How Steve Ballmer brought the Clippers' Intuit Dome to life

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Days before what he considers to be the true grand opening of the Intuit Dome, Steve Ballmer pondered if anything in the LA Clippers‘ new $2 billion stadium could’ve turned out better.

“The sinks aren’t quite as deep as I wanted them to be,” Ballmer said, sitting in his personal lounge just a few steps away from the court. He demonstrated how he likes to shake his hands dry after washing them. “That’s where you need a deep sink … I just don’t like it when the bathrooms get wet on the floor.”

The richest owner in the NBA spared no expense when designing the NBA’s newest arena. No detail was too small for Ballmer, from the amount of toilets in the building to leg space for each seat, to the exact width of entrance doors.

Intuit Dome officially opened on Aug. 15 when musician Bruno Mars took the stage, and other performers such as Billy Joel and Usher have since used the space, which hosted its first Clippers preseason game on Oct. 14. But for Ballmer, those were like dress rehearsals for Wednesday’s grand opening.

Two years ago, Ballmer stood in dirt surrounded by the cement skeleton of his future arena and envisioned what it would look like. Now, like a first-time homeowner, Ballmer is excited and a little nervous as he unveils the Clippers’ brand-new house in its first regular-season game against the Phoenix Suns (10 p.m. ET on ESPN).

Ballmer’s goal is to create a fan experience with the ease and comfort of watching a game at home with the immersive technology only Intuit can provide, and finally give the Clippers a long-awaited home in Los Angeles, along with a world-class practice facility.

But getting the most high-tech arena in the league ready for the season opener has not been easy. It has taken an army of people and there have been some hiccups with the technology early on.

Good thing the former Microsoft CEO has plenty of experience knowing that software can be updated.

“We’re going to try to make this the most intimate, exciting place in the world to watch a basketball game,” Ballmer told ESPN last week. “And I think we’re there. On the 23rd of October when we open, that will be validated.

“I don’t want to see [any technological glitches] opening night. I really don’t. And I’ll probably hold my breath a little. It’s like showing your new baby. There’s a bunch of things where I’ll be worried. But I think most of them will be just fine.”

A MASSIVE CROWD filled the plaza outside the front doors of the arena to see Bruno Mars, the historic first event at Intuit Dome.

Typically, that would be a welcome sight for any arena. For the Intuit Dome, however, the standstill was not just because of eager anticipation, but instead caused by technological difficulties that resulted in an almost 40-minute delay to get inside.

Intuit promises fans seamless entrance via facial recognition technology. But as Ballmer explains, the Intuit Dome app, Ticketmaster and the NBA systems have to work together for basketball games and concerts. On this night, there was a third-party software issue before the gates opened, forcing the arena to scan barcodes at the gates.

Intuit Dome had its first technological test. Fortunately, the arena had concerts like this to use as its own preseason.

“It was the longest 38 minutes of my life,” said Gillian Zucker, CEO of Halo Sports and Entertainment. “[But] it was one of these things that is the spirit of what Steve talks about all the time. It wasn’t as stable, as consistent as we wanted it to be. And every single event we’ve had, it’s gotten better to where it is doing what it’s supposed to be doing. That was our goal to have enough events that we could train ourselves to be ready for the opening of basketball.”

George Hanna, Intuit Dome’s chief technology officer, spearheaded the technology that allows fans to gain access into the venue via GameFace ID, which lets fans walk through the arena’s Zoom Thrus without having to pull their phones out to scan tickets. Downloading the Intuit Dome app also gives visitors the option to add a payment method and age verification for alcohol purchase.

“On the Zoom Thrus, we need to continue to improve what I call the latency,” Ballmer said. “The length of time they need to register you. We had some real problems in that first night.”

Fans who choose not to use facial recognition can instead set up Identity Pass on their profile, which requires phones in hands ready to tap.

If fans have any concerns about opting in, Hanna said the facial information is used for specific transactions such as entering the building, purchasing concessions and access to suites and clubs.

Hanna said about 50% of fans who have attended Intuit Dome events thus far created an account on the Intuit Dome app and enrolled in Game Face ID before they showed up. And he says by the time the event is over, that number increases to nearly 75% for the same population of fans.

By the time Billy Joel was set to take the stage on Oct. 12, fans steadily streamed through the GameFace ID line as if they had TSA PreCheck. The Identity Pass line took longer, but the Dome was packed when Joel sat at his piano.

“That’s the nice thing about being software controlled,” Ballmer said. “You can continue [to update].”

That optimism was put to the test again last Monday when the arena’s Halo board showcased “The Mentalist” — an interactive guessing game played by buttons on a console at every seat. The first attempt to play stalled, drawing some boos. But by the fourth quarter, the game was up and running.

Zucker and Hanna said there will be a lot more to come from the Halo — even some things Ballmer hasn’t seen yet.

Among some of the features to be revealed will be an intro video unlike any other, complete with an “LA Clippers Theme” composed by Oscar-winning film composer Hans Zimmer. A pregame ritual will be unveiled.

The Halo board will also be able to help coaches decide whether to challenge a play with up to four replay angles visible to the bench in real time. And there could be a surprise Ballmer moment.

“On a scale of one to 100, we’re probably at about a 12 of what it’s capable of doing,” Zucker said of the Halo board. “I think we’ve got a big bag of tricks. We have really bold ambitions, and throughout the season we’ll just continue to see it evolve.”

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BEFORE THE START of the second half of a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings last Thursday, coach Ty Lue found himself mesmerized by the Halo.

Lue, along with fans, was watching “Enter the Storm” — a simulation of tumultuous waves to be played before the start of every third quarter on the 38,375 square feet board which engulfs the arena.

“When they had that loud screen with the water and the waves,” Lue said. “You can’t help but look.”

The Halo can look like a video game with different sections providing replays, statistics and analytics like a “Coach’s Corner.” It can shoot t-shirts out of cannons at the top and measure how loud fans are screaming, utilizing a software that can narrow the audio level down to each individual seat.

The area of the arena that is expected to be the loudest is at The Wall — 51 uninterrupted rows purposely designed to be steeper than the other side of the court.

Only the most die-hard fans, who go through a vetting process that includes following the team’s Instagram and showing that they have attended a Clippers game in the past three years, can be in the first 13 rows of The Wall. It’s first-come, first-served and is where fans are expected to stand and chant the entire game like in a student section, just a bounce pass away from the opposing team’s bench.

“It’s cracking in here,” Clippers point guard James Harden said after playing in the first preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks at Intuit.

The Mavericks were the first opponent to visit Intuit. Despite small criticisms, like the lack of trash cans and dim lighting in the coaches room, several Mavericks coaches were in awe of amenities available to opposing teams: A spacious locker room, coaches room and weight room, and even a hydrotherapy pool.

“The locker room area — Golden State [Chase Center] has what I thought was the nicest, but this is Golden State times 10,” one Mavericks assistant said.

“Just everything that coaches want and need, players want … It’s not even close. That’s the best arena in the NBA. It was spectacular. Ballmer’s doing things that other people aren’t going to do to create a great fan experience.”

When Ballmer is told about the lack of trash cans in the visitor’s locker room, he immediately texts Zucker — something he often does when an issue needs to be addressed. As for the lighting, Ballmer assures that it wasn’t set that way to gain some sort of competitive advantage.

If anything, the amenities at Intuit Dome — which boasts an 86,000-square-foot state of the art practice facility that includes a pool — are a perk for the Clippers when it comes to luring future free agents.

“Look, this is not ‘Hoosiers’ man,” Ballmer said of the basketball movie. “These are professional players. They deserve to be treated with respect and I want players, fans, everybody to say, ‘Hey, I had a good experience.'”

Ballmer doesn’t want fans missing any action. In fact, escalating chimes ring throughout the arena, especially in the bathrooms, with an announcement that there are five minutes before “showtime.” There are also 199 clocks all around the arena to let patrons know when action resumes.

Ballmer expects Intuit Dome — designed to be more intimate and feel like fans are hovering above the action with a capacity of 17,927, compared to the United Center which holds an NBA-high of 20,917 — to be “beyond full” for the season opener. After that, much will depend on the most important Ballmer investment — the Clippers’ performance on the court.

With Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely as he continues to rehab his right knee and Paul George now in Philadelphia, the Clippers aren’t the title contenders they have been the past five seasons. Ballmer knows the fans will let him know what they not only think of Intuit Dome but also about the team’s play this season.

“Will it really work? Will the fans really get as energized? Will it accomplish that sort of goal of intimacy and excitement?” Ballmer said. “I think our vision was right, but we won’t know until the fans are in the seats …

“[But] there’s clearly one prime product, which is, ‘Hey, do we like our team?'”

After being the third tenant at Crypto.com Arena alongside the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings, the Clippers and their fans finally have a home of their own. Harden and Lue believe the new arena will make a difference in the Clippers’ success this season.

“To come here every day and being able to leave our stuff in our own locker room. And when we have concerts, don’t have to worry about coming into the office with chairs and stuff on top of the desk. It just feels good,” Lue said.

“Thanks to Mr. Ballmer and Gillian for the work they’ve done to get us to this moment. Now we got to play hard, good and win games.”