Intuitive Vision: LA Clippers’ New Intuit Dome Changes The Game

Editor’s note: This story was published before last night’s opening-night delay of about two hours while fans waited in lines exacerbated by tech issues at the arena, reportedly related to facial ID entry.

Tech billionaire Steve Ballmer has developed the most expensive NBA arena with a simple goal — to create the best basketball experience for Los Angeles Clippers fans and players as the NBA team finally nestles into its shiny new home after spending 25 years as the third tenant in downtown LA.

Ballmer, the exuberant Microsoft mogul, tech visionary and basketball fanatic, has channeled his passions into the Intuit Dome, an 18,000-seat arena that cost a reported $2 billion to build in Inglewood, an LA suburb. Insiders say the price tag pushes $2.5 billion. Intuit Dome is befitting of Ballmer’s aspiration to build a home for an NBA championship team with cutting-edge technologies custom designed to elevate not just fan and player experiences, but also for artists and concertgoers, while raising the bar for the next generation of big-league venues.

Artificial intelligence-based public art installations, biometric F&B technology, new age locker rooms that wouldn’t look out of place on “Star Trek”’s USS Enterprise? Yes.
A saltwater rehab pool, an NBA referees lounge and in-seat phone charging. Check.
A transfixing marvel that is the Halo scoreboard, an opulent VIP lounge from which Clippers players emerge and plush and roomy seating from P1s to the nosebleeds that can measure fan enthusiasm? Yes, all that too.

They’re not just bells and whistles, however.

“It’s not a feature, it is more of a mindset,” Gillian Zucker, CEO of Halo Sports & Entertainment, tells Pollstar. “We want every person who walks into this arena to feel like Intuit Dome was built for them. We asked the people who will be using each of the spaces what they need. As a result, from the rigger putting up the sound racks, to the NBA referee, to the person sitting in the last row, to the player in the visiting NBA locker room, we hope each person noticed the care and attention to detail that went into every decision made. If we did our job right, when you walk out of Intuit Dome, you feel like we thought of you.”

That happens this week (Aug. 15) with a Bruno Mars two-night stint before the Clippers’ season opener in October. For the first time ever, an arena not yet opened has been awarded an NBA All-Star Game (for the 2026 season) and will serve as a basketball venue during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

After more than 100 visits to NBA and college arenas and other venues, the focus was to give the Clippers a true home-court advantage after residing as the runt of the litter at Crypto.com Arena, where they competed for dates against the Lakers, NHL Kings and concerts.

“I’m a software guy,” Ballmer declared in July at the unveiling of the arena’s stunning, halo-shaped videoboard, a Daktronics masterpiece that takes center-hungs and the oculus design in general to the next level, boasting close to 40,000 square feet of digital space in 4K resolution.

The massive board is reminiscent of the Samsung-built version at SoFi Stadium, but in an arena setting, the proximity to the crowd is even more impactful in sight and sound. Ballmer remarked that he liked the center-hung Mitsubishi board at AT&T Stadium, where 15 years ago, the Dallas Cowboys ushered in a new era of video technology, influencing design across the industry, but found it a bit distracting.

“When you look at the old boards, and you see those old, big fat pixels that are hard to look at, I didn’t want any of that,” Ballmer said. “Let’s figure out how to engage the fan. That’s what I wanted.”

At the Intuit Dome, the overriding mantra is to keep fans in their seats and focused on the game.

The programming of the board and everything else is aimed toward that goal.

With the addition of Intuit Dome, the venue’s immediate vicinity in Inglewood has become a nexus of live sports and entertainment, in walking distance of and a stone’s throw from the Hollywood Park development that includes SoFi Stadium and across the street from the storied Kia Forum.

Enter Becky Colwell, general manager at Kia Forum and vice president of music and events at Intuit Dome, who was hired from LA’s Greek Theater in 2022. “Someone the other day described it as ‘iconic’ and ‘the future’ between the two buildings,” Colwell said. “I think they complement each other versus compete with one another. We have the same booking team managing the calendar, which is a huge help. So we’re presenting both options.”

Intuit Dome has three programmable spaces: 18,000-capacity, an outdoor basketball court on the 80,000-square-foot plaza that can hold 5,000; and Court B, an event space for guests that can hold 500 to 600.

In concert mode, “The Wall,” the 51 uninterrupted seating rows holding 5,000 fans, is partially removed to make room for the stage. The venue’s six loading bays sit directly behind the seating section. In some cases, artists will play both the Forum and Intuit Dome, including Olivia Rodrigo.

“She went up at the Forum first and then wanted to do two kind of special extra nights,” Colwell said. “It worked out, so she’ll have one or two days off and then we got her a load-in date here.”

See the full Intuit Dome cover story and feature package in the September issue of VenuesNow magazine.