The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum opened on May 1, 1923, in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles as a memorial to World War I veterans. Designed by architects John and Donald Parkinson, the horseshoe-shaped stadium has hosted everything from Olympic track and field to NFL championship games, and it remains best known today as United Airlines Field, home of USC Trojans football.
The Coliseum holds a singular distinction: it hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, and is slated to do so again in 2028, making it the first stadium in history to host the Summer Games three times. Its current 77,500-seat capacity dates to a $315 million renovation completed in 2019 that rebuilt the seating bowl and added premium club areas while preserving the historic peristyle end.
Quick Answer: USC Coliseum Capacity
The USC Coliseum (officially United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum) seats 77,500 fans for football, its standard capacity since the 2018-2019 renovation rebuilt the seating bowl and added premium seating.
That figure is down from 93,607 before the renovation and far below the stadium’s Olympic-era peak of roughly 101,574 in the 1930s. The Coliseum is a single continuous bowl divided into a lower field-level tier, a mid-level club tier, and an upper tier wrapping the historic peristyle end.
Capacity Through the Decades
The Coliseum’s capacity has swung dramatically over its century of use. It opened in 1923 holding 75,144 spectators. In 1930, with the 1932 Olympics approaching, the stadium was expanded upward to 79 rows with two tiers of tunnels, pushing capacity to roughly 101,574 and briefly making it one of the largest stadiums in the world.
That Olympic-era capacity held for decades through the Coliseum’s years as home to the NFL’s Rams, Raiders, and Chargers and college football’s UCLA Bruins. A 1964 renovation trimmed seating to around 93,000, and by the 2010s the figure was formally listed at 93,607. The 2018-2019 overhaul then reduced the bowl to today’s 77,500 in exchange for wider seats, wider concourses, modern suites, and improved sightlines.
Seating Chart: Sections, Rows and Tiers
Unlike stadiums with distinct upper and lower decks, the Coliseum is built as one continuous bowl of roughly 90-plus rows per section, split informally into three tiers commonly labeled the 100s (lower bowl, closest to the field), 200s (mid-bowl club tier), and 300s (upper bowl, nearest the rim and the peristyle arch).
Seating runs around the horseshoe in numbered sections, with lower-numbered field-level sections hugging the sideline and end zone closest to the action. The field runs roughly east-west, with the peristyle arches anchoring the east end. The 300-level carries more seats per row than any other tier and offers the widest sweeping views of the bowl and the surrounding Exposition Park skyline; student sections sit on the north side of the lower and middle bowl.
Premium Seating & Suites
The 2019 renovation added a seven-story premium tower on the stadium’s south side, home to 42 luxury suites and roughly 1,100 club seats. The Lou Galen Club offers padded seats with climate-controlled lounge access, and 24 loge boxes provide smaller private spaces with their own lounge privileges.
At the top of the tower, the 1923 Club is a roughly 500-person rooftop terrace with 360-degree views of Los Angeles, multiple bars, and included food and beverage credit for ticket holders. Field Suites, positioned behind the east end zone near the peristyle, offer furnished private spaces with field-level access for small groups. All of these premium areas sit within the Coliseum’s overall 77,500-seat capacity rather than adding to it.
How Capacity Changes by Event
The 77,500 figure is the Coliseum’s standard football and general-admission capacity, used for USC Trojans games and most concerts and other ticketed events. Attendance can run higher for events that use standing-room, field, or overflow configurations not typical of a football Saturday.
The Coliseum’s all-time attendance record of 134,254 was set in 1963 for an appearance by evangelist Billy Graham, a figure that still stands today. A 2008 exhibition baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox drew a Guinness World Record baseball crowd of 115,300, and a 2017 Real Madrid vs. Manchester City soccer friendly pulled in 93,098 — both well above the current 77,500 seated capacity, since those events used field-level and standing configurations.
Planning Your Visit: Tickets, Parking & Bag Policy
The Coliseum sits at 3911 South Figueroa Street in Exposition Park, next to the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum. On-site parking is limited, so the venue and Metro both encourage taking the Metro E Line to the Expo Park/USC station for most events, or purchasing advance parking passes for the Exposition Park and USC campus lots, which are priced and released separately for each event.
Tickets for USC football, concerts, and other events are sold through the Coliseum’s own box office and standard ticketing platforms; the venue is cashless, so gate purchases require a credit or debit card or mobile pay. A clear-bag policy is enforced at all gates: one clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC bag no larger than 12″ x 6″ x 12″, a one-gallon clear resealable bag, or a small hand-sized clutch is permitted, and all other bags — including backpacks and coolers — are turned away at security. For the current schedule, exact ticket prices, parking rates, and the full list of approved and prohibited items, check the official LA Memorial Coliseum website before you go.
A Century of Landmark Events
Since opening in 1923, the Coliseum has hosted an extraordinary range of history-making events, including the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics, Super Bowl I in 1967, Super Bowl VII in 1973, the 1959 World Series, and the 1960 Democratic National Convention where John F. Kennedy accepted his party’s presidential nomination. Its list of former tenants reads like a survey of Los Angeles sports history, having hosted the Rams, Raiders, Chargers, Dodgers, and UCLA Bruins at various points before each moved to other venues.
The stadium was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 27, 1984, one day before the opening ceremony of that year’s Olympic Games. USC now competes in the Big Ten Conference, and while the Coliseum is no longer the largest stadium in its conference — that distinction belongs to Michigan Stadium at over 107,000 seats — it remains one of the largest and most historic venues in college football as it heads toward hosting a record third Summer Olympics in 2028.
USC Coliseum capacity FAQs
What is the current seating capacity of the USC Coliseum?
77,500. That’s been the Coliseum’s standard football and general-admission capacity since the $315 million renovation completed for the 2019 season.
How many seats did the Coliseum have before the 2019 renovation?
93,607 seats, the figure that stood for most of the 2000s and 2010s before the seating bowl was rebuilt with wider seats and added premium areas.
What was the Coliseum’s largest-ever capacity?
Roughly 101,574, reached after a 1930 expansion ahead of the 1932 Olympics that added rows and tunnels to the bowl.
Is the LA Coliseum the largest stadium in the Big Ten?
No. USC’s Coliseum seats 77,500, while Michigan Stadium, the conference’s largest venue, holds over 107,000.
How many suites and club seats does the Coliseum have?
The renovated stadium has 42 luxury suites, about 1,100 club seats, 24 loge boxes, and a roughly 500-person rooftop terrace club, all added during the 2019 renovation.
What is the Coliseum’s all-time attendance record?
134,254, set in 1963 for an appearance by evangelist Billy Graham — a mark that still stands despite the stadium’s later capacity reductions.
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