LOS ANGELES (November 1, 2011) — Thanks to a never-ending parade of sporting events, spectators have something to cheer about with baseball, basketball, ice hockey, football, and soccer in Los Angeles. “LA is the City of Champions, and Angelenos are proud to showcase our world-class professional and college teams to the rest of the country and the world,” said Kathy Schloessman, president of the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission, an affiliate of LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.
STAPLES Center
When it comes to basketball, Los Angeles is fortunate to be home to two NBA Teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, and one WNBA team, the Los Angeles Sparks. All three teams play at STAPLES Center in Downtown Los Angeles. In addition, LA’s hockey team, the Los Angeles Kings, plays at STAPLES Center as well.
STAPLES Center is located adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center and L.A. LIVE, Downtown’s newest entertainment and dining complex. The arena opened on October 17, 1999, with a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concert as its first event. Since that time, it has hosted seven NBA Finals, three WNBA Finals, the 2000 Democratic National Convention, the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 52nd Annual NHL All-Star game, two NBA All-Star games, Pac-12 Basketball Championship tournaments, and many more events. Each year, STAPLES Center hosts over 250 events with nearly 4,000,000 visitors. STAPLES Center has received the prestigious Pollstar-CIC Arena of the Year award two years in a row, and has established itself as a world-class arena with over 35 million guests visiting since its opening in 1999. In June 2011, STAPLES Center was named Venue of the Year at the 2011 Stadium Business Awards in Barcelona, Spain.
Dodger Stadium
The Los Angeles Dodgers play at historic Dodger Stadium. Since 1958, when the Boys in Blue moved from Brooklyn to palm-studded Los Angeles, the Dodgers have won an astonishing eight National League championships and five World Series titles. Dodgers Stadium, located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, opened on April 10, 1962 and is currently the third oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. Dodger Stadium can host gatherings of 10 to 56,000 with large parties, interactive baseball festivals, softball tournaments, team-building exercises, picnics and more.
Home Depot Center
U.S. World Cup star Landon Donovan and world-renowned soccer player David Beckham lead LA’s soccer team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, which plays its home games at Home Depot Center located just 10 miles south of Downtown Los Angeles. The Galaxy has been a major force in MLS since its inaugural season in 1996. The Home Depot Center’s 27,000-seat main stadium was designed specifically for soccer. The facility is also home to an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, plus 32 practice courts; a Track & Field facility that has 8,000 permanent seats and is expandable to accommodate 20,000 fans for major track and field competitions; and a 100,000-square-foot Velodrome that has a specially designed 250 meter indoor wood bicycle racing track. More than 45 U.S. athletes who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics trained at The Home Depot Center in preparation for the Games. Designated as an "Official U.S. Olympic Training Site," The Home Depot Center is the nation's most complete training facility for Olympic, amateur and professional athletes.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Located in Exposition Park, just a few miles south of Downtown Los Angeles and adjacent to the University of Southern California (USC) campus, is the historical Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. While Los Angeles does not have an NFL team, the Coliseum is home to USC’s college football team. The 92,000-seat Coliseum has the distinction of being the only stadium in the world to host the Olympic Games twice, in 1932 and 1984. The Olympic Cauldron was built for the Olympic Games, and it is still lit during the fourth quarter of USC football games and other special occasions. It is also the only Olympic stadium to have also hosted Super Bowls and World Series. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was declared a National Historic Landmark on July 27, 1984, the day before the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics.
College Athletics
Home to two top-tier schools, LA has collegiate sporting events in just about every discipline you can imagine.
For UCLA Bruins and their fans, school pride fuels their passion. With student-athlete alums like Jackie Joyner-Kersee (multiple-Olympic medal winner) and Jackie Robinson, today’s athletes are in the best company imaginable. The school fields top men’s teams for basketball, baseball and football. Women’s teams are competitive in basketball, softball and several other sports.
Pauley Pavilion, home to UCLA men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball and women’s gymnastics, is regarded as one of the finest all-around collegiate facilities in the nation and has been the site of numerous events. Pauley Pavilion contains 10,337 permanent upholstered seats and retractable bleachers for 2,482 spectators.
At USC, the Trojans field some of the finest college athletes in the nation. In nearly every sport, the Trojans are among the upper echelon in rankings and continue to draw budding talent that regularly goes on to staff the professional levels.
The Galen Center, which opened in October 2006, is home to USC's basketball and volleyball programs. There are 10,258 seats in the 255,000 square-foot arena, in addition to an attached 45,000 square-foot pavilion that contains additional practice room for basketball or volleyball, along with seating for 1,000.
LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau is a private, nonprofit business association whose primary mission is to market and promote Los Angeles as the premier site for meetings, conventions and leisure travel. Though not part of city government, LA INC. is recognized as the city's official tourism marketing organization. For more information, visit the official visitor information website of Los Angeles at www.discoverLosAngeles.com. Please visit our FaceBook page at facebook.com/LosAngelesFan or follow us on Twitter @discover_LA.
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Media contacts:
Carol Martinez
Vice President, Communications
phn: 213/236-2357, fax 213/425-1457
cmartinez@lainc.us
Beth Brett
Director, Communications
phn:213/236-2397, fax 213/452-1497
bbrett@lainc.us
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