Students say NFL team not to impact USC

Most students said the construction of an NFL stadium in Downtown Los Angeles would not affect the USC fanbase, now that the state has taken considerable steps to allow its construction.

Gov. Jerry Brown helped facilitate the creation of a new NFL stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday by signing a bill that would limit lawsuits that could delay the creation of the stadium.

The proposed stadium would be located adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center, 2.3 miles away from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Because of the proposed NFL stadium’s proximity to the Coliseum, some students are worried the proposed stadium will affect traffic in Los Angeles.

“[After the creation of a new NFL stadium], the traffic situation at USC and in the Los Angeles area could go from bad to worse,” said Brynne Terry, a freshman majoring in kinesiology. “And because of [its] proximity to campus, traffic could spill over to USC’s campus, which would be an annoyance for all students.”

Some students are worried whether people would chose to attend either a USC football game or an NFL football game, but not both, because they wouldn’t want to pay for multiple tickets.

Kelly Clark, however, a graduate student studying occupational therapy, does not believe this will be the case given USC’s strong fan base.

“USC students and alumni are very committed to their team,” Clark said. “[Students] wouldn’t choose to go to an NFL game over one at their school, simply because of the atmosphere at USC.”

Other students agree that a new NFL stadium would not affect the USC fan base because of the deals USC students receive on football tickets.

“Trojans are die-hard fans, and they won’t stop coming to [football] games, regardless,” said Jennica Hill, a senior majoring in theater. “Plus, the prices [for NFL games] would be much worse than [USC football ticket prices], because of the great deals we get on season tickets.”

If the planned stadium withstands legal issues, construction is likely to begin in June and will finish in 2016, with production costs in the hundreds of millions, according to the Los Angeles Times.