A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that the City of Inglewood did not break the law when it signed a long-term lease deal with WOW Media that allows digital billboards and signage around SoFi Stadium and the city’s other major venues. Judge Joseph Lipner rejected two challenges filed last year by SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome and The Kia Forum.
The decision keeps alive an agreement that Inglewood says brings in about $8 million a year. Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said the ruling confirms the city followed its charter and that the medians at the center of the fight can be used for the Traffic Information Network and for advertising. Inglewood also uses the displays for public safety and traffic messaging, making the case about more than commercial space. A local search for SoFi Stadium now turns up not just sports, but the legal fight over the streets around it.
Lipner said the venues had not shown that the city improperly authorized WOW, in the Billboard Agreement, to build a Transportation Information Network on public rights-of-way to enhance public safety and generate revenue for the city. The ruling also undercuts the argument that Inglewood lacked authority to grant exclusive, long-term use of those spaces to a private company. The agreement runs for up to 40 years, a horizon that has made it one of the city’s most closely watched deals.
The friction has not gone away. Hollywood Park said it still believes leasing public rights-of-way this way is inconsistent with state and municipal law, and it has already said it will appeal. Scott Krantz, the CEO of WOW, said the agreements will continue to deliver significant, ongoing revenue to the city, while John Shallman, speaking for opponents, said nearly 13,000 residents signed a petition because they were left in the dark about a 40-year advertising corridor. That fight now stretches beyond the courthouse, with Hollywood Park backing a ballot initiative that would curb off-site advertising on public space and could leave the wider issue to voters.
For now, the ruling preserves the city’s deal and the money that comes with it. The next test is whether the appeal can undo it or whether Inglewood’s billboard network, and the revenue tied to it, stays in place for the long haul.
