Sports Ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer can’t stop talking about the bathrooms at his new $2 billion sports stadium JORDAN HART 14 October 2024 05:08 PM

The Intuit Dome — the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers — opened two months ago. The team’s owner, Steve Ballmer, is particularly proud of the bathrooms.

The Intuit Dome, the LA Clippers’ new home, has more than 1,400 toilets to cut down on lines.
Steve Ballmer, a former Microsoft CEO, spent $2 billion on the arena, which opened in August.
The arena also features audio sensors to gauge fan enthusiasm and a massive “halo” screen.
The $2 billion stadium boasts over 1,400 toilets and urinals, Ballmer said during a “60 Minutes” interview. Ballmer, who spent most of his career at Microsoft and more than 13 years as its CEO, is passionate about cutting down on lines in the Intuit Dome.

“I really hate it when people wait in line,” Ballmer said.

Waiting in line for the bathroom, he added, “stops people from getting back into the game” and can frustrate fans.
Ballmer spent $2 billion of his own $126 billion fortune to build a new arena for the NBA team he purchased in 2014 upon his retirement as Microsoft’s CEO. Ballmer said after breaking ground on the arena in 2021 that he was “real obsessive about toilets.”

The former tech executive has also added plenty of high-tech flair to the arena, including sensors designed to determine how loud fans are, down to the seat level. Ballmer said the devices aren’t “listening to your conversation” but help identify enthusiastic fans to give freebies to.

The Intuit Dome also features a massive double-sided “halo” screen, made up of over 70 LED displays.
Ballmer spent more than 30 years at Microsoft. At the tech giant, he became known for his energized antics, like screaming to pump up the crowd at conferences and running around onstage.

ADVERTISEMENT

The year he left the company, Ballmer paid $2 billion to purchase the Clippers. And his meme-worthy moments have only continued.

Unlike his ultrawealthy peers, Ballmer doesn’t own a superyacht or a sprawling compound. As a lifelong lover of basketball, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to own an NBA team.

Now that the Intuit Dome is complete, Ballmer is hoping fans in the building will help his Clippers win games — and perhaps their first championship.

“Everything in my instinct says it will help our basketball team if our crowd team can really get into it,” Ballmer said.