For the first time in one quarter of a century, the Los Angeles Clippers will play a home game in their own, exclusive arena on Monday night.
That’s because the Intuit Dome, the $2 billion Inglewood arena, is now open seven years after it was first announced to be in the works.
The arena has hosted several concerts over the last couple of months, including Bruno Mars, but is yet to host a sporting event.
The Clippers will make their first appearance for a game in the dome on Monday in a preseason matchup with the reigning NBA Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 p.m.
“I can’t believe that we’re finally here,” said Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker. “The court is down, all we need are the fans to come and enjoy this incredible place.”
KTLA’s Eric Spillman was able to check out the arena on Monday morning and was in awe at the new state-of-the-art facility.
“This is really something different,” Spillman said. “This is unique. This is Steve Ballmer’s vision of the fan-centric experience.”
Ballmer, the Clippers’ owner since 2014, wanted to create an intimate fan experience, which includes “The Wall,” an end of the court where seating is only for the biggest of Clippers supporters. No one in that section is allowed to represent the visiting team, so there will be no Luka Doncic jerseys on The Wall on Monday.
“It’s all about home-court advantage,” Zucker said.
Also included are buttons on each seat, resembling something you’d see on a gaming controller. This means, as Zucker explained, fans will be able to interact with images shown on the arena’s “halo” video board and play games or vote in polls with ease.
“We added in a real-time gaming engine into the game itself, which allows us to do all sorts of unique things with content as well,” she said.
As for the board itself, it resembles an oval shape around the arena and is dual-sided with 4k screens. The graphics on that board will be unique, Zucker said.
Not able to make it out to the Intuit Dome for Monday’s tip-off? Worry not, because you’ll be able to catch the game on KTLA 5, KTLA.com and KTLA+. The network will broadcast a total of 15 Clippers games in the 2024-25 season, including 11 regular season games.
