Angel City FC is Los Angeles’s NWSL club that just finished its third season, and they play home games at BMO Stadium, a venue initially built for the team’s MLS men’s companion team, LAFC. It’s in the heart of Los Angeles situated next to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, the iconic centerpiece of the 1932, 1984, and upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics. The arena boasts a modern design that looks a lot like an English Premier League’s home field with comfortable seating covered by huge cloth-like panels extending from the tops of all sides.
Los Angeles is the second biggest metro area by population in the U.S. and it’s filled with loads of famous places to see and things to do. Let’s walk through what it’s like planning a trip to L.A. to take in a match and enjoy the surroundings.
Stadium information
BMO Stadium maxes out at 22,000 fans and for most of the 2024 season, Angel City games was near the top of the league for attendance, typically attracting 17,000 to 20,000 people to each home game (for 2025 they saw a slight dip to just over 16k per game).
The shade panels along the top of the stadium give great cooling shade to about 75% of the seats during daytime matches.
The stadium is just one part of Exposition Park, which includes the neighboring L.A. Memorial Coliseum as well as a natural history museum, an art museum, a science museum (featuring one of the few remaining Space Shuttles on permanent display outside), and an upcoming film and television museum commissioned by George Lucas that will feature thousands of items from his films. The stadium grounds are also adjacent to a large park that gets used before games as a fan zone, with food trucks and booths offering activities for kids and adults alike.
Where to sit
BMO Stadium has a steep-sided design so almost every seat gives a great vantage point for watching a match. If your game’s kickoff is before sunset, the best seats are found along the left side of the diagram above, namely sections 125 to 135 and 225 to 235. Areas behind either goal are mostly shaded, but sections 108 to 118 and 208 to 218 will likely put you in direct sun without much relief from the heat. After sundown, pretty much every seat in the stadium is a great one.
On our trip to review this pitch, we first bought tickets in the M1-M4 special section that appears red in the diagram above. Tickets cost a bit more than surrounding sections, but they included unlimited soft drinks, water, and snacks like popcorn and hot dogs, which sounded convenient. But it was a hot day with temps above 85ºF/30ºC at our 2 p.m. kickoff. We spent most of the game baking in the sun while looking longingly at the rest of the stadium, which was in the cool shade. Don’t make the same mistake we did.
Subsequent visits, we've always stayed on the other side of the pitch, in complete comfort, thanks to the shade panels.
- For daytime games, sections 125–135 and 225–235 stay in the shade — the best seats in the house
- After sundown, nearly every seat is excellent thanks to the steep-sided bowl design
- Accessible seating with companion spots at the top of most lower sections; no stairs from entrance to main seating
What to eat and drink
Angel City’s stadium has a great range of food options, including cuisines like Mexican, Korean, and Peruvian, as well as standard stadium fare like burgers and pizza. There were lots of places to buy soft drinks, beer, and mixed drinks, including several dedicated bars around the arena as well as self-serve convenience store-like options when you’re in a hurry.
Food options were stellar in 2024, but changed drastically during our 2025 season visit and weren't nearly as good
Prices were about on par with other stadiums, about $20 for an entree and a drink. At our match we tried a wide variety of options, including nachos, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, and an orange chicken and rice bowl, but by far our favorite item was a plate of rotisserie chicken served with waffle fries. It was cooked perfectly and felt like a great value given the ample amount of chicken and the taste was impressive for stadium food.
Team merchandise, restrooms, accessibility, and pre-game activities
You can buy team merchandise at several stands around the arena, and there's a large brick-and-mortar store located near the supporters section that’s shared by both the Angel City and LAFC clubs with jerseys, hats, and T-shirts, as well as jackets and accessories. We visited during halftime and the store was quite large with enough room to fit a big crowd inside, but sometimes they do meter how many people go in so you might have to wait in a line.
The stadium is fairly new so restrooms were plentiful, with locations all around the field with good privacy inside. It’s a recurring theme in our NWSL tour, but we noticed at halftime all the women’s restrooms had lines to get inside, which is unfortunate to see at a women’s pro sports venue.
Accessibility-wise, the whole stadium, from the entrance to the main seating areas, were largely free of any stairs, and there were elevators if you needed to go to higher sections. There were accessible seating areas at the tops of most lower sections with room for companion seating as well.
Hours before the match, the park next to the stadium has a huge pre-game fan zone with booths operated by sponsors and Angel FC supporters clubs alike.
You could buy various drinks from vendors or food from trucks and there was even a live DJ spinning music, giving the whole spot a party vibe. They also had a bag-drop service outside the stadium, which we’ve only seen before at Bay FC’s PayPal Park venue. If you came from the airport or were headed there after the match, it was easy to drop your bag before entering the stadium for $5. If we were to rank all stadiums on the number and quality of pre-game activities, BMO would be close to the top thanks to its fun fan zone.
Pre-game, in-game, and post-game vibes
Pre-game activities were upbeat and party-like thanks to the venue’s large adjoining park outside the ticketed area, with plenty to see and do for a couple hours before games.
Being that BMO Stadium is in the middle of the entertainment capital of the country, the vibes during games were fun and the large video screen inside the arena regularly featured famous people at the match. We saw stars from the NBA, WNBA, MLB, and NFL enjoying themselves with their families in the stands. There were dozens of musicians and actors present that would randomly appear, including many of the Hollywood stars and former pro women’s soccer players that are part of the Angel City owners group.
Post-game vibes were chill as crowds slowly filtered out of the stadium. If you’re looking for autographs and player interactions, you’ll likely want to hang out in the lower section C, alongside the player benches that surround the tunnel they use before they leave the pitch.
Getting there
Flying in
Los Angeles is one of America’s largest metro areas and it has five airports in the region, but you’ll most likely want to fly into the main international one at LAX since it is the closest to the venue. Depending on what else you have planned for your trip or where you’d like to stay around Los Angeles, you may want to opt for one of the other airports if they’re closer. We personally think Burbank’s airport is the best-kept secret a few miles north of L.A., with much smaller crowds that make it easy to get in and out of Southern California. Long Beach Airport is also an option nearby with great flight deals.
Renting a car or going car-free
There’s an old saying: “no one walks in L.A.” and while the city is constantly expanding its Metro rail and subway system, Southern California was famously designed around the automobile and unless you have plans to stay in one specific spot (like near the beaches of Santa Monica or Disneyland), you’ll likely need to rent a car to get around town. Be warned: Driving in L.A. is an adventure that will entail lots of sitting in traffic and circling places looking for parking wherever you end up.
We love traveling to modern cities that don’t require automobiles, but Los Angeles is the birthplace of car culture and unless you’ve done some careful planning, or you’re ready to spend a lot of money on Uber and Lyft rides, you’ll likely have to drive yourself around in a rental.
Driving in
There is a large parking lot along one side of BMO Stadium and pricing runs about $40 to $50 to park at a match. On gameday, some of the nearby streets will be closed to streamline travel into and out of the lot, and after our match, our Uber driver couldn’t pick us up at the designated rideshare pickup point, due to temporary street closures that turned many surrounding streets one-way only.
Post-game, you will likely be sitting in traffic because, even with street closures, we saw long lines of cars queued up at all the lot exits. As with other California sports venues, if you slowly make your way back to your car after a game, it’s likely to be easier to leave as the initial crush of cars leaving the lot starts to die down.
Taking public transit
There is an L.A. Metro train stop at the north end of Exposition Park, which is less than a 10-minute walk from the stadium entrance. Los Angeles isn’t known for mass transit, but the Metro system is expanding and reaches out to many major areas of the city. The problem is most stations aren’t near hotels or homes, so you’ll likely have to spend time traveling to a Metro station closest to where you are staying. It is possible, however, to plan a trip around it. While historically there’s been no easy way to board a Metro line from LAX, in 2025, a new airport station will open and make travel into and out of the city easier.
Metro ticketing is done via kiosks, or on smartphones with the TAP app. Maximum ticket charges per day top out at only $5, making it an affordable option if you can make it work for your trip.
- Fly into LAX — closest to the venue; Burbank is a low-key alternative with smaller crowds and easier logistics
- Metro Expo Line stops at the north end of Exposition Park — under a 10-minute walk to the gate; $5/day fare cap via TAP app
- Driving: parking runs $40–50 and post-game traffic is glacially slow
- Rideshare pickup is tricky post-game: temporary one-way street closures often strand Uber/Lyft drivers away from the designated spot
- Bag drop available outside the stadium for $5 — handy if you're coming from or heading to the airport
Where to stay
Los Angeles is surrounded by towns in all directions so you’ll have a wide selection of places to choose from for your stay. Downtown L.A. has transformed into a hip, artsy area of town with lots of hotels and restaurants to check out. If you prefer something closer to the beach, anywhere around Marina del Rey, Venice, and Santa Monica all offer great options. If you visit with family, there are several theme parks throughout the area that have adjoining resorts. The westside of L.A. is generally a good base to check out the Getty art museum, the city of Westwood, nearby movie studios, and famous places like Beverly Hills and Hollywood.
Hotels are spread all over Southern California and you’ll probably want to pick an area closest to the things you want to see and places you want to visit. If you opt for a rental car, you can travel to where you need to be and see everything.
What to do in Los Angeles (besides watch soccer)
The Los Angeles area is home to over 13 million people and offers many things to do. We’ve grouped together some ideas with examples you might want to organize your trip around.
Beaches
Venice Beach to Santa Monica Pier is a popular stretch that many visit, with Malibu to the north and Long Beach to the south. Venice also offers canals you can walk along, with many seaside restaurants.
Museums
The Wilshire district is home to a bunch of great museums, including the La Brea Tar Pits, the L.A. County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Petersen Automotive Museum. Exposition Park near the stadium is home to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California Science Center, and the future Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The westside of L.A. is home to the main Getty museum, which offers incredible views down to the city from anywhere on the grounds. Griffin Observatory also offers an amazing vantage point to view the whole city from above. Plus, there are quirkier options like the Museum of Jurassic Technology and the Watts Towers, both in west L.A.
Movies
L.A. is synonymous with Hollywood and has multiple movie studios. There are tours at Paramount Studios as well as the more famous Universal Studios theme park that takes you through famous sets from productions that you can explore. There are museums dedicated to film and television and you might even catch an active film shoot if you keep your eyes peeled. There are also dozens of locations where famous films were shot and if you want to see the Hollywood sign itself up close, that’s also worthy of a short day trip.
Food options
There’s great food everywhere in L.A., and neighborhoods like Koreatown or Little Tokyo have lots of options in a small area. Hip sections of town like Downtown L.A., the Arts District, Echo Park, and the Los Feliz area also offer tons of great restaurants. You can find almost any cuisine done well in Los Angeles almost anywhere you look.
L.A.-specific things to do
If you’re in L.A. with family, Disneyland and Universal Studios are both top-tier theme parks that are both great options to spend a few days having fun. Cruising through Rodeo Drive or down Wilshire Boulevard is always a unique experience, as well as trying to visit the area around Hollywood and Vine streets.
Other sports
Southern California is home to two NBA teams, two MLB teams, two NFL football teams, two NHL hockey teams, as well as two MLS men’s soccer teams. If you can’t catch a team you wanted to see while you’re there, you can also do things like take a 90-minute Dodgers Stadium tour that lets you walk around the stadium and onto the field for only $30.
- Venice Beach to Santa Monica Pier is the classic L.A. beach walk
- The Wilshire district clusters the La Brea Tar Pits, LACMA, and the Petersen Automotive Museum into one easy stretch
- The Getty museum on the westside has jaw-dropping views down to the city — and it's free to enter
- Exposition Park right next to the stadium has the Natural History Museum, California Science Center (with a Space Shuttle on permanent display), and the upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
- Koreatown and Little Tokyo pack incredible food into a small area — great for a dinner before or after the match
- Take a $30 Dodger Stadium tour — 90 minutes, you get to walk on the field and it's a genuinely great sports venue to see up close
Angel City’s stadium is a great place to spend an afternoon or evening, and Los Angeles is an exciting place with plenty of things worth checking out. You pretty much can’t go wrong planning a weekend trip to L.A., taking in a match, and checking out the bustling areas amidst year-round spectacular weather.
