Breaking News: USC, City of Los Angeles Sign Coliseum Lease

The USC/Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Image from football.ballparks.com USC has played in the Coliseum since it was built in 1923, and now thanks to a new 25-year lease, are assured to be there for its 100 year anniversary. In addition to a slew of much needed repairs, USC will receive a seat on the Coliseum Commission as well as the key trump card, or "right of consent" over any professional team seeking to use the venue. According to the AP release: Among other details, the agreement calls for the Coliseum Commission to replace all of the seats, upgrade the video and scoreboard on the peristyle end and add a video-scoreboard on the other end of the stadium...USC will pay rent equivalent to 8 percent of gross ticket sales for home games, half of game-day expenses, and 8 percent of revenue from live television broadcast of games when the crowd is less than 70,000. Both USC and the Coliseum Commission are seeking a sponsor for the all powerful "naming rights." The Huggies Memorial Coliseum just somehow doesn't sound right.