L.A.'s (Almost) place to be: democratic confab leads rush to arena.

It's not even built yet, and it's already the hottest venue in town.

The imminent and virtually certain announcement that L.A. will host the 2000 Democratic National Convention is a boon not just for the Los Angeles economy, but for its newest sports and events facility - Staples Center downtown.

If L.A. does win the Democratic convention, it will be in part because of the new arena - a huge vote of confidence in a facility that members of the site selection committee have never even seen. Landing an event of that stature would add to the center's prestige and almost certainly help it lure other major events.

"Getting the 2000 Democratic National Convention reinforces the momentum that has been building around the Staples Center for the last several months," said L.A.-based sports business consultant David Carter. "Being able to land this kind of event will continue to distance the Staples Center from the rest of the pack of arenas."

Though it won't open for another seven months, Staples Center has already landed deals to host four professional sports teams, including the L.A. Lakers, Kings and Clippers and a recent arrangement to host an arena football team owned by movie mogul Lew Wasserman's grandson, Casey Wasserman. In addition, it has been designated the host of the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

During the next six to eight weeks, Staples officials say that five or six other events will be announced, including opening-month festivities and a headliner New Year's Eve concert. What's more, the 20,000-seat arena is considered a likely candidate to host other major internationally televised events, like the Grammy Awards.

Staples Center General Manager Robert Goldwater said that even in advance of the official nod by the Democrats, booking agents have shown increased interest in the facility.

"I don't have to spend a lot of time convincing people about the benefits of the Staples Center," Goldwater said. "We are the ones getting calls from concert promoters and agent managers saying they want to come here. They ask me, 'You're bidding for the convention and you have three sports teams already signed up. That's great. How did you manage it?'"

Goldwater is no stranger to political conventions. As assistant and then general manager of New York's Madison square Garden, he helped stage three Democratic national conventions there - in 1976, 1980 and 1992.

"Madison square Garden had been around for a long time and already had a storied history long before any of those conventions," he said. "So getting a national convention was merely a highlight for a particular year. Here, though, we're looking at the prospect of having a national convention in our opening year. It has really helped put us on the map right from the start."

Staples Center was designed specifically with events like the Democratic National Convention and the Grammys in mind.

No other arena in the country has such advanced fiber-optic wiring, according to Goldwater, which can easily accommodate dozens of TV cameras uplinking to satellites for broadcast around the world.

Some of the luxury suites lining the arena will be converted into anchor booths for broadcasts during major events. Others will be used for broadcast positions, meaning producers will have access to camera stations coveting a 270-degree arc around the facility, instead of being relegated to a corner or a single row of press boxes as is the case at most arenas.

In an effort to land the Grammy Awards, arena executives went so far as to show their construction plans to event organizers in search of feedback. After hearing their concerns, a second entrance for trucks was added to the plans.

"We have the capability of removing a section of seats to allow trucks to drive right onto the floor. Other arenas. like Madison square Garden, do not have this capability, which means you have to park the semi-trailers somewhere and have a crew to carry the equipment in," Goldwater said.

Staples will have more floor space than either Madison square Garden or the San Diego Convention Center hall.

"We were thinking about events like the convention when we were designing the arena, which has given us a big boost," he said. "We're not trying to squeeze a major event like the convention into an already existing floor plan."

These design elements could make the difference between a successful convention and a failure - and when it comes to political conventions, the venue has sometimes been turned into the scapegoat when a candidate fails to win election.

Such was the case in 1996, when the Republicans held their conclave in San Diego. That city's Convention Center had some limitations: complaints surfaced about the ceiling being too low and pillars getting in the way of the television cameras. As it became obvious that the Bob Dole/Jack Kemp campaign was losing steam, some of these shortcomings found their way into television commentaries.

While the prospect of getting the convention appears to have given Staple's marketing efforts an initial boost, establishing a track record of successful events is equally important, according to one rival arena marketing director.

"One of the things that keeps us successful is our track record in attracting the business and getting the acts to return," said Stephanie Vinge, sales and marketing director for New York-based Ogden Entertainment Inc., which has a 30-year contract to manage the Arrowhead Pond for the city of Anaheim. The Pond hosts the Anaheim Mighty Ducks hockey team and opened four years ago with a Barbra Streisand concert.

"While any major event like a national convention is fabulous for any arena, you need a really solid mix of events, because a reputation for success in one

area - say hockey - does not necessarily carry over into success in another area, like concerts. You have to build a reputation in each area."

Goldwater said that booking a wide variety of events is one of the top goals of the first year's marketing efforts.

"We see a diversity of events as key, so that we can let all sorts of audiences experience the Staples Center," he said.

Carter added that prestigious events will help solidify the venue's reputation.

"With the Lakers, Kings and Clippers, probably the Democratic convention and maybe the Grammys, other acts will realize that if they don't play at the Staples Center, they won't be at the top place," he said. "If they end up back at the Forum, for example, they may feel like second-class citizens."