January 15, 1967 marks the date of the inaugural Super Bowl at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.  Since then, eight football world championships have been hosted in LA, including Super Bowl LVI, most recently held on February 13, 2022. LA has put many of the NFL’s greatest teams in the spotlight in the second-largest media market in the US.

Despite Los Angeles’ grip on the entertainment industry, the city has not been able to hold onto a football team. Before the first Super Bowl, the Coliseum was home to the Los Angeles Rams, who relocated from Cleveland, OH. In 1982, they were joined by the Oakland Raiders. Due to damage from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake to the Coliseum and division of fanbases, the Rams relocated to St. Louis, MO and the Raiders returned to Oakland, CA.

This began a 21-year drought of NFL teams in Los Angeles. Despite the lack of professional football in LA, Major League Baseball’s Dodgers have thrived along with two National Basketball Association teams, the Lakers and Clippers. During this period, the NFL was unwilling to establish a new NFL franchise, and no teams were tempted towards LA by the entertainment industry.

The St. Louis Rams owner, Stan Kroenke, purchased a 60-acre parcel of land located in downtown LA in 2014, and it was rumored to be the site of the Rams’ new stadium in Los Angeles. Then in 2016, LA’s long football drought came to an end when the Rams decided to move back from St. Louis to play in the infamous Memorial Coliseum. They were joined in the Coliseum by the Chargers in 2017, who made a short trip from San Diego, CA. The same year, the Rams returned to LA and broke ground for a multipurpose stadium named SoFi Stadium, to house both the Rams and Chargers. The project cost an estimated $5-6 billion and opened up for the NFL season in 2020. SoFi has been home to the Rams and Chargers 2020 and 2021 seasons and the 2021 world football championship. Next year, the college football championship will be played at SoFi, and when the summer Olympics come to LA in 2028, this state-of-the-art stadium will be on display for the whole world.

Super Bowl LVI featured the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi stadium. The Rams were the home team that had never happened until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept the Lombardi in Tampa for the 2020 season. In a city full of stars, a brand new stadium, with a halftime performance stacked with the icons of the music industry, and a Rams roster full of talent, Super Bowl LVI was promising. In a 23-20 defeat of the Bengals, a collection of NFL talent came together this season in LA. The Rams’ future roster includes many question marks, but for now, the Lombardi is staying in Rams House.