StubHub Center adopts new security in time for LA Chargers season

Grab your see-through tote bag or pick up a pack of clear freezer bags if you’re heading to a Los Angeles Chargers preseason game next month in Carson.

The first major security upgrade in 14 years at StubHub Center was just introduced to meet NFL safety standards: Backpacks, and any nontransparent containers, are now off-limits inside the 30,000-seat stadium.

The bag policy isn’t the only new security measure, but it’s the only one that will be publicly announced, said Chargers spokesman Josh Rupprecht.

“While we do not discuss specifics in regard to stadium security, as those conversations actually compromise security, our standards — and those of StubHub Center — will be consistent with NFL best practices,” Rupprecht said in an email.

The new bag policy was introduced on June 17, when stadium officials handed out free LA Galaxy-branded clear bags to the first 12,500 ticket holders for a home match against the Houston Dynamo.

Clear bags are also available for purchase at StubHub.

Permitted totes at all events in the Anschutz Entertainment Group-owned venue include:

• Any clear plastic or clear vinyl bag that is 12-by-6-by-12 inches or smaller

• One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags

• Small clutches the size of a hand that can fit inside a clear bag

Exceptions will be made only for “medically necessary items after proper inspection at a gate designated for this purpose,” according to stadium officials.

‘KEEP THINGS CONSISTENT’

The bag rule is routine at most concert and sporting venues, including the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Los Angeles Rams play.

But the home of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy enjoyed relatively lax standards until officials began preparing for the Aug. 13 start of the Chargers first L.A. preseason in 57 years. The National Football League team decided to temporarily move to Carson earlier this year.

The Chargers played their inaugural AFL season in Los Angeles in 1960, then played in San Diego from 1961-2016, when a deal for a new stadium fell through.

The Chargers and Rams plan to move into a shared, roughly $3 billion home in Inglewood in 2020. That stadium, part of a massive entertainment and commercial development engineered by Rams owner Stan Kroenke, will play host to the 2022 Super Bowl.