The iconic STAPLES Center in Los Angeles is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this week.
Founded in 1999, the arena has grown into a world-class facility — on par with New York’s Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena — and is now home to four professional sports teams, including the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers.
Yet opening STAPLES two decades ago in the less-than-thriving downtown City of Angels was a risky bet.
“The success of STAPLES Center was never guaranteed,” said Lee Zeidman, the president of STAPLES Center and L.A. Live, an adjacent entertainment center. “Nobody went downtown. It rolled up its carpet and closed at 5 p.m.”
Today, STAPLES draws enormous crowds to its events, which range from basketball to hockey to the Grammy Awards. In total, the arena has held 5,000 events, welcomed 75 million fans, and sold over 20 million beers.
The arena is also gearing up for a major event in the sports world next week: the NBA’s October 22 opening night matchup between the teams that call it home: the Lakers and the Clippers.
“We will be the center of the NBA universe,” said Zeidman, who was the arena's first full-time employee 20 years ago. “It is one of the most anticipated opening night games in the history of the NBA."
They say life is about the journey, not the destination — and how you get there makes all the difference. Americans shunned train stations, roadways, and airports amid the coronavirus pandemic, never realizing things could be fundamentally different when they return. In this episode, we're exploring the evolving world of transportation, from how we get around to how goods get to us.
There are a lot of Trump investigations, Peloton has too many bikes, and M&M's get a makeover. Here is all the news you need to know for Friday, January 21, 2022.
Cheddar recs "Ozark" Season 4, Part 1, "Archive 81," "The Last Duel," and "Booksmart."
The 19-year-old Belgian-British pilot Zara Rutherford has set a world record as the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant disrupted the job market.
It's been one year since Biden took the helm, even 10 hours of talking couldn't get the voting rights bill passed, and log on for Sundance 2022. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Thursday, January 20, 2022.
Cardi B has offered to pay the burial costs for all 17 people killed in a fire in a New York City high-rise. New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday that the rapper had offered the financial relief for victims of the Bronx fire.
Crews are making railroad repair in Los Angeles after a train derailed near the location where thieves have been raiding cargo containers, leaving the tracks littered with empted boxes of packaged goods sent by retailers.
Good masks vs. bad masks, big banks pay better than ever, and Autopilot manslaughter charges. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
A Rome villa containing the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio is going back on a court-ordered auction block after no apparent winning bids were entered.
