The arena was opened by Vice President Richard Nixon on July 4, 1959, and its first event followed four days later, a bantamweight title fight between José Becerra and Alphonse Halimi on July 8. It became a companion facility to the adjacent Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The venue was the home court of the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA from October 1960 to December 1967, the Los Angeles Clippers also of the NBA from 1984 to 1999, and the home ice of the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL from October to December 1967 during their inaugural 1967–68 season. It was the home for college basketball for the USC Trojans from 1959 to 2006 and the UCLA Bruins from 1959 to 1965 and again as a temporary home in the 2011–2012 season. It was also the home of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's National Finals Rodeo from 1962 to 1964. It also hosted the Los Angeles Aztecs of the NASL who played one season of indoor soccer there (1980–81),[4] the Los Angeles Blades of the Western Hockey League from 1961 to 1967, the Los Angeles Sharks of the WHA from 1972 to 1974, the Los Angeles Cobras of the AFL in 1988, and the original Los Angeles Stars of the ABA from 1968 to 1970. The arena played host to the top indoor track athletics meet on the West Coast, the annual Los Angeles Invitational track meet (frequently called the "Sunkist Invitational", with title sponsorship by Sunkist Growers, Incorporated), from 1960 until the event's demise in 2004.
The arena hosted the 1968 and 1972 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four, the 1992 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four, the 1963 NBA All-Star Game, Game 6 of the 1970 ABA Finals, and the boxing competitions during the 1984 Summer Olympics.[5] In addition to hosting the final portion of WrestleMania 2 in 1986, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena also hosted WrestleMania VII in 1991 as well as other WWE events. The arena hosted When Worlds Collide, a 1994 joint card between the Mexican lucha libre promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and WCW (which normally called the Great Western Forum home until they, too, moved to Staples Center) that is credited with introducing the lucha style to English-speaking audiences in the U.S.
After then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling turned down an agreement to re-locate the franchise permanently to Anaheim's Arrowhead Pond (now Honda Center) in 1996, the Coliseum Commission had discussions to build an on-site replacement for the Sports Arena.[6] Plans included a seating capacity of 18,000 for basketball, 84 luxury suites, and an on-site practice facility for the Clippers. However, as a new Downtown Los Angeles sports and entertainment arena was being planned and eventually built (Staples Center) two miles north along Figueroa Street,[7] the Coliseum Commission scuttled plans for a Sports Arena replacement, and as a result, the Clippers became one of the original tenants at the new downtown arena. There were also similar plans years earlier, in 1989, as Sterling had discussions with then-Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and then-Coliseum Commission president (and eventual Bradley mayoral successor) Richard Riordan about a Sports Arena replacement; Sterling threatened to lee the Sports Arena and move elsewhere in the Los Angeles region if plans did not come together.[8]
After the Trojans departed to the new Galen Center in 2006, the arena assumed a lower profile. The arena still continued to hold high school basketball championships, as well as concerts and conventions. The UCLA men's basketball team returned to the arena to play a majority of their home games at the Sports Arena during the 2011–12 season while Pauley Pilion underwent renovation.
2010s UCLA vs. Richmond, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, December 23, 2011The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission embarked on a seismic retrofit[when?], designed to bring the Sports Arena up to 21st century seismic standards.[citation needed] Bentley Management Group was hired as the project manager for the Seismic Bracing Remodel. In order to reinforce the existing 316,700-square-foot (29,420 m2) structure, a series of steel braced frames were connected to the existing concrete structural system at both the arena and loge levels of the building. To provide a solid footing for these steel frames, portions of the arena floor had to be excated, then reinforced to provide extra strength. Once the steel frames were fitted and incorporated into the existing structure between existing support columns, concrete was then re-poured into the area. The original crown of the arena, one of its most distinguishing characteristics, was the countless small ceramic tiles, each measuring no more than a square inch in width. A multitude of the crown's tiles were loosening and many others were discolored. In order to remedy this, a new crown was designed, this time using individual sections of EIFS (Exterior insulation finishing system), which offered the decided advantages of better durability, easier maintenance and improved thermal characteristics. A foundation surface was applied directly over the existing tiles, in order to seal the crown and give the new surface something to adhere to. Once the structural work was finished, the walls, ceilings, doors, floors and other areas involved in the modification had to be put back together. Throughout the entire project, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena remained open for business. The result was a brand-new crown around the exterior of the building, as well as a new terrazzo floor on the concourse level.
During an open session meeting on July 17, 2013, the Coliseum Commission authorized the amendment to the existing USC-Coliseum Commission Lease for the operation of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. On July 25, 2013, the Coliseum Commission and USC executed this new long-term master lease agreement. It became effective on July 29, 2013, and the Commission transferred day-to-day management and financial responsibilities for the Coliseum and Sports Arena to USC. This included the rehiring by USC, on a fixed term basis, of the Coliseum/Sports Arena employees who had been working for the commission the previous day. For most of the former Coliseum Commission employees, the fixed term of their employment would be short-lived, ending 10 months later on May 30, 2014.[9]
Closure and replacement Main article: BMO StadiumThe Sports Arena was demolished in order to replace it with a more in-demand facility — a soccer-specific stadium that would house an MLS team. On May 18, 2015, Los Angeles Football Club announced its intentions to build a privately funded 22,000-seat soccer-specific stadium at the site for $250 million.[10] The stadium would be completed by 2018.
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in January 2011From March 15 to 19, 2016, Bruce Springsteen performed a series of three sold-out concerts, the last events held in the arena. When he introduced his song "Wrecking Ball" during the last concert, he opened by saying "We gotta play this one for the old building... We're gonna miss this place, it's a great place to play rock 'n' roll." The arena closed after the last concert. Demolition began in September 2016 for the new stadium development.[11] After a groundbreaking for the new stadium, the arena was demolished between August and October 2016.[12] BMO Stadium now stands in the old Sports Arena footprint.