The Great Western Forum, known in Los Angeles simply as The Forum, is an indoor arena in Inglewood, California. It was the home of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings from 1967 to 1999, when the Staples Center was opened, and for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 until they too moved to the Staples Center in 2001. This article is about the largest city in California. ... The following is a list of indoor arenas. ... Inglewood is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... The National Basketball Association of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the NBA, is the premier professional basketball league in North America. ... The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California. ... NHL can also be an abbreviation for National Historic Landmark or Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. ... The Los Angeles Kings are a National Hockey League team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. Founded: 1967 Arena: Staples Center Former Home Arenas: Long Beach Sports Arena (part of 1967), Los Angeles Sports Arena (part of 1967); The Forum (1967-1999) Uniform colors: Purple, black, and silver Logo design... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... WNBA may also refer to WNBA-AM, a radio station in Illinois. ... The Los Angeles Sparks are a Womens National Basketball Association team that was formed in 1997, being one of the teams that participated in the leagues inaugural game. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

The Fabulous Forum, as it was originally called, was constructed by Jack Kent Cooke, owner of the Lakers and founding owner of the Kings, in 1967. The oval-shaped, $16 million structure was named for and designed to evoke the Roman Forum. The arena seats 17,505 for basketball, 16,005 for ice hockey, and up to 18,000 for concerts; it has no luxury suites, but held an unprecedented 2,400 club seats for events. In excess of 70 percent of the seats were located between the goals, and no seat is more than 170 feet from the playing surface. Jack Kent Cooke (25 October 1912 – 6 April 1997) was a Canadian entrepreneur who became one of the most widely-known executives in North American professional sports. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum, although the Romans referred to it more often as the Forum Magnum or just the Forum) was the central area around which ancient Rome developed, in which commerce, business, prostitution, cult and the administration of justice took place. ... An arena is a circular or oval shaped public space (akin to a classical amphitheatre), designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. ... Basketball is very popular in U.S. colleges. ... Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in areas where it is more common than field hockey, is a team sport played on ice. ... A concert comprises a performance, usually involving some degree of formality, and particularly a performance featuring music. ...

The Forum became a landmark in the Greater Los Angeles Area, in large measure from the success of the Lakers and from the Hollywood celebrities often sighted in its audiences. It hosted a vast number of events such as tennis matches, rock concerts, boxing matches, ice shows, rodeos, and political events. Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in Southern California The Greater Los Angeles Area is the agglomeration around the city of Los Angeles, California. ... ... Tennis balls This article is about the sport, tennis. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Steer roping Rodeo is a traditional folk North American sport with influences from the history of Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) and American cowboys. ...

In 1979, Cooke sold it to Jerry Buss along with the Lakers and the Kings for a then-record $67.5 million. Buss sold the naming rights to Great Western Savings & Loan, and the name was retained even after Great Western was purchased by another S&L, Downey, and after Downey itself was acquired by Washington Mutual. This page refers to the year 1979. ... Dr. Jerry Buss is a former real estate developer, a basketball team owner, and a poker player. ... Naming rights as contemplated in this article are the right to name a piece of property, either a tangible property or an event, usually granted in exchange for valuable consideration such as money. ... A savings and loan association is a financial institution which specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage loans. ... Despite its name, Washington Mutual NYSE: WM is a stock financial services company based in Seattle, Washington. ...

By the early 1990s, the arena was among the oldest used for professional basketball (although not as old as the Los Angeles Clippers' home, the Los Angeles Sports Arena). It was considered too small, and more importantly lacked premium skyboxes and sufficient retail and commercial space. City officials seeking to redevelop the downtown area received the support of Buss and Clippers co-owner Edward Roski to move both the Clippers and the Lakers to the new Staples Center when it was completed in the autumn of 1999. Blaming the venue for low attendance, the Sparks followed them in 2001. // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining a similar mindset. ... The Los Angeles Clippers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California. ... The Los Angeles Sports Arena is an indoor arena in Los Angeles, California. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

The Forum still stands today. Faithful Central Bible Church, home to a predominantly African-American congregation numbering over 12,000, purchased the building and holds its regular service there each Sunday morning. The church makes the building available for rent (for concerts/sporting events/etc. that require that type of large venue) on other days. In 2005, the Inglewood Cobras of the American Basketball Association annonced they would call the Forum home. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... A congregation is an assembly of people for a given purpose. ... In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of a church practicing Sabbatarianism. ... The American Basketball Association (ABA) refers to two distinct professional basketball leagues. ...

External links

• Associated Press: Forum farewell: Kings move to new Staples Center in downtown L.A., September 21, 1999.
• THE GREAT WESTERN FORUM