I honestly can't say. I've never used the Expo before. Santa Monica is more my taste than Venice though. Personally if I were coming from out of town I would want my gameday to be as painless as possible. Meaning the least amount of traveling between my hotel and the stadium. If I were staying for extra exploration days I'd do as I mentioned earlier and just rent a car to explore with on the non-game days.
With the VRBO and the Expo I'm Pretty sure that at some point your getting in an Uber from the Expo station to the stadium. To much of a PITA for my sorry ass to do all that!
Hey! That may not be a blue font statement! Just waiting to hear whether or not we will get parking!