Posted on Saturday, 5th September 2009 by Josh
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex. It is suitable for large indoor events, including basketball, ice hockey, arena football and concerts. When configured for basketball, the Staples Center has a capacity of 18,997 spectators. When it hosts concerts and boxing matches, the Staples Center has a capacity of 20,000.
It is owned and operated by the L.A. Arena Company and Anschutz Entertainment Group. The arena serves as the home of two NBA franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers, 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) played there until they folded.
Construction broke ground in 1998 and the Staples Center was opened a year later. It was financed privately at a cost of $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. Staples Center opened on October 17 1999, with a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert as its inaugural event. It is home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, and formerly the Los Angeles Avengers of the AFL. It is the only arena that is home to 5 professional sports franchises.
Staples Center was named New Major Concert Venue (2000) and Arena of the Year (2000 and 2001) by Pollstar Magazine and has been nominated each year since its 1999 opening.
The arena is host to 250 events and nearly 4,000,000 visitors a year. In just 10 years of existence, the Staples Center has hosted six NBA Finals series. All have been played by the Lakers. Since its opening day, the arena has also hosted three WNBA Finals (from 2001 to 2003), the 2000 Democratic National Convention, the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 52nd NHL All-Star game, the 2004 NBA All-Star Game, the Pac-10 Basketball Finals since 2002, the WTA Tour Championships from 2002 to 2005, the first Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, the annual Grammy Awards since 2000 with the exception of 2003, the Summer X Games indoor competitions since 2003, the UFC 60 pay per view event, as well as numerous Concerts and HBO Championship Boxing matches. In addition to hosting WrestleMania 21, which holds the venue’s attendance record of 20,193, Staples Center has also hosted Unforgiven 2002, Judgment Day 2004, No Way Out 2007, and SummerSlam 2009 as well as other World Wrestling Entertainment events.
British rock band Oasis, who have regularly performed sold out shows in the city, made their last ever concert appearance in the city at the arena on December 4, 2008 to a crowd of 10,000 fans.
On August 19, 2008, Staples Center hosted the Dave Matthews Band just hours after the death of sax player LeRoi Moore.
On July 7, 2009, a public memorial for Michael Jackson was held at Staples Center.
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