Advertising displays: exemptions: arenas and redevelopment agency projects

The law lets qualifying large arenas use up to two locally approved advertising displays under specified conditions while protecting federal highway funds and preserving local control. It also preserves certain existing redevelopment-project displays without allowing their expansion.

What the law does ​

• Starting January 1, 2028, exempts qualifying advertising displays for arenas with at least 15,000 seats that were built or under construction by January 1, 2027, from most state outdoor-advertising rules.
• Allows eligible off-premises arena displays approved locally by January 1, 2032, but limits each arena to two total qualifying off-premises displays.
• Requires California Department of Transportation or, if necessary, Federal Highway Administration confirmation that certain newly approved displays will not conflict with federal requirements or reduce federal highway aid before installation.
• Requires local approval and state certification for on-premises arena displays, including standards for sign size, number, spacing, lighting, refresh rates, scrolling, brightness, and operating hours.
• Bars arena-exempt displays from advertising tobacco, firearms, or sexually explicit material.
• Requires certain newer arena displays located over one mile from an arena to be at least 5,000 feet from a qualifying display for another arena.
• Exempts specified existing redevelopment-project displays from certain freeway-landscaping, local-zoning, and relocation restrictions, provided they stay in substantially the same location and configuration and are not enlarged, moved, heightened, or given additional faces.

Who it affects ​

• Owners, operators, sponsors, and advertisers of qualifying professional-sports arenas.
• Cities, counties, and cities and counties that approve and enforce arena-display rules.
• Owners of qualifying advertising displays in redevelopment agency project areas.
• California Department of Transportation and the Department of the California Highway Patrol.

Context ​

The law retains local governments' ability to prohibit or further restrict qualifying signs and requires removal of advertising copy within 60 days if federal officials determine a display jeopardizes federal highway funding.