Downtown Los Angeles’ Staples Center is a very busy facility,
hosting more than 250 events and about 4 million guests a year across sporting
events, concerts and live awards shows. As a central figure in LA culture, it
goes without saying that a visit to the Staples Center
is bound to be on everyone’s entertainment and sports calendar for the year!
An L.A. staple!
Opened in October 1999 and named for one of the private
financial backers - office supplies company Staples Inc, the Staples Center
celebrated its launch with a concert by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street
Band.
The arena itself covers a space of 950,000 square feet and
caters to basketball and ice hockey games, as well as concerts and other
sporting events. Given the required layout of the courts and spectator areas
for these games, the Staples Center can seat up to 19,067 fans for basketball
games, 18,340 for ice hockey, and about 20,000 for everything else.
Besides the sports affairs, this iconic venue has seen stunning performances by Jay-Z, Beyonce,
Justin Timberlake, Pink, U2, Paul McCartney, and many others, and has hosted 12
of the last 13 Grammy Awards!
The Staple Tenants
At present, the Staples Center serves as home base for NBA
teams Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, National Hockey League (NHL)
team Los Angeles Kings, and WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks. Up until 2008 and
2010 respectively, the facility also hosted Arena Football League (AFL) team
Los Angeles Avengers and NBA D-League team Los Angeles D-Fenders.
September’s a Busy Time at Staples
August ends with a bang courtesy a night with Puerto Rican star
performers Daddy Yankee and Don Omar on the 27th, and
then continues with great evenings with hip hop artists Drake
and Future on September 7, 9 and 10, and country diva Carrie Underwood on September 14!
Those who prefer a more sporty flavour to their entertainment
can cheer their hearts out courtside as Indiana
Fever, Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury, and San Antonio Stars
play off against Los Angeles Sparks between September 4 and 16.
If you’re looking for something between concerts and sports,
the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics
Champions on September 24 might be just the thing!