Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) History

Few places can achieve what the Staples Center did in such a young lifespan. The Center is younger than most people who attend it, having opened only nearly 22 years ago. Yet, it quickly became an entertainment icon in Los Angeles.

Since its inception, more than 75 million people have visited the Staples Center to attend its busy schedule of top-tier music concerts, sports events, or other shows. But how did it all come about? Let’s dissect the history of the Staples Center to see how it attained such a prestigious reputation so quickly.

Crypto.com Arena History

Origins

 

Initial Plan

In the summer of 1996, the Los Angeles Kings announced their intention to move from The Forum in Inglewood to a new home, possibly in downtown Los Angeles.

Only a year prior, the Kings was bought by billionaires Ed Roski Jr. of Majestic Realty and Philip Anschutz of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), and now they were looking to establish the Staples Center near the Convention Center in downtown LA.

Then-L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan and City Council President John Ferraro saw the Staples Center's potential to invigorate the downtown LA area. Roski decided to be the project's public face while Anschutz worked on it in the background while avoiding the media like the plague.

 

The Deal That Almost Wasn’t

It’s crazy to think that the Staples Center almost didn’t happen, but it’s true. Some city officials, especially Councilman John Wachs and Councilwoman Rita Walters, weren’t fond of the funds going into its creation, which amounted to $70 million with no guarantee the developers will pay it back.

On the other hand, Ed Roski was so frustrated by the resistance that he threatened to pull out of the whole thing.

Fortunately, one key figure got involved in saving the deal: Cardinal Roger Mahony. Tim Leiweke, President of AEG, asked Cardinal Mahony to interfere and meet with Councilpersons Wachs and Walter to convince them that the project was a solid idea.

Cardinal Mahony agreed and met with the two city officials and, to the developers’ relief, managed to persuade them that downtown LA needed a cultural and political center and the Staples Center was the perfect project for it.

So after months of hard-fought negotiations, an agreement was reached after City Council President Ferraro helped bring everyone to the same perspective, with Wachs helping minimize the public funds going into the project, and construction began in 1997 (Crypto.com Arena seating chart).

 

Opening

On the night of October 17, 1999, and after two suspenseful years of construction (including a new home floor for the Lakers/Clippers) and $375 million, the Staples Center finally opened with an inaugural concert by none other than Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. They were performing a lengthy world tour and went to the Center on their Los Angeles stop.

 

Historic Musical Events

 

Early Days

After the inaugural show on October 17, Springsteen played in the Staples Center for five more days. His setlist included over two dozen songs, including Backstreets, Prove It All Night, Badlands, and of course, Born In The USA.

The Staples Center was quick to attract national icons, as only a few months later, in February 2000, Cher became the second artist to perform a concert in the Center, doing so for two days. Then, only nine days later, the Center saw another show by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. View the current Crypto.com Arena schedule.

 

42nd Annual Grammy Awards

Perhaps the most anticipated event around that time was the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards event, which was scheduled for February 2000 and was the first Grammy Awards event in the 21st century.

Rosie O’Donnell hosted the event, featuring performances by some of the biggest stars in American music, such as Will Smith, Kid Rock, Elton John with Backstreet Boys, Carlos Santana, Britney Spears, and many more.

Since then, the Grammy Awards have been hosted in the Staples Center almost every year, with a few exceptions now and then.

 

2000 Democratic National Convention

You might be wondering what this political event is doing in the musical events section. Well, let us explain.

The DNC was scheduled for August 14, 2000. The politicians and members of the Democratic Party probably expected a slow, cozy night of lobbying and debating in the new Staples Center. However, the infamously political band Rage Against The Machine had other plans, as they staged a free concert outside the Staples Center on the opening night of the DNC.

The band aimed to protest the two-party system, and lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha started the performance by shouting, “brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked,” before playing some of the band’s most political hits, such as “Freedom” and “Bulls on Parade.”

 

43rd Annual Grammy Awards and the Eminem-Elton John Feud

In the months leading up to the 43rd Grammy Awards, the superstar Elton John had called out then-rising rapper Eminem for his use of homophobic slurs in some of his lyrics.

Eminem apologized, and the two artists reconciled, but the star moment on the night of February 21, 2001, was when the duo performed Eminem’s “Stan” together in the Grammy Awards held in the Staples Center.

 

Beyoncé Sets a Record

The 46th Annual Grammy Awards, back again in the Staples Center in 2004, saw Beyoncé dominating the stage alongside Prince. Amazingly, the duo performed various songs, including Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love.”

And it’s not just Beyoncé’s wild performance, as the pop star also went on to win five of the six awards she was nominated for, setting a record for five Grammy wins in one night which remained unmatched until Adele tied with her in 2017.

 

U2 Vertigo Tour

U2 is one of the most successful bands, and their tours are some of the best-selling. And after their album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” won a Grammy Award, they started their worldwide Vertigo Tour, which was the second-highest in 2005 and remains one of the highest-grossing tours to this day.

During the Vertigo Tour, U2 sold out four concerts at the Staples Center and played a wide selection of their music from most albums then, including some rare songs.

But on November 1, after the birthday of drummer Larry Mullen Jr, U2 dedicated the entire day to the drummer to wish him a happy birthday alongside other big names like Charlize Theron, Don Cheadle, and Val Kilmer.

 

2008 California Wildfires and Garth Books to the Rescue

California was devastated in 2008 by more than 6000 fires across the state demolishing over 1.5 million acres of land.

The disaster was shocking, and Garth Brooks took it to the Staples Center to perform a charity event to raise money for the firefighters and victims of the fires. He sold over 85,000 tickets for the five concerts he was scheduled to perform in just two days.

On January 26, 2008, Brooks performed in the Staples Center at 1, 5, and 9 pm, making him the first artist to perform three consecutive concerts in one day in a major arena. And by the end, he’d raised over $9 million for the emergency workers and victims of the wildfire.

 

Michael Jackson Tribute

After Michael Jackson’s tragic death on June 25, 2009, the Staples Center announced their intent to host Jackson’s public memorial service and opened an online lottery to tickets which received millions of applications and thousands receiving their free tickets to the memorial.

On July 7, nearly two weeks after Jackson’s death, the memorial was held with 17,500 fans coming to pay respects to the late star and millions more in their homes on television. Many music stars also attended to pay respects, deliver eulogies, and perform songs.

 

Records Just Keep Getting Set

On August 26, 2015, Taylor Swift set a new record in the Staples Center history for the most sold-out performances. She played for five nights to over 70,000 fans, and in the end, received a special banner from former L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant. The banner still hangs in the Center to this day.

However, just under a year later, Adele broke Swift’s record for the most consecutive sold-out shows, adorning the stage with her music for eight consecutive nights.

 

Historic Sports Moments

 

A Stage Well-Set

By the time the Staples Center opened, it wasn’t hard to expect the success that would follow, especially in sports, because the venue was home to three top-tier teams: the Lakers and Clippers of the NBA and the Kings of the NHL. Only two years later, in 2001, the Sparks of the WNBA also joined.

As expected, the Staples Center hosted several NBA, WNBA, and Stanley Cup Finals, plus many more tournaments in basketball, ice hockey, and some other sports. As a result, the Center saw some historic moments in sports, so let’s look at them.

 

Lakers Break the Curse

After a 12-year dry period in the NBA Finals, the Lakers were hoping to perform well in their new home, the Staples Center. And fortunately for them, they finally managed a good season in 1999-2000.

One of the most intense moments in NBA history was in game 7 of the Western Conference finals. First, some context: the Lakers were leading 3-1 over the Portland Trail Blazers. However, the Lakers blundered the two following games, so the two teams were facing off in the tiebreaker that was game 6.

The Lakers were down 75-60 with just over 10 minutes to go, and that’s when they went on one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history, with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal marching the team forward and the audience skipping heartbeats all over the venue.

Towards the end of the game and with just 40 seconds left, Bryant threw the ball towards the hoop to O’Neal, who pulled off a monster alley-oop to put the Lakers up 85-79. The Lakers held on to their lead and won the game 89-84, then went on to win the entire NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

 

Sparks Win Their First WNBA Championship

Going into the 2001 WNBA Championship were two teams making their Finals debut. At the time, the WNBA Finals was a recent thing, and the only team to have ever won was the Houston Comets, winning every Final from 1997 to 2000. So you can imagine how much each really wanted to win this one.

And win they did, as the Sparks defeated the Charlotte Sting to earn their first WNBA Championship in their home venue, a feat which they repeated next year.

 

Kobe Bryant’s 81-Point Game

Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 100 points in a single game is seen as unbreakable. But the person who came closest to Chamberlain’s record is Kobe Bryant, who, in the Staples Center, played a historic 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors in the 2005-06 season.

To put this in perspective, the second-highest scorer in the game on the Lakers side was Smush Parker with 13 points, and on the Raptors side, it was Mike James with 26.

By the season’s end, Bryant had set a record within the Lakers for the most 40-point games with 27 and the most points scored with 2832, but his 81-point feat remains unbeaten to this day.

 

Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley

In early 2009, “Sugar” Shane Mosley was looking to regain his WBA Welterweight Championship after a three-year hiatus, and his impediment was Antonio Margarito.

On January 24, 2009, the Staples Center observed a record-high attendance of over 20,000 eager fans looking to watch the American emerge triumphantly.

37-year-old Sugar Mosley was seen as an underdog, but after nine suspenseful rounds, he finished Margarito with a TKO to win the title and climb the rankings to #1.

 

Staples Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Just like every venue and auditorium out there, the Staples Center had to close down after just two concerts due to the coronavirus pandemic. But for the first time in the Center’s lifespan, it was able to host an official LA County Vote Center in October and November of 2020.

In 2021, the Staples Center reopened, but to date, it requires attendees to provide health verification by showing proof of full vaccination or a recent COVID-19 negative test to enter.

On Christmas Day 2021, the Staples Center was renamed to the Crypto.com Arena.

 

Final Thoughts

And that’s about it for the history of the Staples Center. It may be brief compared to other historic venues like the Ryman Auditorium, but it’s rich and full of landmark moments in sports and music. After all, who can forget Shaq’s incredible alley-oop comeback?

Anyhow, there's no doubt that the Staples Center will remain a significant venue in Los Angeles. After all, its incredible location revitalized the whole district, and it remains home to four major teams in basketball and ice hockey.