Google-owned YouTube will have its name on a new live event venue in Inglewood, California, part of the new Hollywood Park mixed-use development, the companies announced Monday. YouTube Theater will be a 6,000-seat performance venue, which will host concerts, comedy shows, YouTube creator events, esports competitions, and community shows. Financial terms of the multiyear naming rights deal were not disclosed.
The development is the site of the former Hollywood Park Racetrack and part of the same complex as SoFi Stadium — where the Rams and Chargers play — and American Airlines Plaza. Hollywood Park also houses 3,000 apartments, a 300-room hotel, and an 890,000 square-foot retail area.
“YouTube Theater will drive the uniqueness of YouTube by combining physical, ‘in real life’ events that bring creators and fans together, while simultaneously sharing that same event experience with our two billion global monthly users through livestreams and VOD content,” YouTube vice president of brand marketing Angela Courtin said in a statement.
Upcoming performers at the three-story, 227,000-square foot YouTube Theater include Pitbull and Iggy Azalea, Black Pumas, and TLC with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The venue also has a 6,100-square-foot stage and a 3,500-square-foot private club.
The theater will have a large-scale digital YouTube “play” button icon outside the venue, which can turn into an immersive video screen where guests can mirror themselves or view highlights from YouTube creators and artists.
YouTube Theater is set to open for its first events later this summer.
