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11 months ago
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Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer took a look under the hood at his latest $1.2 billion project: the NBA team’s new Intuit Dome currently being constructed in Inglewood.
Ballmer, who is reportedly worth $117 billion after serving as Microsoft’s CEO, has spared no expense on the rapidly progressing arena, which he inspected first hand this week. Shots from the construction site show the helmeted 67-year-old traversing the dome roof.
The project is expected to be completed in time for its unveiling in the summer of 2024.
Project managers claim the privately funded arena will bring $260 million and 7,000 jobs to the community, 30 percent of which will go to Inglewood residents.
Described as both a 'basketball mecca' and 'basketball palazzo' by Ballmer, the 18,000-seat Intuit Dome will boast an array of distinguishing features, including power jacks at every seat and twice as many toilets as any other NBA arena. Furthermore, there will be 3,592 60-inch TV screens throughout the building.
A shot of LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer walking on the Intuit Dome's roof on Sunday
A peak inside the Intuit Dome - an 18,000-seat arena promising a 'frictionless' fan experience
The Intuit Dome is wrapped in a red cage, which will be partially visible under the façade
Furthermore, there will be five basketball courts between the main arena and the practice facility, as well as an 80,000-square foot outdoor plaza, two bars, a restaurant, and a massive new team store.
Every detail — from the huge two-sided halo video screen that will hover over the court, to the triple-wide escalators, to how the bathrooms will be designed to get fans back in their seats as quickly as possible — has a purpose.
Naturally, parking, entry, and concessions will all be automated with the help of new technologies to allow for a hassle-free experience so fans can get to their seats with as little trouble as possible.
The halo will include 44,000 square feet of 4K LED lighting, slightly more than one full acre and roughly six times the average size of other 'big' screens in NBA buildings. The roof of the dome was designed to accommodate the halo, not the other way around.
INTUIT DOME BY THE NUMBERS
The following are some facts and figures on the Intuit Dome provided by the Clippers:
- 17,700+ – Seats
- 5 – Full-sized basketball courts
- 51 – Rows in The Wall
- 0 – Concession stand lines
- 20” – The width of every single seat
- 35” – The depth of every single row of seats
- 45’ – How much closer to the action an upper-bowl seat holder will be than at other arenas
- 3,592 – Number of 60-inch TVs it would take to make up the Halo Board, produced by Daktronics
- 38,375 – Square feet of the Halo Board, the largest-ever double-sided halo display in an arena setting
- 86,000 - Square feet of training, medical and player spaces
- 80,000 - Square feet of The Plaza
- 199 – Game clocks throughout the arena, each a reminder to get back in your seat
- $100M – Amount dedicated to Inglewood causes and infrastructure, the largest community benefits package ever associated with an arena
- $260M – Amount of estimated annual economic activity generated in Inglewood
- 7,000 – Jobs created during construction
- 30% - Percentage of minority and disadvantaged business enterprises that Intuit Dome will employ
- 30% - Percentage of permanent jobs at Intuit Dome that will go to Inglewood residents
- >120 – Restrooms, with a ratio of people to lavatory that is almost half that of the average arena
- >1,100 – Touchless restroom fixtures (toilets and urinals)
- 0 – Amount of waste Intuit Dome will generate once operational
- >300 – Electric vehicle charging stations on site
- 15% - Reduction in vehicle trips to Intuit Dome with new transportation management program
- 26 – Fuel-friendly tugboats purchased for Port of Los Angeles to reduce emissions
- 7.5M – Gallons of water Intuit Dome will save annually
- 12 – New zero-emission vehicles awarded to the City of Inglewood
- 1,020 – Electric vehicle charging units installed in Inglewood homes and public parking lots
The arena's double-sided halo scoreboard will include 44,000 square feet of 4K LED lighting
The building also contains five full-length basketball courts, most of which are for practicing
A rendering of one of the five proposed basketball courts contained inside the Intuit Dome
The exterior of the Intuit Dome is protected by a slightly opaque façade and red steal beams
The arena will emphasize comfort with added leg room and power jacks at each seat
Things the Clippers have seen in play at German soccer stadiums, other NBA buildings, NFL stadiums, even the Amazon Go checkout-free convenience stores all sparked various ideas that will be put into play at Intuit Dome.
'They've all led us here, to this vacant lot that we're about to transform to the singular best place for fans and players throughout the world,' Ballmer told The Associated Press in 2021.
To facilitate the deal, Ballmer paid $400 million for The Forum -- the former home of the Lakers -- to New York Knicks owner James Dolan, who was concerned that the Clippers' new arena would hurt the 55-year-old stadium's concert business. Dolan's Madison Square Garden acquired the Forum in 2012 for $23.5 million.
The Clippers currently play at Staples Center, also the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings.
The Intuit Dome claims to offer much closer seating than the crosstown Staples Center
The fan experience is meant to be 'frictionless,' meaning no long lines for concessions
An exterior rendering of the Intuit Dome, which sits at the corner of Century and Prairie
Ballmer — who originally didn't want to build an arena when he bought the team — wound up beginning to plot a Clippers-only home years ago and formally unveiled the project in 2019, saying then that the Clippers would break ground in 2021 and open in 2024.
'We don't want to play in anybody's shadow,' Ballmer said.
Soon, they'll have a home of their own, built to what Ballmer says are ideal specifications for basketball and music.
'Today, a construction site but tomorrow, a global destination for basketball fans, music lovers and anyone who's ever been moved to stand with 18,000 voices that echo as one,' Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker said.
English (US)