How Would You Change The Home Depot Center?

You may have caught that earlier this week the Galaxy decided to make clear that they really are a part of MLS by calling a two-year partnership a "major announcement." When it was announced that the club would be making a "major announcement" with Farmers Insurance at the Home Depot Center, speculation began that Farmers would take over the naming rights at the Home Depot Center. That's because Farmers has a history of local sports sponsorships, have hopped into stadium naming rights with AEG's proposed downtown football stadium and the Home Depot's current deal is a 10-year deal that expires in a year.

Think about that last point for a second. The 10-year naming rights deal for the Home Depot Center is going to run out in a year. That expanse of sporting excellence in Carson that reminds us of how inadequately fit we are and drives us to drinking beer while watching soccer (or do we do that because it's awesome?) is getting up there in age. It's been a long time since the sun shone on the HDC for the first time in front of 27,000 that saw the Galaxy defeat the Rapids, 2-0.

The HDC is starting to get to that age where maybe it's time to make some changes. You know, improvements. Basically, it's old enough that we can propose fixes to the things about the stadium that we dislike and only sound half crazy, which is really about as sane as we can be. So, what changes would we like to see to the HDC?

• Bring some of the seats closer to the pitch. The HDC was built to be able to play on the maximum size pitch allowed by FIFA, but the Galaxy don't play on a pitch that size. They play on one smaller and it's not that they like to play on a small one. They play on the size pitch almost exactly the same size as the one favored by FIFA. We have the pitch size that we want. There's no need to be capable of having the maximum size pitch. Get rid of that extra space and put seats in there instead.
• A new videoboard wouldn't hurt. Sitting on the north side of the stadium and trying to see the details of the replays on the south side sitting scoreboard isn't so easy. Putting in a new, bigger videoboard that is much easier to see would be a huge plus. While they're at it, putting some LED boards in where the current static advertising is would give the stadium a bit more of a modern look too while also making the place feel more lively.
• It's time to replace the pitch. I don't know exactly what it is about the pitch at the HDC, but it doesn't keep up with the pitches at some of the newer stadiums in the league that prioritize keeping a pristine pitch. For years it seemed as if that was because of the X Games, concerts and other events, but those events have been toned down in recent years and while the pitch quality has improved, it's still not top notch. Maybe it's time to rip it up and lay down an entire new undersoil and surface.
• Parking. It sucks. It costs too much. It sucks. Getting in and out is a pain. It sucks. It's not conducive to tailgating. It sucks. Change it. Fix it. Just make it not suck.