USC President Stephen B. Sample sent a letter to the Coliseum Commission regarding their negotiations with the NFL.

In it he stressed three things that are important to USC:

• that seating not drop below 80,000
• that the renovation not keep USC out of the Coliseum for more than two years
• that Coliseum officials not sign a lease with the NFL until the league comes to terms with USC

These days a college football stadium and an NFL stadium are about as similar as a baseball diamond and a hockey rink. The NFL wants luxury boxes and a reduced seating capacity because they can’t fill 90,000+ seats even if they give the tickets away. College football isn’t college football at only 60,000 seats.

We think that $10 million study the NFL commisioned should figure out how to renovate the Coliseum in phases that would mean USC not having to play a single “home” game at the Rose Bowl.

USC is not going to move to another city. USC is the Coliseum. The Coliseum Commision should come to terms with its best customer first.

USC claims NFL Coliseum team would hurt program [LA Daily News]