The Los Angeles Clippers want to be the top game in town. Steve Ballmer’s team now has Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and soon they will have a new arena in Inglewood.
It will be hard for the Los Angeles Lakers to keep up with both the on-court product and the amenities the Clippers can provide in the future. Meanwhile, Ballmer has made some inroads in getting his Inglewood arena built, and keeping the promise of lifting up the city around it.
In a story reported on ESPN on Tuesday, Ballmer committed $100 million to the city of Inglewood as part of a community benefit plan.
Via ESPN:Ballmer’s $100 million community benefits plan was negotiated with city officials from Inglewood as part of their arena development agreement and is set to be revealed Tuesday at an Inglewood City Council meeting.
“We’re close to a residential neighborhood and we are being very mindful,” Ballmer told ESPN in July about building the arena in Inglewood. “Investing well into the community, being a good citizen of the community. No homes need to get moved but we need to be a good neighbor.”A lot of talk about how sports arenas benefit the surrounding city area is puffery. It’s not clear whether the Clippers new home will be the exception to that rule, but a hundred million dollars goes a long way in the right direction.