LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum recently hosted two football games in two days.
The USC Trojans beat the Texas Longhorns in an overtime thriller, and less than 24 hours later, the Washington Redskins took down the Los Angeles Rams. It takes more than 1,000 people working around the clock to allow the 94-year-old stadium to pull double duty.
From field maintenance to parking enforcement to security, it's a complex operation that requires many levels of coordination and planning. More than 140,000 fans made their way to the Coliseum for the two games, and ESPN.com took an inside look at just what it takes to make it all possible.
This video is a time-lapse of inside the Coliseum that begins on Saturday at approximately 10 a.m., and runs for roughly 22 straight hours. It captures the preparation process leading into USC's double-overtime win against Texas and shows the field as it shifts to a surface for the Los Angeles Rams. By this time, the Coliseum is just about ready for its second game of the weekend.
Jay Austin is the co-owner of the Barbacoa Boyz, which operates as a catering service near Los Angeles in the city of Montrose specializing in an "eclectic combination of barbecue flavors and techniques from North, Central and South America." He starts slow-cooking the meat for his booth inside the Coliseum about 12 hours before it's supposed to be served and (in the video) explains how there is a big difference between the USC and Rams crowds.
6:06 a.m.: Kickoff isn't for approximately seven hours, but the smoker at the Barbacoa Boyz stand near Sec. 27 is already hard at work.
Sunday, 5:56 a.m.: Here's an example of a booth that changed overnight to serve beer and wouldn't have been allowed for a USC game. At $16 per premium beer, it has to be a policy USC will at least consider changing.
5:45 a.m.: What was a USC locker room just a few hours prior is now (almost) ready for the Rams.
Sunday, 5 a.m.: Washington Redskins employees arrive to start loading equipment into the visiting locker room.
Last week, they hauled away 18 tons of trash from the Coliseum. This week, there will be even more.
Sunday, 1:51 a.m.: They took a break from painting, but are now back out there working on the hashmarks and NFL shield.
Saturday, 11:43 p.m.: Almost all of the USC signage at field level has been covered up.
Saturday, 11:36 p.m.: By this time, the USC and visitors locker rooms have been cleared out. Rams and Redskins personnel will arrive in the morning to get everything set up for Sunday's game.
Saturday, 11:24 p.m.: Here's the progress they've made so far converting the field.
11:10 p.m.: The removable paint used on the numbers makes it easier to spray it off during the change over. (This video is sped up 2x)
Saturday, 10:57 p.m.: As soon as the stadium cleared out, the grounds crew got to work painting the field.
Sisters Angela and Jennifer Bandich have been coming to USC games for over a decade. They've had season tickets or the Trojans and when the Rams moved back to town they grabbed season ticket for them too -- in the same seats.
It's the first sold-out crowd at the Coliseum for USC since 2013. Great atmosphere.
The major difference in terms of food and beverage offerings between USC and the Rams is the alcohol. It's limited for USC games and overnight about 75 percent of the food vendors will be converted to beer sales for the next day. Legends hospitality general manager Gian Rafaniello explains:
Saturday, 1:15 p.m.: Brian Grant, the Sr. associate director of facilities and project management, and his team arrive at the Coliseum at 6 a.m. to coordinate efforts to get the site ready. He'll work through the night and try to grab a couple hours of sleep between 2-4 a.m.
Saturday, 12:35 p.m.: Scott Lupold is in his first year as the grounds manager at the Coliseum. He's responsible for the upkeep of the grass and converting the paint jobs back and forth from USC to Rams among other things. Here he explains some of the challenges his team faces.
Saturday, 10 a.m.: The hashmarks and numbers aren't painted until the morning of the game.
Wednesday, 1 p.m.: One of the challenges of sharing a field is trying to swap back and forth from different paint jobs. It's hard to completely hide the evidence of the previous game. They waited until late in the week to start painting for the USC-Texas game.
Wednesday, noon: The Coliseum operations staff worked back-to-back USC and Rams games lasts weekend and will do so again this weekend. The result is very little sleep, but sometimes they're able to catch a few Zs on an air mattress in the office.
Wednesday, 11 a.m.: Planning at the Coliseum starts months in advance, but each Wednesday before a home game, representatives from several departments meet to discuss logistics for game day. What went right? What went wrong? How do they fix it? Another bigger meeting occurs the following day involving LAPD, LAFD and other outside entities involved to help get everyone on the same page.