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MLR side LA Giltinis set to make rugby history at the world's most expensive stadium
By Sam Smith
The LA Giltinis are set to make history at SoFi Stadium when they host the first-ever rugby match to be held at the newly-built stadium in Inglewood.
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The Venice-based Major League Rugby [MLR] franchise will play the Utah Warriors at the $5.5 billion venue, making it the world’s most expensive stadium, on Saturday [local time].
Construction of the 70,240-capacity stadium – which can be expanded to up to 100,000 for major events, like Super Bowl LVI, which it will host next year – was only completed last September.
Since then, the roofed arena has been the home ground for Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, both of whom can boast the largest stadium in the NFL (3.1 million square ft) and the league’s first indoor/outdoor stadium.
One of the venue’s marquee features is the Oculus, an ovular, double-sided 4K HDR video board, the first of its kind that is suspended from the roof over the field.
SoFi Stadium is yet to host a rugby match, but that will change this weekend, something of which Giltinis general manager Adam Freier is excited about.
“We are thrilled to be part of history by providing fans of all sports with the opportunity to experience SoFi Stadium for one of the first times,” the former Wallabies hooker said.
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“It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase to the people of Los Angeles why rugby is the third biggest sporting event in the world, and we have already seen huge interest here in Los Angeles, which many refer to as the sporting capital of the world.”
SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park managing director Jason Gannon was equally as thrilled to host the Giltinis for the first time in the venue’s brief history.
“We look forward to welcoming guests to SoFi Stadium for our inaugural series of events,” he said.
“SoFi Stadium is slated to host a variety of world-class sporting events in the coming years, and we will continue to add dynamic events like Major League Rugby [MLR] to our list.”
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A limited number of tickets are available for the historic clash, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday at 5pm PT.
The LA Giltinis, headlined by Wallabies centurions Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper, currently lead the MLR Western Conference with six wins from sevens matches.
The Utah Warriors, meanwhile, trail the Californian club by seven points in second place on the conference standings.
