The STAPLES Center in downtown Los Angeles recently unveiled new upgrades, which includes energy efficient LED lighting, a new retractable seating system, and transformation of the TEAM LA Store. An upcoming $8 million investment will go toward a new DraftKings Fantasy Sports Bar & Lounge, upgrades to several concession stands, and upgrades on the newly named Delta Suite Levels private suites.

“We could not be more excited about the upgrades that we made over the past few months and we cannot wait for all of the fans to experience them in the coming NBA and NHL seasons,” said Lee Zeidman, president of the STAPLES Center, in a statement. “Every year, it is our goal and we strive to keep STAPLES Center looking fresh, to have industry leading guest amenities, and provide state-of-the-art technology to our guests, tenants, promoters, and special events.”

Concerning the DraftKings lounge area, the arena said in a statement that, “Guests providing their DraftKings ID will receive discounts on food, beverages and other exclusive opportunities, and throughout each event, lucky fans will be randomly chosen to receive prizes, special offers and even the opportunity to go inside STAPLES Center to watch the action from VIP seats provided by DraftKings.”

Please visit the STAPLES Center press room for a full rundown on all the upgrades and more news about the arena.

(Image: Facebook)

If you’re an iPhone user (as most of you are according to our analytics), you might want to check out a new app called Indoor Survey. Its purpose is to map venues so they can be included in Apple Maps.

“By dropping ‘points’ on a map within the Survey App, you indicate your position within the venue as you walk through,” reads the app’s description. “As you do so, the Indoor Survey App measures the radio frequency (RF) signal data and combines it with an iPhone’s sensor data. The end result is indoor positioning without the need to install special hardware.”

Indoor Survey is only available via a direct link and doesn’t appear (yet) in the App Store’s search tool. It’s also compatible with iPad and iPod touch devices running iOS 9 or later. English, Chinese, and Japanese languages are supported.

(Image: Slash Gear via the App Store)

An online company, Event Marketer, supplies information and a network of needs in branding and marketing for event marketers and public relation agency executives. In a recent episode of “EM All Access,” Oracle VP of Marketing Paul Salinger talks about how his company views the value of sustainable events — and how they are seeing the savings in millions of dollars.

Congratulations to the SMG-manage Cox Business Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for winning its fifth consecutive Readers’ Choice Award from ConventionSouth magazine.

“We are honored to receive the Readers’ Choice Award again,” said Cox Business Center Assistant General Manager Kerry Painter, CFE, CMP, CEM, in a statement. “Our team takes a lot of pride in providing exceptional service to all of our guests. To have those efforts recognized by our peers in the industry is a great achievement.”

The Readers’ Choice Award is given to meeting venues that provide excellent service for group events. Recipients are chosen through online voting by meeting professionals.

“ConventionSouth readers and fans have voted to decide the best meeting sites in the South, and it is no surprise to us that Cox Business Center has been selected to receive our annual Readers’ Choice Award,” said ConventionSouth Publisher J. Talty O’Connor in a statement. “The value in receiving this prestigious recognition is that it comes from the United States’ top meeting professionals who hold events in the South. These planners demand the highest level of customer service and quality facilities, and they have contributed in determining that Cox Business Center indeed displays the commitment to professionalism, creativity and service that they require.”

Readers’ Choice Award recipients will be featured in the December issue of ConventionSouth magazine.

(Image: Facebook)

The U.K. government refuses to change its stance on “safe standing” sections at stadiums although fans and some teams strongly support the idea.

Nearly half of all football (soccer) clubs in Germany have safe standing sections in their venue as it increases attendance, adds to the atmosphere, and helps keep ticket prices down. For example, Bayern Munich’s (Germany) most affordable season ticket costs £150 while Arsenal’s (England) most affordable season ticket costs £1,014.

Why is the U.K. against “safe standing?” As seen in this ESPN 30 for 30, the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 left 96 fans dead from a crush in a “safe standing” section. New initiatives have been developed to prevent a similar disaster, such as every row having a rail compared to Hillsborough where a rail was placed in every 10 rows or so. However, the U.K. government is still highly reluctant to approve “safe standing.”

The Stretford End terrace prior to renovations in 1993. Notice the old version of safe standing in the supporters’ section.

We’d love to hear from our members about this. Do any of our venues in the U.S. or Canada have “safe standing” sections? Would you consider adding a “safe standing” section to your venue? Why or why not?

(Image: Jon Darch/Creative Commons)