Staples Center floor changeover time-lapse video

Staples Center is home to four professional sports franchises, the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks. Each team has a different set-up on the arena floor. It is up to the crew overseen by the Staples Center operations department to reconfigure the floor for each game. Several times a year they must make the changeover twice or more over one weekend in between games.

Last Saturday afternoon, while fans were still heading for the exits after the Clippers’ 103-100 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, 65 workers began transforming the arena for the Kings’ game against the Calgary Flames that night. In a well-choreographed routine, they removed player seating and scorekeepers tables before wheeling away the baskets and picking up the 307 interlocking panels that make up the basketball court surface.

At the same time others swept up trash and disassembled sections of seating to make room for the larger ice rink. Advertising signage and plexiglass were installed along the borders.

Once the area was clear, 542 black floor panels were picked up, revealing the ice that is there all season long. Each panel weighs 47 pounds.

The ice is smoothed out by a couple of passes from a pair of Zambonis.

After the hockey game it was the same in reverse, except it was purple and gold basketball floor panels going in for the Lakers’ game against Portland on Monday.

The changeover from basketball to hockey (and from hockey back to basketball) takes two hours.

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