USC is the one college football stadium in America where the train is genuinely the best answer, not the budget answer. The Coliseum sits in Exposition Park with two Metro E Line stops next to it, campus parking runs $50 a car and is cashless, and Exposition Park itself is permit only on game days with no cash lots at all. The move most fans who go regularly describe is parking at an E Line station well outside the traffic and riding in, and several of those station lots are free on weekends. USC also runs a free shuttle from the Grand Avenue structure. Kickoff times move with television, and campus parking is tighter than usual right now because of construction in Exposition Park.
The short answer
Cheapest: park free at an E Line station lot on a weekend and ride in for $3.50 round trip, with kids under 6 free. Closest: a campus structure at $50, cashless, first come first served. Best with kids: the E Line to Expo Park/USC, which is about a 10 minute walk through the park to the gates. Best for tailgating: a campus structure, since setup opens 6 hours before kickoff and Exposition Park is permit only. Worst plan: driving to Exposition Park expecting to pay at a gate, because there are no cash lots there on game days.
At $0.5, 0 of the 18 College stadiums we have priced cost less and 17 cost more, and this is one of 14 where you can park free nearby instead. See every College Sports stadium ranked.
Compare every option
| Option | Cost | Walk | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| E Line station park and rideOffsite lot | Free at several stations on weekends, $3 at others, plus $3.50 round trip on the train | About 10 min from Expo Park/USC station through the park | Paying almost nothing and skipping the postgame traffic entirely |
| Downtown lots plus the trainOffsite lot | Reported at $15 to $25 in the 2025 season, plus $3.50 round trip | Walk to the station downtown, then 10 min at the other end | Making a day of it downtown and still paying half of campus rates |
| USC campus structuresStadium lot | $50 per vehicle, plus a $0.50 mobile transaction fee | Varies by structure, one fan reported 25 minutes from the far end | Tailgating, and being on campus for the pregame walk to the Coliseum |
| Shrine Structure, prepaid reservedStadium lot | Prepaid online, price set per game | On campus | Knowing you have a space before you leave the house |
| Exposition Park lotsStadium lot | Permit only on game days, no cash sales | At the Coliseum | Nobody without a pass, which is the point of listing it |
| Street parking in the neighborhoodsFree street | Free, on the blocks where it is actually allowed | Varies, fans name the numbered streets west of the 110 as closest | Paying nothing, if you are willing to read every sign carefully |
| RV, bus and oversize vehiclesStadium lot | Sold in advance, price not published | Depends on assignment | Anyone bringing anything taller than a garage clearance |
Every option, in detail
Offsite lot
E Line station park and ride
Free at several stations on weekends, $3 at others, plus $3.50 round trip on the trainAbout 10 min from Expo Park/USC station through the park /// Station lots run all day, trains run every 6 minutes after the game
Metro lists Expo/Bundy, Expo/Sepulveda and La Cienega/Jefferson as $3 on weekdays and free on weekends and holidays, with Culver City and Expo/Crenshaw at $3. A Saturday game is a weekend. USC fans recommend this route repeatedly and specifically for the exit, since the trains run every six minutes afterward while the streets do not move at all. Fares are $1.75 each way, children under 6 ride free with an adult, and a fare includes free transfers within two hours.
Heads up: Metro notes that game day rates may apply at some station lots, so the free weekend rate is not guaranteed on a football Saturday. Check the specific station before you count on free.
Via metro.net (Station lot pricing, fares and the walking route from LA Metro. The exit advantage is a fan recommendation repeated by several people in September 2025, and USC Transportation separately confirms trains run every six minutes after the game.)
Offsite lot
Downtown lots plus the train
Reported at $15 to $25 in the 2025 season, plus $3.50 round tripWalk to the station downtown, then 10 min at the other end /// Varies by lot
Fans describe parking in the lots near the downtown arena and riding the E Line in, and one described parking in Little Tokyo for lunch first and taking the train from there. It is the same exit advantage as the station lots with more to do beforehand.
Heads up: The $15 to $25 range is a fan report from the 2025 season and it specifically depends on there being no Lakers or Kings game that day. When there is, downtown prices jump and this stops being the cheap option.
Reported by fans, with no official page confirming it. Fan reports, September 2025. Prices are theirs and were not verified against any lot operator.
Stadium lot
USC campus structures
$50 per vehicle, plus a $0.50 mobile transaction feeVaries by structure, one fan reported 25 minutes from the far end /// Tailgate setup begins no earlier than 6 hours before kickoff
Five structures take first come first served game day parking for the 2026 season: Downey, McCarthy, Jefferson, Figueroa and Grand Avenue. Payment is Text2Park, which means you drive in, park in any unmarked space, and text the location code posted by the elevator or stairwell to 25023 with your plate and card. USC is completely cashless now, so there is no gate to pay at.
Heads up: Two things fans hit. Flower and Royal are not available this season, and fans report being turned away from McCarthy when it is locked to university affiliates, so have a second structure in mind. Prepaying does not guarantee a space, and USC says on campus parking may be limited this year because of construction in Exposition Park.
Via gameday.usc.edu (USC's own 2026 game day parking page for the price, structures and payment method. The McCarthy redirect and the 25 minute walk are fan reports from September 2025.)
Stadium lot
Shrine Structure, prepaid reserved
Prepaid online, price set per gameOn campus /// Reserved in advance rather than first come first served
The Shrine Structure is USC's on campus reserved option and requires a prepaid online pass rather than driving up. Off campus reserved parking is also sold through JustPark.
Heads up: USC Transportation states plainly that a prepaid purchase will not guarantee you a space, which is an unusual thing for a reserved product to say. Read what you are buying before you assume it holds a spot for you.
Via transnet.usc.edu (USC Transportation game day page, with the Shrine and JustPark options confirmed on USC's game day site)
Stadium lot
Exposition Park lots
Permit only on game days, no cash salesAt the Coliseum /// Permit holders only
The lots immediately around the Coliseum are in Exposition Park, and on USC game days they are permit only with no public cash lots. Park entrances are at MLK and Hoover, and 39th and Figueroa. This is the single most common wasted drive here, so it is worth knowing before you point your car at the stadium.
Heads up: Anything left overnight is towed or cited at the owner's expense. Public parking in Exposition Park for non football events sells out fast and rates change by event, so a price you saw for a museum visit or a concert tells you nothing about a Saturday.
Via lacoliseum.com (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum official parking page)
Free street
Street parking in the neighborhoods
Free, on the blocks where it is actually allowedVaries, fans name the numbered streets west of the 110 as closest /// Anytime, first come first served
Fans name the numbered streets around 28th, 30th and 32nd, and say west of the 110 is the closer side. This is the option everyone searches for and the one nobody can promise you.
Heads up: Los Angeles runs Preferential Parking Districts across the neighborhoods near campus, where a car without a resident permit gets cited during the posted hours, and citations are reported at roughly $73. We could not verify block by block which streets near the Coliseum are inside a district, and the fan reports naming these streets were lightly upvoted rather than widely confirmed. Read every sign on the block you park on, including street cleaning and red zones, and do not assume an empty curb means a legal one.
Via ladotparking.org (LADOT for how Preferential Parking Districts work and that unpermitted cars are cited during posted hours. Street names are fan reports from September 2025 that we could not verify, and the citation amount is a secondary report rather than an LADOT quote.)
Stadium lot
RV, bus and oversize vehicles
Sold in advance, price not publishedDepends on assignment /// Advance sale only
The Coliseum states that bus, RV and oversize vehicle parking is extremely limited and sold in advance, and that vehicles over the garage height restrictions are not accepted at all. USC Game Management handles football inquiries at 213-740-4174.
Heads up: We could not find a published price or an inventory count. Given that the venue calls it extremely limited, treat calling ahead as required rather than optional.
Via lacoliseum.com (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum official parking page. No rate is published there or on USC's pages.)
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Skip parking entirely
The Coliseum has two Metro E Line stops beside it and USC Transportation actively points fans at the train rather than the lots. In a city built around driving, this is the rare game where not driving is simply better.
Metro E Line
$1.75 one way, $3.50 round tripRide to Expo Park/USC station, head west on Exposition Boulevard about 300 feet, turn into Exposition Park and walk about five minutes through it, then turn onto Exposition Park Drive for another five minutes to the entrance. Children under 6 ride free with an adult and a fare includes free transfers within two hours. USC Transportation says trains run every six minutes after the game.
Via metro.net
Metro buses
$1.75 one wayThe J Line stops at 37th Street and USC. Line 40 stops at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Figueroa, Line 81 at Figueroa and Exposition, and Lines 102 and 204 at Vermont and Exposition. Fans coming up from the south recommend the J Line from the Harbor Gateway Transit Center specifically.
Via metro.net
USC campus shuttle
FreeA free shuttle runs from the Grand Avenue structure to Pardee Way on game days, starting three hours before kickoff. Return trips begin at the start of the fourth quarter, so leaving a few minutes early is the difference between a ride and a walk.
Via transnet.usc.edu
When to get there
Tailgate setup opens six hours before kickoff on campus, and the campus shuttle from Grand Avenue starts three hours out. Campus structures are first come first served and USC has flagged that on campus parking may be tighter this season because of Exposition Park construction, so the $50 spaces are not a guarantee for a late arrival. Kickoff times are set by television about a week out, which in Los Angeles means a lot of late kicks, and a night game changes both the traffic you drive into and the ride home. If you are taking the train, note that the last leg is a ten minute walk through the park at both ends of the day.
Getting out after
This is where USC separates from most stadiums. The trains run every six minutes after the game, which is why so many regulars park at a station instead of on campus. If you drive, expect the surface streets around Exposition Park to hold you well past the final whistle. The campus shuttle back to the Grand Avenue structure starts running at the beginning of the fourth quarter, so it rewards leaving early rather than staying to the end.
Tailgating rules
Tailgate setup begins no earlier than six hours before kickoff, and it happens on campus rather than at the stadium, because the lots ringing the Coliseum in Exposition Park are permit only on game days. In practice that means you park in a campus structure, tailgate on campus, and walk to the Coliseum with everyone else.
USC's game day site runs a Trojan Family Game Day Experience on campus, which is the organized version of the same walk. We did not find published rules on grills, alcohol or tent sizes for campus structures on the pages we checked, so confirm with USC Game Management at 213-740-4174 before planning around a grill.
Via gameday.usc.edu
Questions, answered
- How much does parking cost at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum?
- Stadium lots cost $50. Cheapest: park free at an E Line station lot on a weekend and ride in for $3.50 round trip, with kids under 6 free. Closest: a campus structure at $50, cashless, first come first served. Best with kids: the E Line to Expo Park/USC, which is about a 10 minute walk through the park to the gates. Best for tailgating: a campus structure, since setup opens 6 hours before kickoff and Exposition Park is permit only. Worst plan: driving to Exposition Park expecting to pay at a gate, because there are no cash lots there on game days.
- Is there free parking near Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum?
- Street parking in the neighborhoods: Free, on the blocks where it is actually allowed, Varies, fans name the numbered streets west of the 110 as closest. Los Angeles runs Preferential Parking Districts across the neighborhoods near campus, where a car without a resident permit gets cited during the posted hours, and citations are reported at roughly $73. We could not verify block by block which streets near the Coliseum are inside a district, and the fan reports naming these streets were lightly upvoted rather than widely confirmed. Read every sign on the block you park on, including street cleaning and red zones, and do not assume an empty curb means a legal one.
- What time should I get to a USC game?
- Tailgate setup opens six hours before kickoff on campus, and the campus shuttle from Grand Avenue starts three hours out. Campus structures are first come first served and USC has flagged that on campus parking may be tighter this season because of Exposition Park construction, so the $50 spaces are not a guarantee for a late arrival. Kickoff times are set by television about a week out, which in Los Angeles means a lot of late kicks, and a night game changes both the traffic you drive into and the ride home. If you are taking the train, note that the last leg is a ten minute walk through the park at both ends of the day.
- Can you get to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum without a car?
- The Coliseum has two Metro E Line stops beside it and USC Transportation actively points fans at the train rather than the lots. In a city built around driving, this is the rare game where not driving is simply better. Metro E Line: $1.75 one way, $3.50 round trip.
Prices here are USC's posted 2026 rates and Metro's current fares. USC changed the campus rate to $50 for the 2025 season, so older guides quoting $25 or $40 are out of date.
Flower and Royal structures are not available for game day parking this season. Fans disagreed about Royal in a 2025 thread, and USC's own page settles it.
We could not find published tailgating rules for USC campus structures covering grills, alcohol or tents, and we would rather say so than guess at them.
Exposition Park construction is affecting parking supply this season according to USC Transportation, which is another argument for the train.
Sourced from the stadium, the city, local outlets, and fans who park here every week. Checked July 2026, and we recheck three times a year. Prices and lot rules change, so every claim above either links where it came from or says plainly that it is fan-reported and unconfirmed. Click through before you build your day around one spot.
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Dispatch Sports, “Parking at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: USC Trojans Gameday Guide.” Checked 2026-07. https://dispatchsports.com/college/usc/parking
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