Steve Ballmer Contemplating Allowing Bitcoin in New Clippers Inglewood Arena

The Clippers are keeping all options open for their new arena

As the Clippers hope to create the NBA's premiere arena of the future, they're also making sure to incorporate the trends of the future. Right now, it's looking like that may be bitcoin.

In an interview with the New York Times, Steve Ballmer touched on the possibility of accepting Bitcoin in the Clippers new Inglewood arena:

"As we look to open a new arena for the Clippers, which we are working on for ground break in 2024, we are going through the process to say, 'Hey, are we gonna take Bitcoin for payment in the arena?'"

Surprisingly, the Clippers wouldn't be the first NBA team to accept Bitcoin as currency if they were to accept it in their arena. That honor actually belongs to the Sacramento Kings. In 2014, the Kings became the first major professional sports team to accept Bitcoin as a form of currency, using payments through the app Bitpay.

"I said it the other day," Ballmer said. "We were thinking, oh my god this might be an important thing for us!"

The Clippers are three years away from opening their new arena in Inglewood. The plans for the arena were unveiled two years ago in July 2019, and it's felt like that reality is a lifetime away. As the years pass by, that reality is slowly creeping in sooner and sooner. One can only imagine what their new arena will look like, how futuristic it will be, and how much different it will be from Staples Center.