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New Museum Dedicated to Sports Opens in Downtown

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The 30,000 square-foot museum, estimated to house a collection of sports memorabilia and real estate worth $30 million combined, is a product of years of collecting and a wife who said to get it all out of their house. That makes sense since the 10,000 pieces were overflowing. So Gary Cypres, who made his money in the finance, mortgage and travel agency businesses, took the challenge to an extreme and opened a museum.

It's safe to say, people are impressed by the Sports Museum of Los Angeles that opened today.

"I don't know of any other collection in the world that has the depth and variety of what Gary has," said David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, to the LA Times. "He's got football, basketball and baseball, but he's also got bowling pins, early 18th-century tennis rackets and that game room with all those arcade and board games."

And more praise...

"Gary has assembled the most stunning visual history of sports that I know of," said David Carter, director of the USC Sports Business Institute. "And it's not just sports. It's the business of sports, the evolution of sports as entertainment. He helps you to see sports through a different lens."

Admission is $17.50 for adults, $14 for seniors and students, $11 for children 5-12. The museum is located a few blocks from the Metro Blue Line Grand Station at 1900 S. Main Street

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