Prices of parking spaces around SoFi stadium have been heftily hiked ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.
While some spaces located near the stadium may have previously been free, such as at the Midas auto repair shop in Inglewood, prices have dramatically risen as the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals are set to go head-to-head in front of a record-breaking amount of attendees.
The capacity of the stadium is now 100,000, despite it typically holding 70,000 places, leaving parking tricky to find. Now, prices having been dramatically raised by businesses and local residents for maximum gain.
Ticket exchange site StubHub has over 100 spots available, LA Times reports. At the lower end of the spectrum, you can grab yourself a space in the Civic Center parking garage for $135, but if you want to locate yourself slightly nearer to the action then you'll need to cough up a hefty $4,850.
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Businesses such as Hollywood Park Casino and Midas are offering the average price for spaces, with spots retailing at around $300 to $400.
The Super Bowl's upped capacity is subsequently being utilised by Inglewood locals who have been allowed by the city to rent out spaces on game days. Some people have even decided to resell their parking space in a bid to earn some extra cash.
Local resident Hugo Vincent has gone the extra mile and offered to chauffeur a person he sold his driveway space to for $200 to the stadium on the day of the game.
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'This place is a prison on Sundays. I can’t leave my own neighbourhood because the traffic is so bad. Why shouldn’t I be able to make some money for the inconvenience?' he said.
Rather than having listed his parking space on a site such as StubHub, Vincent advertised it on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace in order to gain 100% of the proceeds and communicate in a more direct way with potential buyers. Many other residents have reportedly followed suit.
Connell Black, a resident who lives just northeast of SoFi in Renaissance, explained how it was a 'decent alternative for people' who end up stuck in gridlock traffic all weekend in a bid to simply buy some groceries.
'It doesn't hurt to pick up some extra change [...] I saw some were charging twice that, so I listed mine at a fair market price,' he explained.
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Mark Lawrence, Chief Executive of SpotHero - a digital marketplace which deals exclusively in parking spaces - noted: 'The L.A. Super Bowl Host Committee estimates that as many as 150,000 out-of-towners will come to the area, staying an average of four days. The official parking lots at SoFi are also mainly allocated to season ticket holders and other VIPs. This means attendees outside of those categories will have to book their parking elsewhere.'
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He predicts that spots will cost an average of $250 on the day of the Super Bowl if located within two miles from the stadium.
In a bid to try and not 'price-gauge [..] loyal customers', Walter Maynard's 40-car parking lot had spots priced at $140, however, many were bought and then resold between $329 and $4,850 on StubHub.
While restrictions were put in place by Inglewood in July to try and prevent Super Bowl attendees from parking for longer than necessary, with the threats of tows and fines made alongside the promotion of shuttles and virtual parking instead, one property manager concluded: 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and people are taking advantage.'
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Topics: Sport, US News, Super Bowl
