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."
Canada will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into Canada on Aug. 9, and those from the rest of the world on Sept. 7.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is writing what his publisher is calling an “intimate and heartfelt memoir.” The book, currently untitled, is expected to come out late in 2022.
Pacific Gas & Electric says its equipment may have been involved in the start of the big Dixie Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada.
German officials defended their actions ahead of last week’s devastating floods that caught many towns by surprise and left 196 people dead in Western Europe, but they conceded that lessons still need to be learned from the disaster.
Jill and Carlo are back for a new week as Canada overtakes the U.S. in vaccinations and the White House blames Facebook for our rate plateauing. Plus, Team USA loses another top athlete ahead of the Olympics.
Smoke and heat from the massive wildfire in southeastern Oregon are creating so-called fire clouds over the blaze.
Emergency workers in western German and Belgium are rushing to rescue hundreds of people in danger or still unaccounted for as the death toll from devastating floods rose to more than 125 people.
Cheddar recs 'Black Summer,' 'The Komisky Method,' 'Gunpowder Milkshake,' 'Star Wars: The Bad Batch,' and 'Power Book III,' for streaming the weekend of July 16, 2021.
Jill and Carlo debate the new Los Angeles County mask mandate. Severe flooding sweeps through Germany, who bailed out on Bezos' spaceflight, a major medical breakthrough and more.
Actor and investor Ashton Kutcher revealed he wasn't going to be making his Virgin Galactic trip into space after discussion with his fellow celeb wife Mila Kunis.
