In the W: Los Angeles Sparks Move Operations to Convention Center Nearby, Turn Back the Clock to 1997 The team will return to Staples Center on Aug. 15 vs. Indiana By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Monday, June 21, 2021 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After a year filled with calls for gender and racial equity, it's time to celebrate the 25th season of the WNBA. Similar to At the Ballpark, On the Gridiron, On the Hardwood, At the Rink, and On the Pitch, SVG's In the W highlights the efforts, technological solutions, and creative ideas of a handful of production crews in the league.
Some of the most successful players in the 25-year history of the WNBA have donned a Sparks jersey, including Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie and future Hall of Famer Candace Parker. Active players - such as six-time All-Star, 2012 Rookie of the Year, and 2016 MVP and WNBA Champion Nneka Ogwumike - are inscribing their names in the league's record book. This year, the franchise will write a new chapter by playing their first 12 home games away from Staples Center and honoring their storied legacy.
Honestly, it has been an adventure, says Danelle Winfield, senior director, game operations, entertainment and promotions, Los Angeles Sparks. [This offseason], it felt like I had an apprenticeship at the same time as my full-time job in order to build this entire arena out.
Logistical Challenge: Organization Moves Next Door to Convention Center
The Los Angeles Sparks' production team is operating at the Los Angeles Convention Center until August.
The team's preparations for its 2021 season took place in an unfamiliar setting. To accommodate the late start to the NBA regular season and the postseason schedules of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, the Sparks packed their things and headed a few steps from Staples Center to a temporary home at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC). The process called for a massive amount of planning on two fronts: the logistics of the large-scale moving of the Sparks' home court and a production strategy for entertaining fans attending games in a new venue.
We have a new court, but it was also the scorer's table, baskets, rigging, behind-the-scenes area, and stands, Winfield says. I worked with over 18 vendors in the middle of the pandemic. We're continuing to deal with not only the [health and safety] rules of the county but the different procedures coming down from the WNBA.
One of the vendors that was used throughout the process was Pipe Dreams, a local event-planning company that assists with project management, draping, scenic walls, props, tents, fencing, and more.
In the beginning, we wanted to conceptualize the feel of [our show] and how it would work out best for us, says Winfield. We hired some amazing talent because I was never going to let go of my work in game operations, entertainment, and promotions.
Wubble Download: Workflows From the 2020 Regular Season in Florida Before the gargantuan challenge of settling into a whole new building, the organization was tasked with providing an exciting atmosphere in the confined WNBA bubble, more commonly known as the Wubble. Heading into the shortened 2020 season, the Sparks had a fair amount of momentum after a successful 2019 campaign. On the court, the squad went on a 14-game winning streak at home, finished in third place in the Western Conference, and made a run to the WNBA Semifinals.
Los Angeles Sparks' Danelle Winfield (left) and Debra Moton are two key members of the game-presentation staff.
Off the court, Winfield and her colleagues were recognized for their stellar work, earning multiple awards: 2019 WNBA Franchise of the Year, Ticket Sales Performance of the Year, Marketing Performance of the Year and #1 in Entertainment, Satisfaction, and Service (according to the WNBA Fan Analytics conducted by Evolved Experience Solutions).
2019 feels like a long time ago, says Winfield. There have been a lot of changes, but, as I reflect back, everything that we did was to basically build a home-court advantage. We made sure to highlight dance cams, play hype videos, and work with our entertainment teams.
With these accolades, the production staff were in relatively good shape to develop engaging content under the difficult circumstances of the bubble. Down at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, a handful of production professionals handled the playout of content, but, in terms of the actual creation of the material, Winfield and company worked together to produce the elements.
To make our players feel like we were with them, she says, we wanted to make sure our theming was seen and our music was present. It was everything that I would do for a regular game day, but I packaged it nicely and sent it on [to the Wubble]. It was hard to watch, because I felt a little disconnected [from what I love], but I'm excited to finally get to produce shows again in front of fans.
Back to the Beginning: Celebrating Inaugural Game With '90s-Themed Content In the summer of 1997, eight franchises founded the juggernaut that is the WNBA. Four of the eight - the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, and Sacramento Monarchs - have since dissolved, and one was rebranded from the Utah Starzz to the San Antonio Silver Stars to the San Antonio Stars and, eventually, to the current Las Vegas Aces. The remaining three have remained a pillar of the league over the past quarter of a century: Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, and the Sparks. The Liberty and Sparks are etched in WNBA lore as participants in the league's first-ever game on June 21, 1997. The current year will honor the legacy of both the league and the franchise.
The Sparks are celebrating the WNBA's 25th Anniversary with their Rooted in LA slogan.
It's
Most recent headlines
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
In the W: Los Angeles Sparks Move Operations to Convention Center Nearby, Turn Back the Clock to 1997 The team will return to Staples Center on Aug. 15 vs. Indiana By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
