New Clippers Arena Features Creative Solution to Give T-Shirt Cannon Unlimited Range

Jan 16, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; The Intuit Dome is seen from an aerial view while under construction. The arena will the future home of the LA Clippers and site of the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.
Jan 16, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; The Intuit Dome is seen from an aerial view while under construction. The arena will the future home of the LA Clippers and site of the 2026 NBA All-Star Game. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

When it opens in the fall of 2024, the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., is expected to be unlike any other venue in the NBA. Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer spared no expense in its construction, which is expected to cost about $2 billion.

On Friday, Ballmer demonstrated to reporters just where that money is going in terms of sheer entertainment value. Decrying basketball T-shirt cannons of the past, Ballmer showed off cannons affixed to the Dome's massive "halo board" capable of hitting any seat in the arena.

“It’s unfair. It’s not right,” Ballmer said of past T-shirt tosses.

The Clippers will move into the Intuit Dome—the first arena in which the team has ever had an ownership stake, dating back to their days in Buffalo and San Diego—after 25 years sharing Crypto.com Arena with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In addition to NBA games, the Dome will host UCLA's 2025 season opener and basketball at the 2028 Summer Olympics.


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Patrick Andres

PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .