Crypto.com Arena

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Crypto.com Arena opened on the 17th of October 1999. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band played the first concert ever held inside it. For its first twenty-two years, though, the downtown Los Angeles building carried a different name: Staples Center. Getting to opening night took years of tense negotiation between city officials and real estate developers. The fight was so drawn out that people came to call it "the deal that almost wasn't." That contested beginning eventually gave way to a building known for record-setting nights on the court. It also became known for sold-out concerts and for very public grief when the city lost some of its own. What was so difficult about getting the arena built in the first place? And how did it end up trading its original name for one belonging to a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange? That deal became the most valuable naming rights contract in the history of sports.

• 2. A Contested Deal

  ›

  Edward P. Roski of Majestic Realty and Philip Anschutz acquired the Los Angeles Kings in 1995. A year later they began searching for a new home for the team, which then played at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood. Majestic Realty and Anschutz Entertainment Group were scouting available land when Steve Soboroff, then president of the LA Recreation and Parks Commission, suggested a site downtown, next to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The idea intrigued Roski and Anschutz, and a plan for the arena began to take shape.

  Negotiations between the developers and city officials dragged on for months. Roski and John Semcken of Majestic Realty led the talks for the real estate side. Councilman Joel Wachs opposed using public funds to subsidize the project, and councilwoman Rita Walters objected to parts of the plan. At more than one point, the developers threatened to pull out entirely.

  City leaders and the developers eventually reached an agreement, and construction broke ground in 1997. The building was financed entirely with private money, at a cost of US$375 million. It opened two years later carrying the name of Staples Inc., the office-supply company that paid for twenty-year naming rights. Staples renewed that naming deal in 2009, a full decade before the arena would trade its name away completely.

• 3. Two Teams, One Roof

  ›

  From 1999 to 2024, the arena was the only building in the NBA shared by two teams. The Lakers and the Clippers both played home games there for twenty-five straight seasons. The Kings joined them from the start as the arena's NHL tenant, and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks arrived in 2001. Alongside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the arena was one of only three venues like it in North America. Each was a professional sports venue that had hosted two teams from the same league under one roof.

  The Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers played at the arena from 2000 until the team folded in 2009. The NBA G League's D-Fenders, known at first as the South Bay Lakers, were tenants from 2006 to 2011. They then relocated to the Lakers' Toyota Sports Center practice facility in El Segundo for the 2011-12 season.

  The Kings played their first game at the new arena on the 20th of October 1999, tying the Boston Bruins 2-2 in overtime. The Clippers followed on the 2nd of November 1999, losing 92-104 to the Seattle SuperSonics. The Lakers played their first game there on the 3rd of November 1999, beating the Vancouver Grizzlies 103-88.

  In September 2021, the Clippers broke ground on a new arena of their own, Intuit Dome in Inglewood. The team played its final regular season game at the arena on the 14th of April 2024, losing 105-116 to the Houston Rockets. Its final playoff game there came on the 1st of May 2024, a 93-123 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round.

  The building itself covers 950,000 square feet, with an arena floor measuring 94 feet by 200 feet and a roofline rising 150 feet. It seats up to 19,067 for basketball, 18,145 for ice hockey, and around 20,000 for concerts. Two-thirds of that capacity sits in the lower bowl, including 2,500 club seats. There are also 160 luxury suites, including 15 event suites, spread across three levels between the lower and upper bowls.

  The single biggest crowd the arena has ever held was 20,820 fans. They came not for basketball or hockey but for a welterweight title fight between Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley on the 25th of January 2009.

• 4. Statues in Star Plaza

  ›

  Fourteen statues honoring famous Los Angeles athletes and broadcasters stand outside the arena in an area called Star Plaza. Wayne Gretzky's statue, unveiled on the 9th of October 2002, commemorates his time with the Los Angeles Kings at the Forum from 1988 to 1996. Magic Johnson followed on the 11th of February 2004, honoring his years with the Lakers at the Forum from 1979 to 1991. He also had a brief return in 1996.

  Oscar De La Hoya, a native of East Los Angeles, was honored on the 1st of December 2008. Chick Hearn, the Lakers' long-time broadcaster from 1961 to 2002, received his statue on the 20th of April 2010. Jerry West played for the Lakers from 1960 to 1974 and coached the team from 1976 to 1979. He was honored with a statue on the 17th of February 2011.

  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played for the Lakers at the Forum from 1975 to 1989, was added on the 16th of November 2012. Luc Robitaille, a Kings player across three stints between 1986 and 2006, followed on the 7th of March 2015. Shaquille O'Neal, who played for the Lakers from 1996 to 2004, was honored on the 24th of March 2017.

  Bob Miller, the Kings' broadcaster from 1973 to 2017, received a statue on the 13th of January 2018. Elgin Baylor, a Laker from 1958 to 1971, followed on the 6th of April 2018. Dustin Brown, who played for the Kings from 2003 to 2022, was honored on the 11th of February 2023.

  The Los Angeles Kings Monument was erected in Star Plaza in 2016. Kobe Bryant, who played for the Lakers from 1996 to 2016, received his own statue on the 8th of February 2024. A joint Kobe and Gianna Bryant Memorial Statue followed on the 2nd of August 2024. That date was chosen to reference both of Bryant's uniform numbers, 8 and 24, along with Gianna's number 2. Pat Riley played for the Lakers from 1970 to 1975 and coached the team from 1979 to 1990. His statue, the most recent addition, arrived on the 22nd of February 2026.

  A third statue of Kobe Bryant, honoring his number 24, is planned.

• 5. A New Name

  ›

  On the 16th of November 2021, it was announced that Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com had acquired the arena's naming rights. The change took effect on the 25th of December 2021, timed to coincide with the Lakers' nationally televised Christmas Day game. The deal was reported to be worth $700 million over 20 years. That compares with the $116 million Staples paid for its own 20-year agreement, making it the most valuable naming rights contract in sports history.

  The new name met resistance, and many fans kept calling the building Staples Center anyway. Former Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal said on his podcast that he was glad the name had changed. He argued that "Staples Center belongs to Shaq and Kobe forever."

  Part of that resistance traced back to Kobe Bryant himself. Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Afterward, several media outlets began calling the arena "The House That Kobe Built," a nod to his 20-year career with the Lakers. On the 24th of August 2020, Los Angeles City Council president Herb Wesson proposed renaming the stretch of Figueroa Street around the arena "Kobe Bryant Boulevard."

  In 2022, the arena began a multi-phase renovation expected to finish by 2024. The first phase, completed over the 2022 NBA and NHL offseason, brought new video boards, ribbon displays, and updated concessions. Later phases call for converting the City View Terrace into an indoor-outdoor deck and adding a new area called the Tunnel Club. Plans also include turning Chick Hearn Court into a pedestrian plaza linking to the rest of L.A. Live, plus updated locker rooms and player facilities.

• 6. The Grammy Stage

  ›

  Dave Matthews Band played the arena twice in 2008, the first show falling on the same day that founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore died. The venue hosted the 1st Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 and the MTV Video Music Awards in 2012. In 2011, Jenni Rivera became the first female regional Mexican musician to sell out a show there.

  The annual Grammy Awards have been held at the arena every year since 2000, except in 2003, 2018, 2021, and 2022. As of 2025, the arena has hosted the Grammys 23 times, more than any other venue in the ceremony's history.

  Lady Gaga performed her Monster Ball Tour at the arena across multiple dates in 2011, including a show on her birthday on the 28th of March. She returned with her Born This Way Ball on the 20th and the 21st of January 2013. She closed out her run at the arena with artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball on the 21st and the 22nd of July 2014.

  Taylor Swift has sold out the arena 16 times, more than any other performer. On the 21st of August 2015, before a show on her 1989 World Tour, Kobe Bryant presented her with a banner marking the achievement. It was hung in the arena's rafters. Lakers and Kings fans came to blame that banner for their teams' playoff droughts. The Kings began hiding it during home games, and it was taken down entirely in December 2020.

  Mexican musicians Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzmán played two sellout shows at the arena in 2017. During Super Bowl LVI festivities, the arena hosted the "Super Bowl Music Fest" in February 2022. Headliners included Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, Miley Cyrus, and Green Day. The arena also hosted the concert portion of KCON's American editions. Those runs took place on the 20th and the 21st of August 2022, and again from the 26th to the 28th of July 2024.

  Michael Jackson had been rehearsing at the arena for his This Is It concert residency. AEG, the arena's operator, had promoted the run of shows for The O2 Arena in London. He had last rehearsed there roughly 12 hours before he died, on the same day.

• 7. Farewell Services

  ›

  The arena has hosted three public memorials for major cultural figures. The first came after musician Michael Jackson died on the 25th of June 2009; his memorial took place at the arena on the 7th of July 2009. Eulogies and performances came from Smokey Robinson, Mariah Carey, Macaulay Culkin, Trey Lorenz, Queen Latifah, Lionel Richie, and John Mayer. Stevie Wonder, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Hudson, and Berry Gordy also took part. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooke Shields, Martin Luther King III, Bernice King, and Sheila Jackson-Lee spoke as well. Usher, Shaheen Jafargholi, Kenny Ortega, Judith Hill, and Orianthi Panagaris performed, alongside Jackson's siblings Marlon, Jermaine, and Janet, and his daughter Paris.

  Rapper Nipsey Hussle died on the 31st of March 2019, and his memorial service was held at the arena on the 11th of April 2019. Rapper YG spoke, Stevie Wonder sang "Tears in Heaven," and tributes came from Hussle's wife Lauren London, Jhené Aiko, Anthony Anderson, and Marsha Ambrosius. Snoop Dogg delivered a eulogy. Afterward, a hearse procession carried Hussle through several South Los Angeles communities.

  Kobe Bryant died alongside his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas in January 2020. His public memorial took place at the arena on the 24th of February 2020, hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Eulogies came from Bryant's wife Vanessa, Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, Rob Pelinka, Diana Taurasi, Geno Auriemma, and Sabrina Ionescu. The date was chosen to reference both of Bryant's uniform numbers, 8 and 24, along with Gianna's number 2.

• 8. Feats on the Floor

  ›

  On the 22nd of January 2006, Kobe Bryant scored a career-high 81 points at the arena in a game against the Toronto Raptors. It remains the third-highest single-game scoring total in NBA history, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points and Bam Adebayo's 83.

  The Lakers won six NBA championships while playing at the arena. The first came on the 19th of June 2000, when they beat the Indiana Pacers 116-111 in game six to claim their twelfth title. The sixth came a decade later, on the 17th of June 2010, when they beat the Boston Celtics 83-79 in game seven for their sixteenth title. In between, the Lakers hosted championship-series games in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2008. They swept the New Jersey Nets in 2002 but lost in six games to the Celtics in 2008.

  The Kings won their first two Stanley Cups while based at the arena. On the 11th of June 2012, they beat the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in game six for their first championship in franchise history. Two years later, on the 13th of June 2014, they beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in double overtime of game five for their second.

  The Sparks added three WNBA championships of their own. They beat the Charlotte Sting in 2001 and the New York Liberty in 2002, both won at the arena. Their third title came against the Minnesota Lynx in 2016, in a five-game series. One game shifted to Galen Center for a scheduling conflict with the Kings. They also reached the Finals in 2003 and 2017 but lost both times, to the Detroit Shock and the Lynx respectively.

  Before the 2006-07 season, the arena's lighting was reworked for Lakers games so that the lights focused only on the court. The team called it the Lights Out campaign, echoing its early years at the Forum. A see-through shot clock from Daktronics debuted before the 2008-09 season, and the Clippers adopted the same design before 2010-11. The Lakers unveiled a new hardwood floor on the 13th of October 2012. Its center-court logo was ringed with 16 stars, one for each of the franchise's championships to that point. A 17th star was added and unveiled on the 22nd of December 2020.

  On the 15th of January 2018, the Houston Rockets played the Los Angeles Clippers at the arena. Afterward, Rockets guard Chris Paul slipped through a tunnel connecting the two teams' locker rooms. He confronted his former Clippers teammates, Austin Rivers and Blake Griffin. Teammates Trevor Ariza, James Harden, and Gerald Green joined him, though the confrontation stayed verbal.

  During the 2028 Summer Olympics, Crypto.com Arena will host the artistic gymnastics competition and the boxing finals. During the Paralympics that follow, it will host wheelchair basketball. IOC rules require the venue to carry a generic name throughout both Games.