Physical SecurityArenas / Stadiums / Leagues / Entertainment

Report Warns Inglewood NFL Stadium Presents Terrorist Threat

A study by former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and AEG found that a project to build a new stadium at Hollywood Park would be a tempting target for terrorists and should not be built.

"AEG has been pursuing its own NFL stadium next to Staples Center for several years and is in direct competition with Inglewood, whose plan was approved Tuesday by that city's government, reported the LA Times.

In the report, Ridge said that because the Inglewood stadium proposed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke would lie within three to four miles of Los Angeles International Airport and beneath the flight path of airliners, terrorists might try to shoot down a plane or crash one into the stadium, scenarios Ridge described as "a terrorist event 'twofer.' "

"Ridge said the Inglewood stadium, part of a planned retail, office and residential development at the now-defunct Hollywood Park, would have "a significant risk profile with the potential to produce consequences that will not only the impact the airport and region, but global interests."

"In contrast to Ridge's warnings, city officials as well as aviation experts have said a stadium at the Hollywood Park site is not a safety concern. The Federal Aviation Administration, in environmental impact reports, has twice given its blessing to proposed stadiums in Inglewood," said the LA Times.

The NFL did not offer an opinion on the Inglewood site, said the LA Times.

"We feel that the best approach is to look at these things with an independent eye," said Eric Grubman, NFL senior vice president and the league's point man on the L.A. market. "You should assume the NFL has its own experts hired and at work to assess any potential NFL site, in any city, regarding these matters. And it is that advice that we will rely on."

The new NFL football stadium proposed by the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders would be built on a 168-acre site at the southwest quadrant of the intersection of the 405 Freeway and Del Amo Boulevard.

Taxes from a football stadium and a performing arts center, along with new tax money generated by a large shopping center and office buildings, would pump $670 million into Inglewood's general fund over the next 25 years, the Times said.

Ridge, who is now a security consultant, said in the report that if NFL, state and local leaders proceed with the Inglewood plan, they "must be willing to accept the significant risk and the possible consequences …. This should give both public and private leaders in the area some pause."

This week, the Inglewood City Council voted unanimously to move forward with the stadium project that is part of a 298-acre mixed-used development. While developers, which include Kroenke, pledge to start construction by December on a stadium that could cost a record $1.86 billion, no NFL team has yet filed for relocation.

In addition to the stadium, the proposed sports and entertainment district on the Hollywood Park site in Inglewood would compete with restaurants and hotels at AEG's LA Live.

Asked about the report, AEG said "we have been working diligently and in good faith … to advance NFL discussions while also exploring plans for other development alternatives around the LA Live campus." AEG's deal with L.A. for the downtown stadium dubbed Farmers Field, already extended once, expires April 17.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-stadium-gamesmanship-20150228-story.html