by Noah Santiago
The Los Angeles Clippers are officially rebranding as they are moving to a new arena and have unveiled a new logo and set of jerseys for the upcoming 2024-2025 season.
After Clippers owner Steve Ballmer bought the team back in 2014, he began considering a rebrand. He was thinking of where the team should play, the logo's design and colors, and even the name. He held surveys for the fans on all the things about the team. And, although they were against a name change, most Clippers fans love the rebrand. They will also be leaving Crypto.com Arena and moving to Intuit Dome starting next season. Steve also ensured that this new arena will be special.
The more than 2 billion dollar arena started construction in 2021 and is nearly finished. It has some features that no other arena has. The new scoreboard is a literal acre big - 44000 square feet. The average NBA scoreboard isn't even one-fifth that amount. The arena has 5 different basketball courts inside of it. Other than the main court, it has a few practice courts and one for community events. But the most notable new addition is The Wall. The Wall is 51 rows of the most hardcore Clipper fans. Fans seated here are prohibited from wearing any opposing team's jersey or cheering for them. They also have sensors here that will track how loud you are and being loud enough can grant you certain discounts at the team store.
Ballmer said he'll spend whatever it takes to win and so far, it's working. After acquiring James Harden from the 76ers, they've had a 32-12 record, the second-best in the league in that span. They are currently number 4 in the west but only 2.5 games out from first. The Clippers have doubled their fanbase in the past 7 years and are planning to double it again in the coming years.
"This team has direction now", says Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker.
The Clippers will hope to retain this direction in the upcoming years.