Menu
Facilities

Staples Center upgrades retractable seating

Staples Center officials are spending a big chunk of money to upgrade the retractable seating system at one of sports’ busiest arenas.

The $4 million investment by AEG, the arena’s owner and operator, tops the list of several renovations at a facility turning 15 years old next month, including a new LED sports lighting system and the relocation of Team Store LA to a larger space.

The total cost for all offseason retrofits is about $7.5 million, according to Staples Center President Lee Zeidman.

The retractable seating is a key piece of building operations for an arena that goes through 200 conversions annually and sometimes multiple changeovers in one day to accommodate its three NBA and NHL tenants, Zeidman said. Those conversions must be done within 90 minutes.

The original retractable seats, produced by a company no longer in business, are worn out, said Sam Kropp, Staples Center’s vice president of facility operations.

“We had to get custom-made [replacement] parts, and we’re at the end of the rope of that too, because you just can’t make the parts anymore,” Zeidman said. “It gets expensive.”

The new customized system is produced by StageRight, Kropp said. AEG worked closely with StageRight to design a system to meet the needs of the only major league arena with two NBA teams, the Clippers and Lakers. The NHL Kings and WNBA Sparks also call Staples Center home.

The installation will take place over two seasons because of the arena’s busy event schedule. The first portion, installed at stage end on the facility’s north side, the end most affected by conversions, should be in place by mid-November, Kropp said. The project will be completed in 2015.

“It’s not like we have to go any faster, but it’s going to save us some money, it’s going to save us a little time [which] gives our guys more time to work on the ice and get the basketball court down quicker and gets the players out there quicker,” Zeidman said. “It’s a domino effect.”

Separately, AEG is moving Team Store LA to a vacant space on the main concourse that the old Fox Skybox restaurant once occupied.

AEG Merchandising generated $1.6 million in gross merchandise sales for the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, and arena officials believe they can boost retail revenue further by moving to the larger, 8,000-square-foot space near the arena’s front door — “beachfront property,” Zeidman said.

AEG also spent a six-figure sum to install a new LED sport lighting system for Kings, Clippers and Sparks games that should dramatically reduce energy costs compared with standard metal halide lights, Zeidman said. Staples Center is thought to be the first NBA facility to make that conversion.

The Lakers will continue using their own lighting system modeled after the NBA All-Star Game grid, he said.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/15/Facilities/Staples-Center.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/15/Facilities/Staples-Center.aspx

CLOSE