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Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN staff writer
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Steve Ballmer quickly realized that he needed to build Los Angeles Clippers A home of their own.
In 2014, six months after purchasing the team, Ballmer saw life as the third tenant of the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena). Los Angeles Lakers and NHL franchises Los Angeles Kings For most of the year.
“We have to build a home for ourselves,” Ballmer said of the scheduling challenges the Clippers often face. “We have to focus on our home. We don’t want to play too many Monday Night Football games on Monday night. We don’t want to play too many games on Saturday.”
“We don’t want to cover up other people’s banners just to feel a little bit like our home. This has to be our home.”
The Clippers no longer have to worry about covering up the Lakers’ championship banners and retired jerseys. When people look up at the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome, they will see a stunning sight.
Ballmer made the comments Friday as he unveiled the “Halo Board” at the $2 billion venue – the largest double-sided video halo ever built, covering nearly an acre.
The all-encompassing screen will include some elements never seen before in an NBA arena. It will be high above the court and feel like a video game, with different corners offering various features, such as a “coach’s corner” showing statistics and analytics from shot charts.
It also measures how fast players move around the court and how often the Clippers run certain plays. It even shows how many miles the referees travel.
“From the beginning when Steve talked about what he wanted the Halo Board to accomplish,” Halo Sports and Entertainment CEO Gillian Zucker said at Friday’s launch event. “He insisted that in addition to entertainment, it needed to educate.”
Halo will have an option to focus on individual players, their stories, and even the charitable foundation they donate to pic.twitter.com/rrgayzt6dy
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) July 19, 2024
There will be an area featuring images of the players, live feeds posted by fans on social media and even a “Steve Cam” to track Ballmer’s every punch on the sidelines.
During the hiatus, there will be a “Player 360” mode that focuses on players’ statistics, resumes, and even charitable foundations supported by players.
“It’s pretty cool that they’re promoting other things in my personal life,” the guard said. Terence Mannwho witnessed the first use case of this feature. “My guess is that in the future free agent market, they will use these strategies to attract players. They know what they are doing here.”
According to Zach, the Halo Board can also measure how loud the fans are screaming, using a system that can reduce the volume to individual seats. In addition, it has a T-shirt cannon on top, ready to fire free T-shirts to fans sitting at the top of the stadium.
Into the Storm ⛈️🌊 @Dako Electronics | #IntuitDome pic.twitter.com/d7GENlQR3I
— Intuit Dome (@IntuitDome) July 19, 2024
In addition to posting countdown clocks around the venue to get fans back to their seats at halftime, the board’s “Into the Storm” simulation will play the sounds of being stranded at sea at the start of the game’s second half.
Ballmer wanted everything about this arena—from the players’ adjacent practice facilities to the comfort of every seat (including phone charging stations and controllers in each armrest so fans can interact with the “halo boards” while taking a break)—to be an upgrade over previous homes.
“Just knowing that we have our own space,” Mann said. “It’s definitely a great thing as a player to create our own atmosphere, rather than sharing it with other teams on the other side of town.”
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