A bloodied female and her male companion were escorted out of SoFi Stadium during the fourth quarter of the Rams season opener Sunday along with two other spectators who had engaged in the same violent altercation.
The woman and her companion were wearing jerseys of the Houston Texans, who the Rams defeated 14-9. Video clips on social media showed her face covered with blood when security guards led her from Section 428 high above the end zone.
The incident appeared to begin with words and shoving between the woman in the No. 99 jersey of retired Texans legend JJ Watt and a woman wearing a Rams jersey. The altercation escalated, with the man wearing the No. 7 jersey of Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud pouring a cup of beer on the head of the woman in the Rams jersey.
Two men in Rams jerseys one row above the brawl stood and began shoving and grabbing the two Texans fans until security personnel arrived about two minutes into the incident.
The two men from the row above removed their jerseys — one of former Rams great Aaron Donald and the other of Rams receiver Puka Nakua — but additional security personnel arrived, handcuffed both men and escorted them away.
SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020, has been plagued by brawls. Oakland chef Daniel Luna was in a medically induced coma for weeks after Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics discovered him lying on the ground in the stadium’s Lot L during the NFC Championship Game betwen the Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
It took three days and an inquiry from The Times before Inglewood authorities acknowledged the incident. Bryan Alexis Cifuentes, 33, was charged with one felony count of battery with serious bodily injury after video showed that he dropped Luna with one punch. Cifuentes pleaded not guilty and investigators determined that Luna started the altercation when he shoved Cifuentes.
Luna sued the Rams and L.A. County, claiming that because he was drunk deputies should have put him in a form of protective custody after he was denied entrance to the stadium because he didn’t have a ticket.
The suit was dismissed by Inglewood Superior Court Judge Ronald F. Frank, who wrote that “the Sheriff’s Department did not create the peril in which plaintiff found himself. [Luna] alleges that he was already inebriated when he was detained initially. The sheriffs took no affirmative action which contributed to, increased, or changed the risk which would have otherwise existed.”
A least four fights have broken out at Chargers games at SoFi Stadium. The most recent was a brawl in a game against the Raiders in September 2024. A video provided to KTLA shows showed a group of Chargers fans fighting a shirtless man.
Moments before the Chargers and Dallas Cowboys squared off at SoFi in 2023, the teams scuffled at midfield after several Cowboys ran through the Chargers’ defensive backs as they were conducting pregame drills.
Several fights broke out off the field during the game, including one on a concourse exit that involved a dozen or more fans. No fans were arrested, according to the Inglewood Police Department.
After a game between the Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs in November 2022, a man was thrown over a railing. A person who recorded a video of the incident told KABC-TV Channel 7 that the fight began after one man bumped into another. A third man tried to intervene and was thrown over the railing onto the concrete steps below.
A 2022 poll of more than 3,000 fans by Sportsbook Review concluded that many NFL stadiums are more violent than SoFi Stadium and that fans generally feel safe attending games at the venue.
Crimes in and around stadiums occur all too often, with 39.2% of poll respondents reporting having witnessed or fallen victim to at least one crime in or outside a stadium. Only 5.4% of fans had witnessed a crime at SoFi, and only one of those polled said they had been a victim of a crime while attending a Rams or Chargers home game.
Sportsbook Review updated its rankings last week, with SoFi moving up from the 15th to the 11th most dangerous NFL stadium. M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, is ranked as the most dangerous; Highmark Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, is ranked as the safest.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
