|
Staples Center
Home of the Los Angeles Clippers
The Staples Center is located in downtown Los Angeles, California. The new facility, which opened in October 1999, is named after it's corporate naming right sponsor, Staples office supply. Home to a number of tenants, the Staples Center hosts the AFL Avengers, NBA Clippers, NBA Lakers, NHL Kings and the WNBA Sparks. Seating capacity varies depending upon the event, including 20,000 for concerts, 19,000 for basketball, 18,100 for hockey and 17,900 for arena football. Of the entire seating, 2,500 club seats are included as are three levels of luxury suites with 160 total suites available.
The Staples Center stands tall among other Los Angeles facilities. Measuring 150 ft. high and encompassing 950,000 square feet, fans have no problem finding their way to the site. Once there, they certainly won't have any problems seeing courtesy of the Staples Center and it's $2 million specialty lighting system, along with it's $1.5 million Bose radio sound system and massive scoreboard. In addition, there are 1,200 television screens located sporadically throughout the facility.
Many events are held at the Staples Center, which range from concerts to family shows and, of course, sports. In April 2005, a new attendance record was set at the Staples Center as WWE's annual WrestleMania event drew a crowd of 20, 193 cheering fans. This event is shown live on pay-per-view each year. Equivalent to the NFL's SuperBowl, this is the main event for WWE and it attracts fans in person and through television worldwide.
As previously noted, the Staples Center hosts many of music's top performers on a regular basis. Since 2000, it has welcomed the annual Grammy Award presentations. In addition, this facility has hosted the 2000 Democratic National Convention and the WTA Tour Championships.
As fans approach the Staples Center, they will be greeted by artistic statues of Wayne Gretzky and Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, which are both important figures in sports history. While neither was best known for playing at the Staples Center, they are an important part of the sports recognized here and are respected by fans everywhere.
For those who want to own an officially licensed collectible, team apparel or other souvenir, the TeamLA store is located on the grounds of the Staples Center on the plaza level. A variety of merchandise can be found here featuring every team that calls this venue home. Whether it be basketball, hockey or arena football, there are treasures to be found.
© 2006 Baseballparkonline.com - All rights reserved.
|
