/ Dec 24, 2024
Trending
By JILL PAINTER LOPEZ The Associated Press
INGLEWOOD — The flashy new Intuit Dome opened its doors to basketball fans for the first time Monday night as the Clippers hosted a preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The arena has been hosting concerts since August, but this was the first game in the $2 billion-plus vision of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. Fans streamed in through doors using facial recognition. A double-sided halo board showed photos, videos, statistics and more.
“It’s a great feeling to have a place to call home. Guys are very excited about it,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of no longer having to share Crypto.com Arena with the Lakers and the NHL’s Kings. “Our whole organization is excited about it. Tonight our fans get the chance to see a part of it. You have a chance to have our own place we call home. You can leave your shoes in the locker room and come back tomorrow and they’ll be there. We have our own place and own building and everything is secure.”
On “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday, Ballmer showed off his new building, which he hopes will give his NBA team a boost.
“Everything in my instinct says it will help our team, our basketball team, if our crowd team can really get into it and give them energy,” Ballmer said.
As fans entered the arena, they found the 80,000-square-foot outdoor plaza with a basketball court that’s open to the public.
Patricia Blakemore was jumping up and down when she arrived in the arena.
“It’s so high tech,” said Blakemore, who lives in nearby Manhattan Beach. “I have to say one of the things that makes me exceptionally happy is that from the moment we parked our car to get in here, the staff has been very helpful.”
When asked how long he’s been a Clippers fan, Eric Swallow said since Monday. He just bought season tickets.
“It’s a new stadium and it’s close to Manhattan Beach,” Swallow said. That was all it took for the Clippers to gain a new fan.
Estelle Talleu and Matteo Decarlini came from France to visit Los Angeles and go to the game.
“I love basketball, and I wanted to see L.A. and this atmosphere,” Decarlini said. “In France, it’s not the same. There’s nothing like this. This arena is so big.”
Talleu loved the halo board: “It’s amazing.”
She was taking lots of videos, as were many fans in the nearly 18,000-seat arena.
There’s also – as Ballmer promised from the outset – an abundance of bathrooms, and he again boasted about the 1,400 toilets on “60 Minutes.” There’s good reason.
“I really hate it when people wait in line,” Ballmer told “60 Minutes.” “Waiting in line for toilets, I think is – it stops people from getting back into the game. People get frustrated.”
The Intuit Dome is less than a mile from Sofi Stadium – where the NFL’s Rams and Chargers call home – and The Kia Forum, which hosts concerts and used to be home to the Lakers and Kings.
The venue is carbon-free and cashless and has all the bells and whistles.
Juvenal Martinez, who is 14, came to the game with his uncle.
“The arena is good. I like it. I like all the technology and the facial scan to get in,” he said.
Ballmer broke ground on the arena in 2021 and it opened its doors in August. It is already scheduled to host several big events, including the 2026 All-Star Game and basketball for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“This is beautiful,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “To be able to practice here (Sunday) and have shootaround here, they did an incredible job. I think Clippers fans should be happy. When you look at fan experience it will be like no other. It will be exciting to be the first visiting team to experience that.”
Originally Published:
By JILL PAINTER LOPEZ The Associated Press
INGLEWOOD — The flashy new Intuit Dome opened its doors to basketball fans for the first time Monday night as the Clippers hosted a preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The arena has been hosting concerts since August, but this was the first game in the $2 billion-plus vision of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. Fans streamed in through doors using facial recognition. A double-sided halo board showed photos, videos, statistics and more.
“It’s a great feeling to have a place to call home. Guys are very excited about it,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of no longer having to share Crypto.com Arena with the Lakers and the NHL’s Kings. “Our whole organization is excited about it. Tonight our fans get the chance to see a part of it. You have a chance to have our own place we call home. You can leave your shoes in the locker room and come back tomorrow and they’ll be there. We have our own place and own building and everything is secure.”
On “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday, Ballmer showed off his new building, which he hopes will give his NBA team a boost.
“Everything in my instinct says it will help our team, our basketball team, if our crowd team can really get into it and give them energy,” Ballmer said.
As fans entered the arena, they found the 80,000-square-foot outdoor plaza with a basketball court that’s open to the public.
Patricia Blakemore was jumping up and down when she arrived in the arena.
“It’s so high tech,” said Blakemore, who lives in nearby Manhattan Beach. “I have to say one of the things that makes me exceptionally happy is that from the moment we parked our car to get in here, the staff has been very helpful.”
When asked how long he’s been a Clippers fan, Eric Swallow said since Monday. He just bought season tickets.
“It’s a new stadium and it’s close to Manhattan Beach,” Swallow said. That was all it took for the Clippers to gain a new fan.
Estelle Talleu and Matteo Decarlini came from France to visit Los Angeles and go to the game.
“I love basketball, and I wanted to see L.A. and this atmosphere,” Decarlini said. “In France, it’s not the same. There’s nothing like this. This arena is so big.”
Talleu loved the halo board: “It’s amazing.”
She was taking lots of videos, as were many fans in the nearly 18,000-seat arena.
There’s also – as Ballmer promised from the outset – an abundance of bathrooms, and he again boasted about the 1,400 toilets on “60 Minutes.” There’s good reason.
“I really hate it when people wait in line,” Ballmer told “60 Minutes.” “Waiting in line for toilets, I think is – it stops people from getting back into the game. People get frustrated.”
The Intuit Dome is less than a mile from Sofi Stadium – where the NFL’s Rams and Chargers call home – and The Kia Forum, which hosts concerts and used to be home to the Lakers and Kings.
The venue is carbon-free and cashless and has all the bells and whistles.
Juvenal Martinez, who is 14, came to the game with his uncle.
“The arena is good. I like it. I like all the technology and the facial scan to get in,” he said.
Ballmer broke ground on the arena in 2021 and it opened its doors in August. It is already scheduled to host several big events, including the 2026 All-Star Game and basketball for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“This is beautiful,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “To be able to practice here (Sunday) and have shootaround here, they did an incredible job. I think Clippers fans should be happy. When you look at fan experience it will be like no other. It will be exciting to be the first visiting team to experience that.”
Originally Published:
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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
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