The opening of Staples Center in 1999 gave Los Angeles' home teams a true home in the city after the Lakers and Kings had long played in nearby Inglewood, and the new downtown arena, beside the 1971 convention center, also provided larger space for concerts, sporting events, and conventions, helping Los Angeles host the 2000 Democratic National Convention, its first political nominating convention in 40 years, after the city's first national political convention in 1960 had nominated John F. Kennedy. Staples secured the arena's naming rights with a reported $100 million bid for 20 years, and the venue quickly became a focal point of civic and cultural life. The Lakers and Clippers drew celebrities such as Jack Nicholson, front-row seats sold for more than $1,000 per game in the inaugural season, and in 2004 Earvin "Magic" Johnson unveiled a 17-foot bronze statue of himself on Star Plaza near Figueroa Street and Chick Hearn Court, named for broadcaster Chick Hearn, who called 3,338 consecutive Lakers games over nearly 40 years. The year after the arena opened, the Lakers won their first championship in a dozen years and then captured three consecutive championships. After a charity gala and an October 1999 opening performance by Bruce Springsteen, the arena hosted major performers, the Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, and a 2004 tribute concert to Ray Charles, and it became the nation's most successful venue, filling its seats 240 days per year.
