Inglewood’s billboard battles just got weirder

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Drive down Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood, and you’re likely to see WOW Media digital billboards — from slender, curved signs planted in medians to massive LED screens that stretch across streets — that some residents have called eyesores.

What’s less visible is that those billboards are at the center of a corporate power struggle that may be headed to the ballot this November.

On one side: WOW Media, which has a financial partnership with the City of Inglewood that could be worth tens of millions of dollars as an aggressive expansion of its billboard network comes online. The city has not publicly endorsed or opposed the ballot proposals backed by WOW, and Mayor James Butts declined to comment on those initiatives.

On the other: the operators of SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum — who want the billboard network gone and have their own advertising interests in the stadium district.

Both the billboard company and stadium operators have turned to the same weapon: Petitions to put initiatives on voters’ ballots.

WOW is bankrolling proposals to cap stadium parking fees and raise taxes on event tickets. The stadium operators are pushing a measure to gut the city’s billboard program and the deal with WOW. Each side frames its campaigns as protecting Inglewood residents.

But none of these measures appear to be financed by community members. The money needed to persuade voters is coming from business interests who have major stakes in the upcoming World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics.

This fight goes back to lawsuits between the city and stadium-linked businesses, including those tied to Stan Kroenke’s SoFi Stadium as well as Steve Ballmer’s Intuit Dome and Kia Forum. Last year, those businesses sued after the Inglewood City Council approved an exclusive contract with WOW Media to build and operate more than 100 digital billboards along some of the city’s busiest streets.

Shortly after that, Mayor James Butts wrote directly to Stan Kroenke seeking to ease tensions with Hollywood Park, where SoFi Stadium is located, and questioned whether a prior development agreement was still valid.

Now, as the city gears up for these major sporting events, the dispute has expanded from a fight over advertising control into a broader debate over public space and city revenue.

WOW Media is the main funder of the Inglewood Residents for Stadium Accountability committee. It is backing two proposals: a cap on stadium parking rates and a tax on event tickets.

Stadium-linked businesses are backing a proposal that would roll back or eliminate the city’s billboard program and end its exclusive agreement with WOW.

Those same stadium-linked businesses backing the billboard blight initiative are also behind some of the city’s most visible and controversial digital advertising displays on stadium properties, which have changed Inglewood’s streetscape in recent years.

A person walks past a digital billboard on Prairie Ave. in Inglewood on Saturday, April 18, in Los Angeles, Calif.

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Dania Maxwell

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The LA Local

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Outside these campaigns, WOW already operates large digital billboards across the city, including its “Spectaculars” and twisting digital kiosks along major corridors.

The company promotes them as advertising space for audiences drawn to major sporting events. It has built its brand around aggressive marketing ahead of the city’s upcoming global sports calendar.

In a February Instagram post, WOW wrote: “You need Digital Spectaculars that match the energy. You need massive real estate. You need WOW,” alongside a video clip of a soccer ball bouncing through Inglewood streets.

Taken together, campaign filings, interviews and reporting by The LA Local suggest both sides are fighting not only over policy measures, but over control of high-value advertising space in Inglewood.

When asked why WOW was backing initiatives apparently unrelated to its billboard network, CEO Scott Krantz said the company is pushing for stadium operators to contribute more to the city.

“Our commitment has always been to invest in Inglewood, and that commitment goes far beyond our network,” Krantz wrote, adding that WOW wants Inglewood to remain a strong and financially stable “City of Champions.”

Inside the stadium admissions tax initiative

At the center of one of the competing measures is a proposal to change how Inglewood taxes stadium tickets.

Inglewood has long relied on ticket taxes for revenue. But when the Staples Center opened in 1999 and the Lakers and Kings left the Forum, collections fell from about $700,000 to $225,000. By 2009-10, they were down to $20,000.

That changed with the stadium boom, including SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome.

A digital billboard is seen on Manchester Avenue at Spruce Avenue in Inglewood on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Los Angeles, Calif.

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Dania Maxwell

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For The LA Local

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By 2022–23, the city collected $23 million in admissions tax revenue, boosted by major events including the NCAA football national championship game and WrestleMania. Admissions taxes from all ticketed events accounted for nearly 9% of the city’s general fund, according to budget documents.

A cap limits how much the city can collect. Under current rules, each venue pays up to $15 million annually.

The proposed Inglewood Fair Share Admissions Tax Tier Reform and Cap Removal Initiative, funded by WOW media, would eliminate those caps and restructure how venues are taxed.

If approved, it would set a 2.5% ticket charge for mid-sized venues, while larger venues like SoFi Stadium would continue paying 10% per ticket, but without the $15 million cap.

What the parking fee initiative would mean on game days

Above Mel Garcia’s neighborhood, the Intuit Dome looms over the rooftops like an alien spacecraft. On game days, streets are crowded with vehicles.

“The parking is wild, a lot more traffic,” Garcia said. Sometimes he sees residents renting out driveway spots, other times he sees visitors trying to sneak into street parking spaces.

Another proposal, the Parking Price Transparency and Anti-Price-Gouging Initiative, would cap parking near stadiums at $20 per vehicle. It is also funded by WOW Media.

The initiative claims the cap would bring more stability to game days and push drivers toward commercial lots instead of residential streets.

Tens of thousands of vehicles can enter the city during NFL games and concerts, and the city issues an average of 41 parking tickets per major event, according to city documents.

Most city parking fines range between $50 and $70, about the same as the cheapest listed parking around the stadium for some Rams games.

Stadium parking prices can climb into the hundreds of dollars, as they have for the FIFA World Cup this summer.

The city has continued to adjust. On May 12, the City Council approved an ordinance allowing churches and some businesses with large lots to sell parking spots during events.

A signature battle to the ballot

Signature gathering — and signature removal — have also become part of the broader fight.

WOW-backed canvassers appear to have been collecting signatures for initiatives that would cap stadium parking rates and raise taxes on event tickets while also asking voters to withdraw support from the rival campaign seeking to curb WOW’s billboard network.

The LA Local obtained photos of a petition asking voters to remove their names from the Billboard Blight Elimination and Neighborhood Preservation Initiative.

The LA Local obtained photos of a petition asking voters to remove their names.

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Courtesy of the Blight Elimination and Neighborhood Preservation Initiative

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The Inglewood City Clerk confirmed the petition had been filed but did not respond to questions about when it was submitted, who filed it or how many signatures it sought to remove from the rival campaign.

When asked about the effort, Krantz, the WOW CEO, did not directly confirm involvement but also did not deny it. Instead, he argued the city’s stadium businesses have created an “uneven playing field” that benefits themselves at the expense of others.

“The initiatives we support are designed to protect Inglewood from another attempt by stadium owners to take more from residents, small businesses and the city services that support critical infrastructure,” Krantz wrote.

John Shallman, a spokesperson for the billboard blight campaign who used to work with the LA Clippers, said WOW used its stadium-related petitions to target the roughly 13,000 signatures his group had collected.

“While WOW was publicly promoting separate stadium-related initiatives, it was also funding and organizing efforts designed to reduce support for ours by asking voters who had already signed to withdraw their names,” Shallman told The LA Local.

Shallman said canvassers were carrying multiple clipboards and asking some voters who had already signed the billboard initiative to remove their support. The LA Local could not independently verify those claims beyond confirming the petition had been filed with the city.

Krantz previously wrote to The LA Local that the billboard blight initiative was a “private interest power grab” by stadium owners designed to funnel advertising dollars to the billboards on stadium property.

“Their own massive signs — including future signs — are conveniently exempt from this initiative,” Krantz wrote. “The stadiums share none of their advertising revenue with Inglewood residents.”

The WOW-funded campaign directly discloses that they oppose the billboard blight ballot initiative in financial filings with the California Secretary of State. The stadium businesses did not similarly list their opposition to the parking and event tax initiatives.

The lawsuits remain unresolved, and the initiatives are being processed by the city to see if they’ve met the standards for inclusion on the fall ballot.

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