Bruno Mars to open Clippers’ $2 billion Intuit Dome in LA

Photo from @brunomars/Instagram

INGLEWOOD – The $2 billion Intuit Dome, which will be the new home of the Clippers for the upcoming NBA season, will officially open its doors Thursday night as Grammy winner Bruno Mars performs the first of two concerts to inaugurate the venue.

Mars is set to take the stage at 8 p.m. Thursday, with another performance set for the same time Friday. The shows will be Mars’ first Los Angeles performances in six years.

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is set to perform at the arena Saturday, followed by Mexican music icon Marco Antonio Solis on Sunday and Olivia Rodrigo Aug. 20 and 21.

Other notable acts already on the arena’s calendar include Twenty One Pilots on Aug. 27-28; Slipknot on Sept. 13-14; Usher on Sept. 21, 22, 24 and 25; Weezer on Oct. 11; and Billy Joel on Oct. 12.

Looking ahead, the dome has already been named the site of the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, and will serve as the basketball venue for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Construction on the Intuit Dome officially began in September 2021 near the corner of Century Boulevard and Prairie Avenue, south of SoFi Stadium and the Kia Forum.

The proximity of the Forum initially created a legal snag for the project, with then-owner Madison Square Garden Co. suing the Clippers and Inglewood, claiming the new venue violated a non competition clause of the Forum’s operating agreements with the city. In 2020, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer found a unique solution to resolve the lawsuit — by purchasing the Forum from MSG for $400 million.

The Forum remains primarily a music venue, and while Intuit Dome has already landed a series of high-profile concerts, its main purpose will be to house the Clippers, who have long shared the downtown Crypto.com Arena with the Lakers.

Ballmer has insisted Intuit Dome would be a technological marvel, most notably for the two-sided “Halo Board” scoreboard that encircles the arena with nearly an acre of lighting, covering 38,375 square feet.

The arena also includes five basketball courts — the game court, two practice courts, one promotional court and one court on the outdoor plaza. In addition, it features 86,000 square feet of training, medical and player spaces, including an indoor pool, and an 80,000-square-foot outdoor plaza that features two bars, a restaurant and 5,000-square-foot team store.

The seating area features what is known as “The Wall,” a 51-row section with strict rules designed to ensure only Clippers fans are admitted – through restrictions on ticket resale and the wearing of opposing team gear.

The arena is also highlighted by a half-dozen public artworks created by local artists, including murals, sculptures and digital displays.

People attending events at arena will have to download the Intuit Dome app and create an account to enter the venue. Once the account is created, ticketholders can set up a “Game Face ID” that allows them to walk directly into the arena without displaying a ticket, or use an “Identity Pass” that requires people to scan a smartphone ticket to enter.

The arena is also cashless, so people must upload a payment method onto the Intuit Dome app to make concession and retail store purchases. (CNS)

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