From the time they moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 1984, the Los Angeles Clippers have existed largely in the overwhelming shadow of the Los Angeles Lakers, their more historic and successful NBA counterpart in the City of Angels. But over the past several years, the Clippers have made significant strides towards finding an identity of their own, to the point where they are now set to move into their very own home.
On Friday, the Los Angeles Clippers broke ground on their future new arena in Inglewood, Calif., while also announcing the naming rights for their future home. Intuit Inc., a global technology platform that produces products such as TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma and Mint, has announced a 23-year strategic partnership to become the exclusive naming rights partner of the Intuit Dome.
The Intuit Dome is scheduled to open in time for the 2024-25 NBA season, allowing the Clippers to move into their very own arena rather than continue to be tenants of the Lakers at Staples Center.
“We needed to say, ‘We’re our own guys. We don’t play in the same place as the other guys. We’re going to have our own identity,” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said in an interview with Ramona Shellburne of ESPN. “We use our expression, ‘LA Our Way.’ And we’re building our own presence, identity.
“And if the other guys (the Lakers) feel a little threatened — the other guys’ fans, I mean; the players are actually a little different deal — but if they feel a little threatened, that’s OK. It means we’re doing good.”
The construction of an arena all to the Clippers has highlighted the franchise’s growth under Ballmer, who purchased the team in 2014. Last season, the Clippers advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs for the first time in their history.
