Finally – the Los Angeles Clippers are coming back to KTLA.
This season, you will be able to catch 15 upcoming Clippers games exclusively on channel 5. It’s a reunion for both organizations, as KTLA was the home of the Clippers from 1985 to 1991, and again from 2002 to 2009.
Team owner Steve Ballmer gave KTLA a tour of the construction site at 3921 W 102nd St. in Inglewood that will soon be known as the Intuit Dome.
Ballmer said his team is trying to make the game-day experience “accessible,” allowing for anyone with a TV set to tune in. And that means getting the Clippers back on broadcast TV.
“This lets us light up our fanbase in a new way and we’re pretty excited about the partnership with KTLA.”
Ballmer visits the construction site every month to see the progress of the $2 billion dome firsthand.
Air conditioning units are in, the beams are stacked higher and, perhaps Ballmer’s favorite part, the concrete has been poured for the steep seating section affectionately called “The Wall.”
“It brings everybody in closer to the floor, the break, energy, we are going to do some special things,” Ballmer said.
Ballmer thinks of the arena as his baby, and like any proud parent, he takes his own video to capture the growing progress.
On Tuesday, the former CEO of Microsoft, and the richest owner in the NBA, took time to meet the local crews building the 18,000 seat arena, stopping for pictures with the crew and signing floppy discs. Yes – remember those?
With his tech background, Ballmer knows the basketball world expects this dome to be jam-packed with new technology. He says it will, but each technological advance will serve a distinct purpose.
“It’s really important that we think about the tech in service of the fan experience, now there will be things people haven’t seen before,” Ballmer said.
Among those showstoppers, a massive ellipse scoreboard, similar to what you see at SoFi Stadium, but for the first time in a basketball arena. There’s also wider seats, more restrooms to get you back to the action and even climate controlled sections that allow fans to let the arena staff know if its too hot or too cold where they’re seated.
The arena will take some time to complete, but in the meantime, there’s a whole new season of Clippers basketball on the schedule. Perhaps no one is more excited for that than the owner himself.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
“I’m a little itchy, baby. We got a great team, you know, we put ourselves in position to do big things this year.”
The first preseason game is coming up in 10 days when the Clippers will take on an Israeli professional team in Seattle.
Then you’ll be able to see the Clippers all season long, with KTLA broadcasts wrapping up on April 1, 2023 in a game against New Orleans. If things go as planned, the Intuit dome will be ready for the 2024-25 season.