Is SoFi Stadium dangerous? Study says other NFL venues are worse
SoFi Stadium is one of the safer NFL venues both within and in surrounding neighborhoods, a conclusion drawn from a study of crime statistics and a survey of more than 3,000 fans from Sportsbook Review.
But all too often, crimes occur in and around stadiums. In the study, 39.2% of respondents said they had witnessed or been a victim of at least one crime inside or outside stadiums.
Although 17 fans – 5.4% – said they witnessed a crime at SoFi Stadium, only one of those surveyed said they were a victim of a crime while attending a Rams or Chargers home game.
According to the study, the SoFi neighborhood has less crime than 21 of the other 29 NFL stadiums. According to FBI data, there were 6.19 violent crimes and 25.81 property crimes per 1,000 residents near SoFi in 2021, for a total of 32 crimes per 1,000 residents.
The most dangerous neighborhood is near Ford Field in Detroit, with 23.07 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY, home of the Buffalo Bills, is the safest stadium with just 0.33 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been violent incidents at SoFi Stadium. A man was thrown over a railing after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in November 2022. Eight months earlier, Bryan Alexis Cifuentes was charged with assault with serious bodily injury in connection with a fight in the stadium parking lot during the NFC Championship game between the Rams and the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 30, in which the victim, Daniel Luna, died was in an artificial coma.
In the November 2022 incident, video recorded by a bystander shows two men fighting, one of whom appears to be wearing a Chargers jersey. At one point, another man was thrown over a railing and fell to the concrete steps below. In the video you can see him getting up.
The neighborhood with the most property crime is downtown Denver around Mile High Stadium with 60.32 per 1,000 residents, significantly higher than the second highest property crime rate – 55.47 per 1,000 around Lumen Field in Seattle, home of the Seahawks, and 48.05 per 1,000 around FedExField in Landover, Maryland, home of the Washington Commanders.
The stadium district where fans are least likely to be victims of violence or property crime is Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the New England Patriots. In 2021, only 2.32 violent crimes and 6.7 property crimes were committed per 1,000 residents.
The most uncomfortable stadium for fans of the opposing team is Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. This shouldn’t be a surprise: Fans in Philly have a reputation for being assertive, aggressive and obnoxious. SoFi Stadium often draws thousands of fans of opposing teams, and the vast majority of them aren’t particularly uncomfortable, according to the data.
SoFi didn’t do so well in the female fan category. They were asked whether they felt comfortable alone in or near their team’s stadium. A whopping 62.5% of respondents said they felt uncomfortable at SoFi, a figure only surpassed by the 73.7% of women who said they felt uncomfortable alone at Ford Field.
According to the study, women felt safest at Buffalo Bills and New York Jets games, with only 16.7% saying they felt uncomfortable.
