipment through the areas you're walking. Weekend tour slots fill faster and sometimes compete with concert load-in schedules for venues like the attached YouTube Theater, which can limit which areas are open. If seeing the full route matters more to you than convenience, call ahead or check the official booking page for notes on that specific date.

Season and Time of Day

NFL season runs roughly September through early January, with the postseason stretching into February some years — that's your only window for a Rams or Chargers home game. Outside football season, the stadium still hosts concerts and other events, so a visit in spring or summer might coincide with something worth timing around, though it won't be football. For the tour itself, Southern California heat makes an early slot more comfortable in summer, since parts of the walk move between covered and open-air sections under that canopy.

Inglewood isn't just a parking lot around one stadium anymore — it's become one of the more interesting neighborhoods to add to an LA itinerary, and pairing SoFi with something nearby makes the trip out here worth the drive.

Hollywood Park and YouTube Theater Area

SoFi Stadium sits inside the larger Hollywood Park development, a mixed-use project built on the site of the old Hollywood Park horse racing track. The YouTube Theater, a mid-size indoor venue next door, hosts concerts, award shows, and esports events — worth checking if you want to turn a stadium visit into a two-event evening. There's also a public plaza and green space between the buildings that's pleasant for a walk before or after a tour, something families with younger kids will appreciate after sitting through a guided walk.

Food and Other LA Attractions Nearby

Options directly around the stadium lean toward chain restaurants and stadium-adjacent bars rather than destination dining — if you want a proper meal, I'd drive 10 to 15 minutes toward Downtown Inglewood or further into Culver City for more variety. The Kia Forum, a short drive away, still runs concerts and is worth comparing if SoFi tickets are sold out for a given date. For a bigger day trip from LA, pair this with the beach towns — Santa Monica and Venice are both roughly 25 to 35 minutes west depending on traffic, making it realistic to do a stadium tour in the morning and sunset on the Santa Monica Pier the same day.