AEG fully embraces City View Terrace’s potential

For years, the Crypto.com Arena terrace, overlooking Peacock Plaza and downtown LA’s skyscraper skyline, was something of an afterthought, especially during games and concerts.

That changed this summer during the latest round of the arena’s ongoing renovations, with the City View Terrace — as it’s known until the naming rights are sold by AEG Global Partnerships — incorporated into the building.

There is a bit of a trend in the NBA around bringing daylight into arena seating (renovations to Gainbridge Fieldhouse and the Spectrum Center recently did this as well).

In LA, walls were blown out and the patio, now accessible to any ticket fan in the building, has been spruced up with new furniture and the addition of two permanent bars (one indoors, one outdoors). Celeb chef David Chang’s cleverly named spicy fried chicken concept, Fuku, has been added to the patio to encourage lingering. A Mechoshade system can open or close during day games to prevent daylight from interfering with the Lakers’ famous theater-like game presentation lighting.

In addition to Fuku, AEG added a LudoBird outlet from another famous fried chicken-loving chef, Ludo Lefebvre, as well as the off-beat Doritos After Dark pop-up shop, whose full menu of food items involves Doritos in some way (think sushi with crushed Dorito crust).

Crypto.com Arena President Lee Zeidman envisions fans getting food and a drink and strolling out onto the patio to enjoy the view, sip and munch — whether or not a basketball or puck is in play.

These are notable additions since the Intuit Dome, which provides a noticeable counterpoint to the fan experience at Crypto.com Arena, opened last week. Intuit Dome takes a more zealous approach to fandom – fans’ attention must be on the field! — while the OG arena in LA moves further in the opposite direction.

It will be fascinating to watch this divergence play out.