How to find parking for the Taylor Swift Eras concerts at SoFi Stadium
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Taylor Swift tickets are so expensive, they make even a $75 parking spot look reasonable.
OK, maybe not "reasonable." But once you've plunked down hundreds or thousands of dollars for seats, maybe you don't blanch at the idea of paying more to park than to fill your gas tank.
And let's face it, you're not going to be able to stash your car at or near SoFi Stadium during Swift's six shows without paying a premium for parking. So if you can manage to take the Metro, do that instead.
Otherwise, it's past time to try to line up parking spots. While plenty of spaces remain available outside the stadium, all of the ones on the sea of pavement surrounding the venue have already been snapped up.
That doesn't mean you can't have a spot on the SoFi grounds. It just means you'll have to pay a premium premium price for it.
Read more: Don't get stuck in traffic. How to take public transit to see Taylor Swift at SoFi Stadium
How to find parking for the Eras Tour
Like many of the folks who attend big events at Crypto.com Arena or BMO Stadium, you may turn up your nose at the barkers trying to wave you into high-priced special-event parking lots, opting instead to drive around for half an hour or more looking for a spot on a nearby street.
This is probably not a fruitful strategy for SoFi Stadium, where the surrounding streets either forbid parking or restrict it to cars with a permit that you do not possess. Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. says flatly that there will be no parking on the area's residential streets.
That means you'll need a space in a lot. Here's a rundown of the websites where you can find and reserve parking, with prices as of Friday morning:
Swift's official Eras Tour site and the SoFi site both link to the parking-spot finder operated by Arrive's ParkWhiz, which searches the area for available spaces you can reserve. ParkWhiz's index includes about two dozen lots that are arguably within walking distance of SoFi — that is, within two miles — although some have already sold out. For the Aug. 3 show, prices ranged from $16.50 to $275, with spots at the relatively close-in Hollywood Park Casino Garage going for about $57.
(Ticketmaster also offers parking passes for one of the lots covered by ParkWhiz: the Kia Forum, which is adjacent to SoFi. You'll pay $78.50 for a spot there through Ticketmaster, which is $5 more than ParkWhiz charges.)
The official site does not resell parking reservations, which explains why it didn't appear to have any spots for sale in the seven color-coded SoFi parking zones. For those you'll need to go to a ticket reseller, such as Vivid Seats (starting at $96) or StubHub (starting at $89).
The key phrase in the previous sentence is "starting at." If you want to spend $2,000 on a parking space, the resellers will accommodate you.
Also, the prices seem lower at first on the reseller sites than they actually are — the fees tacked on at the end of the transaction are hefty.
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Bear in mind that parking passes for the SoFi grounds are sold in zones, so you won't have a specific space reserved. Instead, you'll be directed to a space by staff, who will not look kindly on your attempts to save the spaces next to you for your friends' SUVs.
The parking zones will open at noon, and according to SoFi, there's no way to get back in once you leave. So don't plan to shuttle carload after carload of friends onto the grounds.
The stadium itself won't admit visitors until 4:30. The show is scheduled to begin at 6:30, and the lots will close 90 minutes after the show ends.
One more option is the city of Inglewood's Park & Go service, which offers spaces in two remote lots and a shuttle bus to and from the stadium. The spaces can be reserved for $38.25 each, and round-trip rides on the shuttle are $8.70 per person.
Will I have trouble driving to SoFi?
Inglewood is not planning elaborate street closures and traffic restrictions for the Eras Tour, Butts said in an interview. Instead, he said, it's treating the events much the same as it does home games for the Rams or Chargers.
In the lead-up to the show, Butts said, there will be traffic control officers at every intersection around the stadium to help manage the flow of cars. There are no pre-show closures or restrictions planned at the moment, he said, but the city will be monitoring the major intersections from its command center and will be able to change the duration of red and green lights as needed.
There will also be message boards posting traffic advisories on the roadways into the stadium.
Bear in mind that the number of vehicles descending on SoFi will probably overwhelm the surrounding streets, so prepare to spend many extra minutes crawling to your destination alongside other cars filled with Swifties. It'll give you the chance to compare Swift's extended version of "All Too Well" with the original, shorter version, possibly several times.
Once the show ends, the city will not allow through traffic in the eastbound lanes of Pincay Drive (on the north side of SoFi) — only local residents will be able to drive in that direction. Also, Butts said, there will be detours on Prairie Avenue between Manchester and Century boulevards on the west side of the stadium to clear the way for cars coming out of SoFi. Those will be in place for about 90 minutes post-concert until the parking lots clear, he said.
Read more: What to know about SoFi Stadium before going to the Taylor Swift Eras concert
Can I take an Uber or a Lyft to the show?
Yes, you can. You could also take a taxi, limo or other ride for hire.
You could even drive to a cheap parking spot a few miles from SoFi and take a ride-hailing service to the stadium. If you do, you'll be dropped off and picked up on Kareem Court, which is on the north side of the stadium between Pincay and Manchester.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
