New Clippers arena rumored to be site of 2026 NBA All-Star Game
The new home of the Los Angeles Clippers is set to host one of the NBA’s premiere events shortly after it opens to the public, according to multiple reports from league insiders.
As first reported by Shams Charania of the Athletic, the Intuit Dome in Inglewood is expected to be awarded the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend.
The weekend festival is held every February and includes a full slate of events, including the All-Star Celebrity Game, Three-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest.
But the biggest event falls on Sunday evening during the NBA All-Star Game. The annual competition pits 24 of the league’s biggest stars in an East-versus-West exhibition game for charity.
In 2026, it appears the games are coming to the Intuit Dome.
The 18,000-seat arena located at the intersection of Century Boulevard and Prairie Avenue will be the home of the Clippers beginning next season as L.A.’s other team looks to carve out its own legacy in its own arena.
The team has called the Crypto.com Arena, aka, Staples Center, its home since 1999, but the team has only been a tenant of the space. Crypto.com Arena is owned by AEG, which also has an ownership stake in the crosstown rival Lakers.
The Intuit Dome, like the Clippers, will be owned entirely by Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, and the richest owner in the NBA.
Ballmer said when he purchased the team that building them a dedicated arena was a high priority. He’s promised that the $2 billion arena will be the most technologically advanced arena in the NBA upon its completion.
The Intuit Dome features a 51-row section called “The Wall” that’s inspired by European soccer stadiums that puts fans closer to the court and create a literal wall of sound. There’s a massive two-sided “halo board” comprised of 44,000 square feet of LED lights.
Unsurprisingly, Ballmer said the new arena will have no shortage of technological advancements that are geared toward making the best experience for fans.
The seats are wider and are implanted with chips that provide data that could improve the overall experience, some sections offer climate control options and Ballmer says there are three-times as many toilets and urinals compared to other NBA arenas.
“We do not want people to wait in line, we want them to get back to their damn seats,” Ballmer told reporters during a tour of the construction site in 2022. The enthusiastic tech billionaire says he visits the site once a month to check on the construction progress, which is creeping ever closer to completion.
The 2026 NBA All-Star game is another in what is becoming a jam-packed decade for sporting events in the Los Angeles area.
Super Bowl LVI in 2022 was held at the nearby SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and last month the NFL announced the Super Bowl would return to the venue again in 2027. In 2026, the FIFA World Cup will be played in North America, and it’s widely believed Los Angeles will be among the host cities, either at SoFi Stadium or elsewhere.
The city will also be the site of the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The World Rugby Championships will come to town in 2031 and 2033.
Los Angeles County is rapidly expanding and improving its public transportation services in anticipation of the Summer Games in what is being referred to by County leaders as “Vision 2028.”
A $1.8 billion “people mover” project is set to break ground in Inglewood next year, transporting up to 11,000 people per hour and providing easier and improved connectivity between L.A. Metro’s K Line, the KIA Forum, SoFi Stadium and Intuit Dome.
That project, however, is not expected to be operating until 2028, barring any accelerated timelines to accommodate the millions of visitors to the Inglewood area for those upcoming events.
The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is slated to be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana followed by the 2025 NBA ALL-Star Game at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
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