** Editor's Note: Lynn Walford is a free-lance writer who has covered industry news for numerous trade publications, including ATM Marketplace, a sister publication to Selfservice World. To submit a comment about this article, please e-mail the editor.
The digital signs at Staples Center loom over the busiest freeway intersections in the world and are viewed by 550,000 people a day as they commute through downtown Los Angeles. The signs are focal points of sponsorship for the arena and light the way to trends in redevelopment. Opened in October 1999, the Staples Center is the home of two National Basketball Association teams,
The Los Angeles Times reported the signs' high visibility have helped attract $31 million a year. The naming rights to center alone were sold for $116 million over 20 years, the Times reported. The signs are 135- and 143-feet tall and were allowed by a special ordinance from the city to help redevelop the blighted area adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
"The signs are an important part of our sponsorship package," says Michael Roth, vice president of public relations for the Staples Center, which is owned and developed by AEG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company. "They are important because of the vast exposure of our sponsors not only to visitors to the Staples Center, but also to passing viewers."
The marquee signs provide added value to sponsors of events since each is displayed in the event portion of the signs. After the 2007 Grammy Awards, held at the Staples Center, the signs congratulated the winners.
The two digital signs tower above the surrounding center and may be read from either of two nearby freeways. Another digital sign noting events is located in the center of the two-sided signs, surrounded by rotating tri-vision graphics of the founding sponsors with the Staples Center's logo on top. Only founding partners, which include The Home Depot, American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Bank of America, DirecTV, McDonald's, Cingular, Pepsi, Sempra Energy and Toyota, appear on the signs.
Eye-catching and practical
The digital portions of the signs originally housed monochrome incandescent lights. These were upgraded in 2005 to LED lights with a Full Color ProStar RGB display from Brookings, S.D.-based Daktronics, Worldwide, a subsidiary of Daktronics, Inc. Each sign has an active area measuring 15 feet, 1-inch high by 30 feet, 2-inches wide with a matrix of 136 x 320 lights that are 1.3 inches apart from each other. The operating system is a Venus 7000.
"The upgrade to LED lights reduces energy use and maintenance costs," said Mark Steinkamp, marketing and sales support manager for Daktronics, Worldwide. The LED signs use 10 percent of the energy of the incandescent signs and are less prone to vibration damage. Vibration from freeways and traffic often cause the filaments in incandescent bulbs to vibrate and break. The brightness of the LED lights is controlled by photosensitive sensors that alter in brightness according to the exterior light, preventing the lights from being overly distracting to drivers.
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The traffic around the Staples Center is directed by digital LED signs on nearby streets from traffic control product manufacturer, Synchronex. These traffic signs are controlled by the City of Los Angeles which monitors all the traffic flow in the area and directs traffic away from the center during major events.
Competition from other venues
In Southern California, freeways are showing signs from other arenas. After the Staples Center installed its LED signs its Orange county rival, the Honda Center in Anaheim, installed an LED marquee near the 57 freeway, which is part of the heavily trafficked Orange Crush.
"Exterior signage, especially marquees visible to freeway motorists is one of the highest valued components of our sponsorship agreements. Most of our founding partner agreements for venues and sports and entertainment districts contain these assets," said Roth.
Another AEG venue, The Home Depot Center in nearby Carson, California, features a digital freeway-viewable sign. Ground has been broken for the AEG-developed Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California. This venue will have be 59 foott, 6-inch high with a 21 foot, 6-inch wide LED screen on both sides, and is located on the north side of a freeway.
AEG is also building a sports and entertainment complex with giant LED screens as a significant part of the plaza and facades, across the street from the Staples Center, called L.A. Live. The 4 million square foot, $2.5 billion L.A. Live development includes the 7,100-seat live Nokia Theatre, a 54-story hotel, 225 luxury condominiums, broadcast facilities for ESPN and a Grammy museum, along with movie theaters, entertainment, restaurant, residential and office space.
"Digital signage is becoming an accepted way to generate revenue and sponsorships for redevelopment…" said Eric Unold, director of business development for Webpavement LLC, a digital signage network and software provider based in Alpharetta, Georgia. "This trend will continue to grow substantially in the coming years."
