As Many As 100K Expected At Rams Victory Parade

LOS ANGELES, CA — It's been decades since Super Bowl champs paraded through the streets of Los Angeles, but on Wednesday, Angelenos will finally get their victory parade. Between 20,000 and 100,000 people are expected to attend Wednesday's parade from the Shrine Auditorium to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum honoring the Rams, authorities estimated.

The victory parade will start at 11 a.m. and end at noon with a rally on the peristyle-end plaza outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Rams played from 2016-19 while SoFi Stadium was being built. Nearby USC is warning students and staff of road closures and delays Wednesday due to the parade.

The procession is expected to travel along Jefferson Boulevard to Figueroa Street, then head south to the Coliseum, where the rally will be at noon.

Most streets in the area will be closed to vehicle traffic from approximately 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those planning to attend are strongly encouraged to use public transportation to reach the area. Information can be found at www.lacoliseum.com/directions/.

Detailed street closures are as follows:

• Figueroa Street between Adams Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard;
• Jefferson Boulevard between Vermont Avenue and Grand Avenue;
• Exposition Blvd between Vermont Ave and Flower St

• 110 South off-ramp at Exposition Boulevard;
• 110 Express Lane on- and off-ramps at 39th Street.

USC officials are advising students and staff to arrive on campus prior to the road closures Wednesday.

The Rams claimed the Super Bowl title Sunday with a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Dodgers and Lakers were denied victory parades following their COVID-19-shortened 2020 championship seasons due to pandemic restrictions, and there have been some suggestions that the teams should be celebrated along with the Rams on Wednesday.

Laker star LeBron James was among those making the suggestion.

"We, Dodgers and Rams should all do a joint parade together!!!!" James tweeted Monday. "With a live concert afterwards to end it!! City of Champions. Congrats once again."

Thus far, however, there has been no formal decision to include the Lakers and Dodgers in Wednesday's event.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday the Rams victory capped a triumphant NFL return to the Southland.

"The NFL needed L.A., and L.A. needed the NFL," Garcetti told reporters in downtown Los Angeles. "It was a broken-heart story. If it was Hollywood, it would have been maybe a rom-com. But at least some sort of romance. But it was our destiny to come back together."

The mayor thanked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, saying the league "bet big on L.A., not just once but twice, with two great teams."

City News Service contributed to this report.