Staples Center, officially stylized as STAPLES Center, is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999, and is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
It is owned and operated by the Mercinda L.A. Arena Company and Anschutz Entertainment Group. The arena is home to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League were also tenants; the Avengers were folded in 2009, and the D-Fenders moved to the Lakers' practice facility at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California for the 2011â€"12 season. Staples Center is also host to over 250 events and nearly 4 million guests each year. It is the only arena in the NBA shared by two teams, as well as one of only two North American professional sports venues to host two teams from the same league; MetLife Stadium, the home of the National Football League's New York Giants and New York Jets, is the other. The Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park will host both the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams beginning in 2020. Staples Center will host the basketball competitions at the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Description
Walking around Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles, California ã€4Kã€' - Staples Center, the home of some of the major sports in the US: 16-time NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), Los Angeles Clippers (NBA), Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA), Los Angeles Kings (NHL)....
Structure and architecture
Staples Center measures 950,000 square feet (88,257.9Â m2) of total space, with a 94-foot (28.7Â m) by 200-foot (61.0Â m) arena floor. It stands 150 feet (45.7Â m) tall. The arena seats up to 19,067 for basketball, 18,340 for ice hockey, and around 20,000 for concerts or other sporting events. Two-thirds of the arena's seating, including 2,500 club seats, are in the lower bowl. There are also 160 luxury suites, including 15 event suites, on three levels between the lower and upper bowls. The arena's attendance record is held by the fight between World WBA Welterweight Champion, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley with a crowd of 20,820 set on January 25, 2009.
- Star Plaza
Outside the arena at the Star Plaza are statues of Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson, although both played at The Forum, where the Kings, Lakers and Sparks previously played. A third statue of boxer Oscar De La Hoya was unveiled outside Staples Center on December 1, 2008. On April 20, 2010 a fourth statue of the late long time Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn, behind a Laker desk with a chair for fans to sit down for a picture, was unveiled. A fifth statue of the Laker legend Jerry West dribbling was unveiled on February 17, 2011. A sixth statue of Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was unveiled on November 16, 2012. A seventh statue of former Kings' Hall of Fame left wing Luc Robitaille was unveiled on March 7, 2015. An eighth statue of Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was unveiled on March 24, 2017. On January 13, 2018 a ninth statue, of legendary Kings announcer Bob Miller, was unveiled.
- Secret Tunnel
On January 15, 2018, in the aftermath of an NBA basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers, point guard Chris Paul made the best of playing in Staples Center for 6 years by utilizing a secret tunnel (connecting the away team's locker room to the backdoor of the Clipper's locker room) to confront former Clipper teammates Austin Rivers and Blake Griffin. He was joined with teammates such as Trevor Ariza, James Harden, and Gerald Green to confront the opponents, which only resulted in verbal altercations.
History
The Staples Center has been referred to as “the deal that almost wasn’t “
Long before construction of the Staples Center broke ground, plans for the arena were negotiated between elected city officials, and real estate developers Ed Roski of Majestic Realty and Philip Anschutz. They had acquired the hockey team the Los Angeles Kings in 1995 and were in the beginning of 1996 looking for a new home for their team, which then played at the Forum in Inglewood.
Majestic Realty Co. in conjunction with AEG were scouring the Los Angele’s area for available land to develop an arena when they were approached by Steve Soboroff, then president of LA Recreation and Parks Commission. Mr. Soboroff requested that they consider building the arena in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the convention center. The proposal intrigue Roski and Anschutz and soon a plan to develop the arena, the current Staples Center, was devised.
Months of negotiations ensued between Philip Anschutz and city officials with Ed Roski and John Semcken of Majestic Realty Co. spearheading the negotiations for the real estate developers. The negotiations grew contentious at times and the real estate developers threatened to pull out altogether on more than one occasion. The main opposition came from Councilman Joel Wachs, opposed utilizing public funds to subsidizing the proposed project and councilwoman Rita Walters, who objected parts of it.
Ultimately, the developers and city leaders reached an agreement and in 1997, construction broke ground and Staples Center opened a year later. It was financed privately at a cost of US$375 million and is named for the office-supply company Staples, Inc., which was one of the center's corporate sponsors that paid for naming rights. The arena opened on October 17, 1999, with a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concert as its inaugural event.
On October 21, 2009, Staples Center celebrated its 10th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the venue's official web site nominated 25 of the arena's greatest moments from its first ten years with fans voting on the top ten.
During the late summer of 2010, modifications were made to the arena, including refurbished locker rooms for the Clippers, Kings, and Lakers and the installation of a new high-definition center-hung video scoreboard, replacing the original one that had been in place since the building opened in 1998. The Panasonic Live 4HD scoreboard was officially unveiled on September 22, as AEG and Staples Center executives, as well as player representatives from the Clippers (Craig Smith), Kings (Matt Greene), and Lakers (Sasha Vujacic) were on hand for the presentation.
Music
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Sports
The venue opened in 1998 as the home of the Los Angeles Lakers , Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA joined in 2001, while the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League joined in 2006. It became home to the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League in 2000 until the team's discontinuation in 2008.
Since its opening day, the Staples Center has hosted seven NBA Finals series with the Lakers, the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, three WNBA Finals, the 2000 Democratic National Convention, the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 52nd NHL All-Star game, the 62nd NHL All-Star game two NBA All-Star Games (in 2004, 2011 and again will host in 2018), the Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, since 2002â€"2012, the WTA Tour Championships, from 2002â€"2005, UFC 60 in 2006, UFC 104 in 2009, UFC 184 in 2015, the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, the annual Grammy Awards, since 2000, with the exception of 2003 and 2018, the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, the Summer X Games indoor competitions, since 2003, as well HBO Championship Boxing matches.
On January 22, 2006, Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in the Staples Center against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest number of points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point performance. Of the team's five NBA championships since moving to the venue, the Lakers have celebrated their 2000 and 2010 victories at Staples Center with series-winning victories at home.
Prior to the 2006â€"07 NBA season, the lighting inside Staples Center was modified for Lakers games. The lights were focused only on the court itself (hence the promotional Lights Out campaign), reminiscent of the Lakers' early years at The Forum. Initial fan reaction was positive, and has been a fixture on home games since. The Daktronics see-through shot-clock was first installed prior to the 2008â€"09 NBA season. The Clippers adopted the new see through shot clock prior to the 2010â€"11 NBA season. For Sparks games, the court used is named after Sparks player Lisa Leslie, and was officially named prior to the 2009 home opener against the Shock on June 6, 2009. In 2007 Staples Center removed 178 urinals and installed 178 waterless urinals created by Falcon Waterfree Technologies.
The Los Angeles Kings, of the NHL hosted the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at the arena in June 2010. The Stanley Cup Finals were held at the arena for the first time in 2012. The Kings hosted the New Jersey Devils in games 3, 4, and ultimately defeated the Devils in game 6 by a final score of 6-1. The Kings became the first team to win the Stanley Cup on home ice since 2007.
During the spring of 2012, NHL's Kings, along with NBA's Lakers and Clippers reached the post-season, making it the first time the arena would host three playoff teams.
The Lakers unveiled a new hardwood court before their preseason game on October 13, 2012. Taking a cue from soccer clubs, the primary center court logo was adorned with 16 stars, representing the 16 championships the Lakers franchise has won.
Staples Center has hosted the following championship events:
- NBA Finals:
- 2000: On June 19, 2000, the Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 116-111 in game 6, which took place at home, to win their twelfth championship title. This was also notable for being their first championship since 1988.
- 2001
- 2002
- 2004
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010: On June 17, 2010, the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 83-79 in game 7, which took place at home, to win their sixteenth championship title.
- Stanley Cup Finals:
- 2012: On June 11, 2012, the Kings captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history after defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 at home in game 6.
- 2014: On June 13, 2014, the Kings captured their second Stanley Cup in franchise history after defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 at home in double overtime of game 5. It was their second championship in the last 3 years.
The Staples Center will host the basketball competition at the 2028 Summer Olympics. It will host men's preliminaries as well as the men's and women's basketball finals.
The January 24, 2000 Episode of WCW Monday Nitro was held in the Staples Center.
The venue hosted the WWE annual pay-per-view, SummerSlam, every year from 2009 to 2014, having most recently hosted the 27th edition on August 17 of that year. The venue also held WrestleMania 21 in 2005 in front of a sold out crowd of 20,193. The event was also the fastest ticket sell out in Staples Center history. WWE's most recent live pay-per-view event at the Staples Center was the No Mercy pay-per-view in 2017. Staples Center has hosted many episodes of Raw and SmackDown over the years. From November 17â€"20, 2018, it will host Survivor Series weekend, which will include NXT TakeOver: Los Angeles on November 17, the 32nd Annual Survivor Series pay per view on November 18, and Raw and SmackDown Live on November 19 and 20.
Other events
The 2000 Democratic National Convention was held here.
After his death in 2009, Michael Jackson's memorial service was held at Staples Center.
In 2013 and 2016 Staples Center hosted the grand finals of the Worlds Championship of the video game League of Legends.
Awards and recognitions
Staples Center was named Best New Major Concert Venue for 1998 and Arena of the Year for 1999, 2000 and 2001 by Pollstar Magazine and has been nominated each year since 2000.
In February 2013, PETA named Staples Center the most "vegetarian-friendly" arena in the NBA.
L.A. Live
Staples Center is only a part of a 4,000,000-square-foot (371,612.2Â m2) development by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) adjoining Staples Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center. The development, known as L.A. Live, broke ground on September 15, 2005. L.A. Live is designed to offer entertainment, retail and residential programming in the downtown Los Angeles area.
Image gallery
See also
- Joel Wachs, Los Angeles City Council member who forged a deal to bring the sports arena to L.A.
- List of music venues in Los Angeles, a list of other music venues in Los Angeles.
References
External links
- Staples Center official website
- AEG Worldwide
- Time lapse video switching between sports