The Clippers' $2 billion arena will welcome fans for the first regular season game in the venue's history.Getty Images

The Clippers will host their first regular-season NBA game on Wednesday at the Intuit Dome, whose “more than $2 billion construction cost” was paid for by Clippers owner and chairman Steve Ballmer, according to Andrew Grief of the LOS ANGELES TIMES. For 40 years, the Clippers lived “a fragmented existence,” with their business office downtown just a “short walk” from Crypto.com Arena, while their basketball team worked and the team practiced 14 miles away in Playa Vista. When the time came to build its own arena, the owner ordered outdoor courts and community spaces to be installed on the arena's 26-acre site to recreate the feel of a campus that fans could and would want to visit even on non-game days .” .” Grief noted that Ballmer spent “more than” $2 billion on the complex, but speaks of a “payoff that is both cultural and commercial.” Within the team, “small customs like entering the building and fist bumping the same front desk clerk” are described as the “kind of details” that turn home space “into an advantage” (LA TIMES, October 21st).

SETTING STANDARDS: Shane Young of FORBES wrote that the Intuit Dome “isn’t just the NBA’s newest playground. It is a strategic haven for basketball and entertainment that automatically sets a high standard that may be unattainable for others.” Before a game is played at full capacity at the Intuit Dome, “it is clear that this building will become a pioneer in connecting progressive technology with human interaction will become”. From “architects to engineers to tech gurus,” Ballmer has “broadened her skillset.” The “most prominent example is the design of the lower bowl of the Intuit Dome.” To “create playoff intensity, the Arena Bowl had to be tight and intimate.” The seats “also had to be thicker and more comfortable than in other NBA venues while providing more legroom in the aisle.” The Clippers estimate that “over 500,000 engineering hours” were spent on the lower bowl. Another “key feature” is “The Wall,” which the Clippers call the 51 “unbroken rows behind the farthest baseline.” The two “main concerns” for Ballmer were that the bowl should be “fierce and similar to a college atmosphere” and each game “also had to be a lively, entertaining and affordable adventure for fans,” including games with “tickets for.” the upper level.” Tickets for the building are “still affordable despite being a new venue, and the highest view is miles better than other basketball arenas” (FORBES, October 21st).

RELATED: Madkour: Will Steve Ballmer's big bet on Intuit Dome pay off?

Bells and whistles: In LA, notes Anthony De Leon at the Intuit Dome, “everything is done through the official app.” It is needed to purchase tickets, enter the arena, gain access to club rooms, and purchase food and merchandise. After creating an account, the app “prompts fans to opt-in to the arena's facial identification program, 'GameFace ID.'” With a “quick selfie,” fans can “unlock a fully digital experience that streamlines access, Purchasing simplified and the experience enhanced.” Total fan experience without ever having to pull out cell phones or wallets again.” The team stores and concession stands allow shoppers to “scan their faces or tap their phone – connected to a specific payment method – to get what they need and walk out.” Facial recognition cameras are “in abundance” at the venue. Participation in GameFace ID is “optional”. Instead, users can choose Arena's backup option, the “Identity Pass,” a “digital ID card that members can add to Apple or Google wallets.” To enter the concessions or merchandise area, users must “use a payment method, whether through the app or with a card.” This payment method “will be charged each time guests leave areas with items they wish to purchase.” The Intuit Dome uses “automatic license plate recognition technology to streamline parking.” Fans can “pre-register their vehicle in the app, thereby enabling faster parking access” (LA TIMES, October 23rd).

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: In DC, Joel Stein wrote that Ballmer “solves a small problem by causing much larger ones. Yes, much of the 'personal technology' we've all adopted helps us live our lives better.” But the Intuit Dome app is “not one of them.” “There is no way I would have downloaded the Intuit Dome app if I hadn't received a ton of creepy emails with subject lines that started with a red exclamation point and said no one was allowed into the arena without it.” Around the Intuit Dome In order to use the app, “I had to give out my address, email address, and phone number,” and in order to make a purchase, “I had to give the app my credit card information because they didn’t accept cash or Apple Pay.” The app “encouraged Urged me to take a selfie for my 'Game Face ID' so it could use facial recognition.” It “wanted my license plate for parking.” In the “Privacy” section “I was informed that ‘the seats use Bluetooth sensors and ultra-wideband to determine whether your mobile device is on or near a particular seat, as well as how long you have been in that seat “'” Stein wrote that he “was the victim of the kind of overbearing business thinking in which you imagine your customer is so devoted to your product that he pushes more than two buttons” (WASHINGTON POST, October 21st).

VISITOR REVIEW: Kings F DeMar DeRozan — from Compton, Calif. and USC graduate — “marveled” at the sight of the Intuit Dome in Inglewood as the Kings played the Clippers in Thursday's preseason finale, according to Jason Anderson of the SACRAMENTO BEE. DeRozan: “I never thought Inglewood would look like this, so it’s amazing. This is great for the city.” DeRozan, Kings G Jordan McLaughlin and longtime members of the team's travel party agreed that “the spacious visitors' locker room with an adjacent weight room is the best in the NBA.” When asked if it was in the league “There is a nicer visitors' locker room,” McLaughlin said: “Not quite like that.” I think they've thought of everything for the visitors here” (SACRAMENTO BEE, 10/20).