0:00
Sadique Khan likes to boast that London
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is the sports capital of the world and
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he definitely has a point but Los
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Angeles is coming for that crown. London
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is the home of iconic venues like
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Wembley Stadium, Lords, Wimbledon and
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Twickenham, both some of the most famous
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teams in football, rugby and cricket and
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is a regular host of major international
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championships. But LA has an impressive
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run of global competitions on the
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horizon. Top of that list is the 2028
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Olympic and Parolympic games and LA is
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also staging eight matches of this
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year's men's FIFA World Cup. On top of
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that, the city is taking its turn to
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stage NBA All-Star weekend this year and
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the Super Bowl next year. What makes LA
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such a compelling destination for
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sports? It's the quality of its venues,
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which are probably the most futuristic
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on the planet. Top of that list is the
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world's most expensive stadium, the $5
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billion sofi, home of the NFL's LA Rams
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and Chargers, with its groundbreaking
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Halo scoreboard suspended from the roof.
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Then there's the Intuit Dome, where the
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NBA's Clippers play, which has really
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pushed the envelope of what a sports
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venue can be. Everything from parking to
0:54
entry, merchandise to food and drink can
0:56
be accessed using facial recognition
0:58
technology. Virtually eliminating cues
1:00
and ensuring what its creators like to
1:02
call a frictionless experience. It's no
1:04
coincidence that downstate from Silicon
1:06
Valley and in the home of Hollywood, LA
1:08
is leveraging tech to further blur the
1:11
lines between sports and entertainment,
1:13
provide new experiences for spectators,
1:15
and of course, generate yet more revenue
1:17
from those willing to pay to get up
1:19
close to the action. The US is the most
1:21
advanced commercial market for sports,
1:23
and LA might just be its bleeding edge.
1:24
While Americans certainly treat sports
1:26
more like entertainment than Europeans,
1:27
the fact that most of the industry's
1:29
innovations tend to make their way
1:30
across the Atlantic. Plus, the growing
1:32
influence of US money over here means it
1:34
is a matter of when, not if, we are
1:35
sampling this giddying stuff, too.
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Otherwise, London may be left behind.
