Dignity Health Sports Park, formerly Home Depot Center and StubHub Center, is a multiple-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. That consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park Soccer Stadium, the Dignity Health Sports Park Tennis Stadium, a track and field facility and a velodrome. VELO Sports Center. It is approximately 14 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and its primary tenant is the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer. The stadium is also home to the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL, and LA Galaxy II of USL Championship.
The stadium is currently the temporary home of the San Diego State Aztecs football team from San Diego State University. The stadium was the temporary home of the Los Angeles Chargers from 2017 to 2019. It was the smallest NFL stadium over the course of those three seasons. While the Chargers played in the stadium, the facility was named ROKiT Field at StubHub Center; ROKiT’s naming rights to the football field are part of a multi-year agreement.
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History and facilities
Originally opened as Home Depot Center in 2003, it was renamed StubHub Center on June 1, 2013. It was renamed Dignity Health Sports Park on January 1, 2019, after Dignity Health signed a new naming rights agreement. The 27,000-seat main stadium was the second American sports arena designed specifically for soccer in the MLS era. When the venue opened in June 2003 as the new home of LA Galaxy, a number of special events took place in celebration.
Pelé was in attendance at the opening match along with many dignitaries from the soccer world and other celebrities. In addition to the soccer stadium, Dignity Health Sports Park features the 2,450-seat VELO Sports Center, an 8,000-seat tennis stadium. and an outdoor track and field facility that has 2,000 permanent seats and is expandable to 20,000. Soccer stadium building costs within the $150 million complex were around $87 million.
2017 renovations
In 2017, to accommodate the Chargers’ use of the stadium, upgrades were made at cost to the Chargers including bleachers in the second deck on the east side of the stadium being replaced by tip-up seats and moved to the berm on the north side, adding 1,000 seats. A new section of upper-level bleachers, which seat 330, were erected in the southeast corner of the stadium. Also, the luxury suites were renovated with new seats, furniture, community tables, and engineered hardwood floors and the press box underwent an upgrade with a third row added to the main box, boosting capacity from about 35 to 53. Floors were constructed on the roof of the luxury suites so an auxiliary press box could be built on both sides of the main box.
Two new radio booths were built outside the south side of the press box, and a large new booth on the north side which serves as a security command post for police and NFL officials was constructed. Two booths were added on each side of the press box for the NFL-mandated 20-yard-line television cameras, and a stairway allowing access to the roof of the main box was built to accommodate the 50-yard-line camera. To accommodate 53-man NFL rosters, four small locker rooms were converted to two larger ones with 60 cubicles in each. Also added were small postgame news conference rooms for each team and rooms for game officials and the chain gang. After the Chargers left for Inglewood, the football facilities were taken over by the Wildcats when the XFL team began operations in 2020.
Tenants
Aside from being home to the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer, it was also home to two defunct clubs, the MLS team Chivas USA as well as Los Angeles Sol of the Women’s Professional Soccer. The stadium hosted the 2003 MLS All-Star Game and the MLS Cup in 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Dignity Health Sports Park was also the site of the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup final. Both the United States women’s and men’s national soccer teams often use the facility for training camps and select home matches. It also hosted the 2004 NCAA Men’s College Cup, with Duke, Indiana, Maryland, and UC Santa Barbara qualifying. The track and field stadium on the site is also home to the LA Galaxy II of the USL Championship, farm club to the parent Galaxy.
Other sports
The stadium hosted the first three editions of the USA Sevens, an annual international rugby sevens competition that is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series, and will again host that event on February 29 to March 1, 2020. The stadium has also hosted all United States national team matches for the Pacific Nations Cup since 2013.
A fireworks display at Dignity Health Sports Park
It was also the location for the State Championship Bowl Games for high school football teams in the state of California from 2006 to 2014. The Semper Fidelis All America game was held there on January 5, 2014, featuring an East vs West high school matchup. The first college football game was held at the stadium on January 21, 2012, as the AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, with the National Team beating the American Team 20–14.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers had a three-year tenure at Dignity Health Sports Park from 2017 to 2019, while SoFi Stadium in Inglewood was being built. During the team’s three seasons at the stadium, they compiled an even 11–11 record while frequently dealing with high numbers of spectators supporting the opposing team due to the combined reasons of the Chargers building a fan-base in the Los Angeles area and spectators opting to see their team compete in a small setting for the NFL.