LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer’s $2-billion-plus bet on Intuit Dome
Steve Ballmer: The 60 Minutes Interview
Billionaire Steve Ballmer asked if he could show off the toilets when 60 Minutes visited the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome.
There are more than 1,000 toilets in the Clippers’ new arena, and they’re all part of Ballmer’s plan to change the way fans experience basketball. He doesn’t want people waiting in line for a bathroom when they should be watching the game. It’s one of the many details he considered while spending more than $2 billion building a venue for the Clippers, which did not have a home of its own when Ballmer bought the team in 2014.
More energy, more points
Ballmer is famous for his wild enthusiasm courtside.
“[It] tells [the players] , ‘Hey, he will support us. When it’s show time, he’ll be there to help support us.’ And I think that is important,” Ballmer said. “I’m sure players have that like, ‘God, this guy seems a little bit nuts.’ That’s OK.”
He wants fans to be loud too and has designed his arena to encourage Ballmer-level enthusiasm. He’s convinced that the more energy the crowd can create, the more points the Clippers will put up.
“We have sensors around the building that can tell, down to the individual-seat level, how loud you are,” Ballmer said. “Now, we’re not listening to your conversation. But let’s say we say, ‘OK, for this game, the person who produces the most decibels the most consistently will get a free hamburger the next game.'”
There are no cash registers at Intuit Dome. Everything is contactless. Even the suites are barebones. Ballmer comes to watch basketball, not to schmooze (or wait in long lines), and he believes fans should, too.
How a former Microsoft CEO runs the Clippers
Ballmer, who has loved basketball since childhood, entered the NBA in 2014 after a run as Microsoft’s CEO. He bought the struggling Clippers for a whopping $2 billion after the previous owner, Donald Sterling, was caught on tape in a racist tirade.
Ballmer has pumped money into upgrading the Clippers’ roster, signing stars like James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. Since Ballmer took over, the LA franchise’s value has more than doubled and the Clippers haven’t had a losing season.
L. Jon Wertheim is an accomplished journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent.
