NASCAR's debut on a temporary track inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum two years ago was a bold experiment that featured a pre-race show by Pitbull, a halftime performance by Ice Cube, a rowdy USC student section and some pretty decent racing. NASCAR tried for another hit last year with a second Clash at the Coliseum and it wasn't the same. The racing was unwatchable, enthusiasm for the event had slipped after only one year and the Clash came off as simply an excuse for NASCAR to maintain a presence in Southern California.
The minor league Oakland B's planned to take over the Oakland A’s venue at the Coliseum for a night of nostalgia in late June — until the big league club blocked their agreement as exclusive rights holder to the building for professional baseball. Months ago, before the newly created Oakland Ballers were official and for the most part still just a big dream, co-founder Paul Freedman went back and forth by email some 70 times in an effort to secure one special game at one special venue where he and so many others hold treasured memories dating to their youths. Freedman said he and co-founder Bryan Carmel had a signed contract in place and deposit paid through communication with ASM Global, which operates the building for the Coliseum Authority — an agency leasing the ballpark to the A's through this year.
The Coliseum in London’s West End is used to staging epic theatrical productions. But even for the capital’s largest theater, The Mongol Khan was unique.