By Alexander Lee
 
 
 
The view inside the YouTube Theater adjacent to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Friday, August 6, 2021. 
Located at the southern tip of the sprawling roof canopy that also covers SoFi Stadium and the open-air American Airlines Plaza, the 6,000-capacity YouTube Theater will host a myriad of events including concerts, awards shows, comedy sets, eSports competitions, community events, and conferences.
The venue fits in seamlessly with SoFi Stadium — the 3-million-square-foot centerpiece of Hollywood Park with the ability to host up to a 100,000-capacity crowd with fixed seats and added floor seating — as well as the adjacent multi-level, two-and-a-half acre American Airlines Plaza that serves as the breezeway between the two venues.
The outer sections of the theater are beautifully designed with bright white paint abutting hammered silver or black metal backsplashes at the bars and painted black, silver or mirrored accents. There are also several large art installations that standout in the structure including a two-story Kaynemaile mesh chandelier that hangs over the west balcony bar and a colorful and textured art wall designed by artist Sandeep Mukherjee.
The indoor/outdoor balcony gives a ton of space for concert goers to grab a drink and chill at numerous standing cocktail tables in a space that overlooks the American Airlines Plaza and into SoFi Stadium. The extended balcony also offers a cool breeze near the west balcony bar and a view of the man-made Lake Park and the future location of eateries, shops, apartment homes, and a hotel that will complete the over 300 acre Hollywood Park.
Jason Gannon, managing director of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, said during a media walk-thru of the venue that the flexibility of all of the indoor and outdoor mixed-use spaces was vital to the overall plan. However, the area, which is right next door to the 18,000-capacity Forum, truly needed a more medium-sized, indoor concert and events space.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr., who was also on hand during the media tour, agreed. Butts noted that when he became mayor in 2011 the city that was once known as The City of Champions before the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings had moved to downtown Los Angeles, had become known as “the place with the Sizzler and the big doughnut,” he added.
“What this has done is rounded out the rich tapestry that we have here that says you can come to Inglewood and do anything,” he said referencing all of Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s vision coming to life with Hollywood Park, including bringing the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers to SoFi Stadium, as well as The Forum returning to a full-time concert venue and the all-new Los Angeles Clippers arena that’s set to open in the area in 2024.
“It’s perfect, too, that YouTube will be a sponsor [of the theater] because they have the capacity to provide coding training and other services that will benefit the development of youth in the community,” he said. “The most important thing for us is that one, residents are trained and employed and two, that the youth benefit from all of these different entities that come here to enrich life and culture in the city.”
YouTube Theater is a 227,000 square-foot, three-story venue. The exterior, facing the plaza, is covered in a conical, sloping glass facade that creates a more open feel.
The place is packed with amenities including a 3,500-square foot private club with dark wood accents and a heavy, floor-to-ceiling art installation/accordion-style door that separates the hallway from the club space. It includes 140 premium seats and six 12-person luxury boxes. There’s also a 68-capacity art deco-style Industry Room with a speakeasy vibe for extra VIP guests and a full-service catering kitchen capable of serving up to 2,000 people.
Need a drink or a snack? There are bars everywhere. There are a total of 47 points-of-sale scattered throughout seven different full-service bars.
Inside the venue, house reduction curtains have been hung to allow the space to be divided into three crowd capacities with the full house accommodating 6,000 seats as well as 3,400 and 4,400-capacity settings. The stage itself is 6,100 square-feet, which is massive in person, and includes a rigging capacity of 200,000 pounds which will allow for a variety of larger-scale touring productions. There are also large screens hung on either side of the stage for optimal viewing. The sight lines are great, but a little steep, with the farthest seat in the house being only 164 feet from the stage.
The space is also equipped with its own three-bay loading dock and production room to allow it to run independently with its own programming or function as an extension of SoFi Stadium and the American Airlines Plaza as part of a larger event.
YouTube Theater is the first physical venue the online streaming platform with over 2 billion users has invested in.
“It offers a unique business opportunity for us to combine a digital world with a physical one,” Angela Courtin, vice president of brand marketing for YouTube, said on the tour. “I think if we can dream it, it can exist here.”
The idea, she continued, was to bridge the gap between what users experience on YouTube with what can be experienced in real life. There’s also plenty of opportunity for YouTube content creators. 
 
Reporter Alexander Lee alexanderlee_24@newsyn.co.kr