Staples Center

Staples Center

Address	1111 South Figueroa Street
Location	Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°02′35″N 118°16′02″W / 34.04306°N 118.26722°W / 34.04306; -118.26722Coordinates: 34°02′35″N 118°16′02″W / 34.04306°N 118.26722°W / 34.04306; -118.26722
Public transit	at Pico
Operator	L.A. Arena company Anschutz Entertainment Group
Capacity	Basketball: 19,060 (Clippers) 18,997 (Lakers)[1] Ice hockey: 18,230 (Kings)[2] Arena football: 16,096 Concerts: 19,000 Boxing/Wrestling: 21,000 Concert theatre: 8,000
Construction
Broke ground	March 31, 1998
Opened	October 17, 1999
Construction cost	US$375 million ($539 million in 2016 dollars[3])
Architect	NBBJ
Structural engineer	John A Martin & Associates[4]
Services engineer	M-E Engineers Inc.
General contractor	PCL Construction Services, Inc.[5]
Tenants
Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) (1999–present) Los Angeles Clippers (NBA) (1999–present) Los Angeles Kings (NHL) (1999–present) Los Angeles Avengers (AFL) (2000–2008) Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA) (2001–present) Los Angeles D-Fenders (NBA D-League) (2006–2010)

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. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

It is owned and operated by the 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 2011–12 season.^[6] Staples Center is also host to over 250 events and nearly 4 million guests each year.^[7] 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.

Description

Staples Center in June 2002

Structure and architecture

Staples Center measures 950,000 square feet (88,257.9 m²) of total space, with a 94-foot (28.7 m) by 200-foot (61.0 m) arena floor. It stands 150 feet (45.7 m) tall.^[6] The arena seats up to 19,067 for basketball, 18,340 for ice hockey, and around 20,000 for concerts or other sporting events.^[1][7] 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.^[6] 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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10] An eighth statue of Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was unveiled on March 24, 2017.^[11]

History

Staples Center during a Lakers game prior to the installation of the new scoreboard, and after the implementation of a new lighting system.

Construction broke ground in 1998 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.^[6] 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.^[12] 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.^[13][14]

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 1999.^[15] 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

Sports

The venue opened in 1999 as the home of the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. The Los Angeles Clippers also play their games here, but the venue is widely considered to mainly be the home of the Lakers. The Los Angeles Kings of the NHL play their games here as well. 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.^[16]

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 and 2011), the Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, since 2002–2012, the WTA Tour Championships, from 2002–2005, 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, the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, the Summer X Games indoor competitions, since 2003, as well HBO Championship Boxing matches.^[7]

Staples Center before a Clippers game, featuring the new hanging scoreboard.

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,^[17] 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 2006–07 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.^[18] The Daktronics see-through shot-clock was first installed prior to the 2008–09 NBA season. The Clippers adopted the new see through shot clock prior to the 2010–11 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.^[19]

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.^[20]

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.^[21]
  • 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. ^[22]

Night view of Staples Center and L.A. Live

Other events

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

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.^[23][24] WWE's most recent live pay-per-view event at the Staples Center was the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in 2015. Staples Center has hosted a lot of episodes of Raw and SmackDown over the years. On September 24, 2017, it will host No Mercy.

Awards and recognitions

Staples Center was named Best New Major Concert Venue for 1999 and Arena of the Year for 2000 and 2001 by Pollstar Magazine and has been nominated each year since 2000.^[7]

In February 2013, PETA named Staples Center the most "vegetarian-friendly" arena in the NBA.^[25]

L.A. Live

Staples Center is only a part of a 4,000,000-square-foot (371,612.2 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.^[26][27]

Image gallery

See also

• Joel Wachs, Los Angeles City Council member who forged a deal to bring the sports arena to L.A.
• Lakers–Clippers rivalry, a series also known as the "Hallway Series" in reference to their locker rooms' proximity
• List of music venues in Los Angeles, a list of other music venues in Los Angeles.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Staples Center.

• Staples Center official website
• AEG Worldwide
• Time lapse video switching between sports