A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has found the city of Inglewood did not violate the law when it entered into an up to 40-year lease agreement allowing WOW Media to place digital billboards and signage on the medians surrounding its multibillion-dollar sports and entertainment venues.
Judge Joseph Lipner this week rejected two challenges filed last year by SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome and The Kia Forum that sought to have the billboard agreement voided on the grounds that the city failed to comply with competitive bidding laws and did not have the authority to grant exclusive, long-term use of public rights-of-way to a private party.
Lipner denied the petition Tuesday, June 23, saying the venues had not shown “the City improperly authorized WOW, in the Billboard Agreement, to construct a Transportation Information Network on public rights-of-way to enhance public safety and generate revenue for the city.”
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said the ruling is clear that the city followed “all of its laws and procedures and requirements of our charter.” Inglewood receives about $8 million per year from its various agreements with WOW and also uses the billboards for messaging about public safety and traffic.
“The judge affirmed the city’s right to use its medians for the Traffic Information Network and for advertising,” Butts said. “But more importantly, it affirmed our right to raise revenue for pre-kindergarten classes, for our Blue Zone for our seniors, for improvements to our parks and our ability to improve public safety.”
In a statement, Scott Krantz, the CEO of WOW, applauded the ruling, saying the agreements will continue to “deliver significant, ongoing revenue to the City.”
“WOW has enjoyed a long, successful, and mutually beneficial partnership with Inglewood, and we look forward to strengthening that relationship in the years ahead,” he stated.
Hollywood Park, the development where SoFi Stadium is located, has already announced plans to appeal the decision. A spokesperson said the company continues to “believe that leasing public rights-of-way in this manner is inconsistent with state and municipal law.”
“This case raises important questions, and nearly 13,000 residents signed a petition with concerns about the lack of transparency, accountability, and decision-making that serve the broader public interest,” the statement says. “Despite the court’s decision, Hollywood Park remains committed to continuing its investment in Inglewood and supporting the community’s long-term success.”
Hollywood Park is backing a ballot initiative filed by Neighbors for Beautiful Inglewood that, if approved by voters, would prohibit “off-site” advertising kiosks and billboards on public space from displaying nearly all “commercially sponsored advertisements.” It would effectively shut down WOW Media’s billboards while exempting the billboards on the private properties of the city’s sports and entertainment venues.
John Shallman, a political strategist managing the campaign whose past clients include the Los Angeles Clippers, said the judge’s ruling is irrelevant to the initiative.
“The 13,000 residents signed a petition because they were essentially left in the dark about this decision to turn their street into a Vegas-style advertising corridor for 40 years,” Shallman said. “It is time to let the people speak regardless of what happens in a court.”
The venues challenged the agreement last year, fearing it would cut into their own advertising revenues. Millions of visitors drive through and to Inglewood’s sports and entertainment district every year. Advertising rights in the area are worth “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to Miller Barondess, the law firm representing Inglewood.
The $5 billion SoFi Stadium is hosting eight FIFA World Cup matches this year, including the quarter-final in July. It will host the Super Bowl for the second time next year and is serving as the site of the opening ceremony for the 2028 Olympic Games.
That’s on top of sold-out concerts by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé that drew 700,000 people in a 12-day period in 2023.
In their lawsuit, The Kia Forum and the Intuit Dome, the home of the Clippers, alleged the signage violates their development agreements with the city, but Lipner did not take up that question and indicated it would be assigned to another judge.
Inglewood maintains its development agreement with SoFi Stadium’s developer is no longer valid due to a legal precedent stemming from a case involving Moreno Valley. In 2018, an appellate court in the Moreno Valley case concluded that a development agreement could not be adopted through a ballot initiative — in the same way the stadium project was launched in Inglewood — and instead must be negotiated and approved by a legislative body.
The stadium’s developer sued Inglewood over that claim and alleges the city owes $448 million in reimbursements for public improvements and services provided during the stadium’s construction.
Though the once close alliance between City Hall and developers that transformed Inglewood has become estranged due to the legal brawling, Butts maintains it is a simple business dispute and the venues have repeatedly stressed their commitment to staying in Inglewood.