"Better Than Expected"

Visited to watch Leicester City play PSG in July 2016 pre-season friendly.
We flew into Long Beach Airport which is better than LAX in my view, as it is very small, easy to hire a car which is across from the terminal building and it is only a 20 minute/15 mile drive to the stadium from the airport. An extremely easy, stress-free drive.
Be aware of potentially long queues to get into the stadium as unlike the UK where there are multiple turnstiles, you enter through a limited number of gates which have airport style security, meaning that you walk through a metal detector and virtually everyone was setting off the alarm. This means slow entry to the stadium so do not leave it too late. Once in the stadium you can walk around the ground as it is unsegregated and you can circumnavigate the whole stadium via the concourse.

Location

The stadium is in an unremarkable part of Lost Angeles in the Carson district. It is not a particularly attractive part of Los Angeles, it did feel safe but it is effectively in a bland residential area of a suburban sprawl. Nearly all Americans drive to the ground, but if you want to stay over and have a few beers the only place to stay in walking distance is the Hampton Inn, Carson, which is a 10 minute safe walk from the stadium. Not a great hotel but the only one in the area. This particular hotel is also near a couple of fast-food restaurants but I would suggest eating/drinking pre-match at El Pescador Restaurant which is a "soccer" friendly bar restaurant, a 3 minute walk from Hampton Inn hotel and 10 minutes walking distance to the ground.

View

The stadium was much better than I anticipated with a grass bank behind one of the goals now partially filled in with seating and the sight lines were relatively good throughout the ground. We sat in the lower-priced seats Section 106, Row M and the view was perfectly acceptable for a cost of $45 plus the notorious US booking fees which added a further $11 to the price. Print at home E tickets. I simply could not justify paying well over $100 to be on the halfway line for a pre-season friendly and in the end my decision to purchase a lower-priced ticket was a good one.

Facilities

Fan Parks were set up by the side of the stadium, basically just an area where you could buy large cans of beer for $14.50!!! Ridiculous prices for food and drinks but this is apparently the case in the US for sporting events.

Food & Drink

Long queues for all indoor concessions.
Staff were selling popcorn, churros and candy floss up and down the aisles in the stadium.
Silly prices, ten pounds for a beer !!

Police & Stewards

Full airport security to enter stadium.

Atmosphere

A strange atmosphere as anticipated, with a good number of Americans wearing Leicester City shirts (surreal) but also a wide range of other shirts on display worn by people with very different reasons for choosing their UK soccer side. American supporters are the world's greatest at mooching and people were constantly walking around. Overall a good experience, the stadium was much better than I thought it would be and I can imagine there would be a decent atmosphere for Galaxy or Chivas matches. The only problem regarding atmosphere will no doubt be a lack of away support due to the size of the country. We are very fortunate in the UK.
Definitely worth a visit if in the area.

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