The National Basketball Association (NBA) team Los Angeles Clippers announced on September 17th a sponsorship deal with the financial software company Intuit, which will hold title rights to the team’s new $1.2 billion arena, scheduled to open in Inglewood (US) in 2024. The official groundbreaking ceremony of the same was held on the afternoon of September 17th.
The ‘CNBC’ stated that the Clippers will call their new complex the Intuit Dome, providing the company with increased brand awareness with signage on and around the 18,000-seat, all-electric arena.
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles (US). They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league’s Western Conference.
The 20,000-capacity Staples Center is a multipurpose arena in Downtown Los Angeles (US). Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17th, 1999.
The Intuit Dome is an under-construction 18,000-seat arena to be located in Inglewood, California (US) for the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA.
California (US)-based Intuit is a financial management tech company that trades on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (Nasdaq) and has a $156.4 billion market cap. The company’s products include TurboTax, Credit Karma and QuickBooks.
The ‘CNBC’ further stated that the terms of the agreement with the Clippers were not made public, but the NBA sources stated that the deal is a 23-year agreement that eclipses $500 million.
By comparison, the Chase Bank (American national bank) struck a 20-year, roughly $300 million naming-rights deal with the NBA team Golden State Warriors for their digs – the 18,064-capacity Chase Center. And Staples paid entertainment firm AEG over $100 million when it struck its naming-rights agreement for the downtown Los Angeles building in 1999. The company renewed the pact in 2009 and now has lifetime rights to the Staples Center, which is currently home to the Los Angeles Lakers (one of the most successful and popular professional franchises in all American sports) and Clippers.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams and is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and team President Gillian Zucker gave newsmen a preview of the Intuit Dome on September 16th. The arena will feature a double-sided Halo videoboard with 44,000-square feet of LED lights, plus technology that allows fans to purchase concessions and automatically be charged without using cash or cards.
The Clippers estimate the Intuit Dome will generate roughly $260 million in annual economic activity for Inglewood, including over 7,000 full-time and part-time jobs. The Clippers also committed to a $100 million community benefits package that will include investments in after-school programs, services for seniors, libraries, and housing.
Stated Ballmer, “We’ve designed a product that I’m very proud of. But, we’re sitting here celebrating, and we’ve got three years before this thing is done. We’re just at a milestone along the way.”
Ballmer said the exterior design of the arena is symbolic of a basketball splashing through a net. He also expressed enthusiasm about using the National Football League (NFL) concept via “pioneering the feel of end-zone suites”. The Intuit Dome will leverage four courtside cabanas directly behind the courtside baseline. It will also include 10 backstage bungalows -private suites on the floor level.
Added Ballmer, “This stadium is about being optimistic about our team. It’s about being optimistic about our fans – get in the building, pump up, make energy. Your energy can feed our team to greater success.”
‘Home-court advantage’
The Intuit Dome has cost a bomb
Aside from the over $1 billion cost, the former Microsoft CEO paid $66.2 million for the land and $400 million in cash to purchase the Forum in Inglewood from Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) last year. It freed Ballmer from legal battles with Madison Square Garden (MSG) (Arena in New York), the company led by fellow NBA team owner James Dolan, which threatened construction.
The 17,500-capacity Forum was previously home to the Lakers, where the club played from 1967-1999. MSG purchased The Forum for $23.5 million in 2012.
The Clippers will also capitalize on more team revenue with their building. The team makes roughly $262 million. Intuit Dome will help increase that figure once it gets off the ground.
Zucker said the building would be used as an attraction for NBA free agents. In addition, the Intuit Dome will house the Clippers’ business operations and the team practice site, which will be located near the top of the area, with two basketball courts.
Asserted Zucker, “There’s a lot of competition in the NBA. We want to be the place that players want to play. This is about home-court advantage.”
‘Bold imagination’
The ‘sportskeeda’ stated that the LA Clippers are now officially turning their “bold imagination” of owning a separate stadium into reality.
Clippers’ new state-of-the-art football stadium will be based out South of the world’s most expensive sports arena, the 70,000-capacity SoFi Stadium, the splashy home of NFL teams – the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Apart from hosting the Clippers, the arena will also be a one-stop destination for events offering live experiences.
Dawn of a new era
The ‘sportskeeda’ further stated that back in the summer of 2019, the LA Clippers announced the signing of the American professional basketball player Kawhi Leonard, who was coming off a championship-winning season with the Toronto Raptors (Canadian professional basketball team).
Clippers’ squad overhaul was an attempt to gain ground on City rivals the Los Angeles Lakers, which they did in terms of putting the talent on paper. But success has eluded them and luck has deserted them since then. The Clippers have failed to move into the Western Conference finals since signing Leonard and George. To add to their woes, the Lakers won their 17th title in 2020.
But, the new arena will be a massive indication of how the Clippers plan to go about their business in the future. Not only will the stadium offer an obvious home-court advantage, but it will also make their schedule more favorable.
Since the Clippers share their present home with the NBA giants Lakers, it always leads to clash of scheduling. But this type of scenario will no longer occur when the Clippers finally move into their new ‘electrifying’ home stadium.
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