L.A. Rams 2019 Season Ultimate Tailgate Party Guide Tailgating Locations & Scene

Coliseum Parking Lots The The Prime Partying Place For NFL Fans

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Tailgate Party Blogger

There are long-term diehards, purely party people, melonheads – melonheads!? – beer pong games, pop-up tents, grills filled with food and a school bus turned into a full-on billboard that looks like an official team vehicle.

This is the scene for the Los Angeles Rams tailgate parties at the L.A. Coliseum.

The L.A. Rams pre-game scene is a tailgate party in the truest definition of the word. People pull up to a spot in a parking lot and literally pull down the tailgate of their trucks (or open the hatches of SUVs) and party at that spot.

They break out the grills, set up tables of food and drinks and games. Mostly they are in small groups but a few have a dozen or more friends, and they set up pop-up tents.  PubClub.com walked among them all – we carried our own cocktails because we were there to party and not to mooch – and were warmly greeted every place we visited.

As far as the type of crowd, well let’s just say you won’t find a lot of college students from neighboring USC. Or blondes. Or – somewhat surprisingly – single people. It’s mostly families and groups of friends. They are all very friendly and are quite willing to toast a drink and talk with you (as long as you’re not a mooch!).

The Rams tailgate scene is not the same as it is for USC games, so if you’re used to that, then you need to adapt to this scene. First, there’s no on-campus partying, obviously. And no Song Girls and band marching through the crowd on their way into the stadium.

Most importantly, however, at USC games if you’re at the tailgate area four hours early, you’re late for it.

PubClub.com arrived at the Rams’ tailgate party three hours before the game and we could have punted all the balls used in the game in the middle of the Coliseum area and not hit anyone. It was that empty. Things picked up considerably two hours ahead of kickoff.

The party scene is also exclusively in the parking lots. At USC it’s all over the place, especially with all the alumni tents in front of the Coliseum. At Rams’ games, there’s a corporate-looking Fan Fest kind of thing (free) that’s mostly families and kids. Officials even fence off the area around the naked statues, a prime meeting place for Trojan fans.

So you’re better off walking to the sides and back of the Coliseum.

The prime tailgating takes place in parking lots 2 and 3 by S. Vermont Ave., and lot 5 near the Olympic swim stadium (W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.). There’s also some tailgating in the grassy area along Exposition Park Dr.

So what’s it like as far as tailgate parties go – well, it’s about half as good (and half the size) of USC tailgate parties. And it’s nowhere near that of Jimmy Buffett, which is playing this October at Irvine Meadows.

But it’s a fun time with friendly people and a good way to spend a sunny NFL football day, especially for those living downtown.

Here’s the 2019 home schedule:

Preseason

• Aug. 17 – Dallas (5 p.m.)
• Aug. 24 – Denver (7 p.m.)

Regular Season

• Sept. 15 – New Orleans (1:25 p.m.)
•  Sept. 29 – Tampa Bay (1:05 p.m.)
• Oct. 13 – San Francisco (1:05 p.m.)
• Nov. 17  –Chicago (5:20 p.m., Sunday Night game)
• Nov. 25 – Baltimore (5:15 p.m., Monday Night game)
• Dec. 8 – Seattle (5:30 p.m., Sunday Night game)
• Dec. 29 – Arizona (1:25 p.m.)

Here’s PubClub.com’s Top 5 Tips For Tailgating At Rams Games:

1.) Bring your own food and drink. Don’t be a mooch!
2.) If you want to have your own tailgate party, park in Lot 2; it’s the biggest and most lively spot. You can also do like PubClub.com, and just walk around the tailgating areas.
3.) Be “in place” two hours before kickoff.
4.) Don’t spend any time at the front of the Coliseum (yes, this is counter to a prime location at USC games)
5.) Put an LA Rams watermelon on your head – you’ll fit right in with some fans!

Link: L.A. Rame Single-Game Tickets

Link: LA Rams Parking Lots & Map