The ROAR Podcast: Scott Sonnenberg, LA Clippers

# The ROAR Podcast: Scott Sonnenberg, LA Clippers
**Guest:** Scott Sonnenberg
**Date:** 2026-04-16
**YouTube URL:** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ-ejSCGIwM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ-ejSCGIwM)
**Source:** YouTube auto-generated captions (no speaker diarization)

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[00:04] What does it actually look like to build the greatest basketball arena in the world from the ground up and then sell it? Scott Sandenberg has spent 22 years in the NBA. First with the Chicago Bulls where he helped turn a scrappy partnership department into a global revenue machine. But it was a call from Los Angeles and a mandate from Steve Balmer to build something the world has never seen that led him to his role as chief commercial officer of the Los Angeles Clippers.

[00:35] In this episode, Scott takes us inside the intimate dump. How they landed a naming rights partner days before groundbreaking. Why they built three times the industry standard number of restrooms. and how a Candy Crush partnership is literally getting fans to run back to their seats after halftime. Scott and Adam get into the Halo board, the wall, the Cabana suites, and how it all ties back to a singular relentless vision. Put fans in their seats, cheering

[01:06] with their face as their ticket and their data powering every moment. They close the discussion with a conversation about AI and whether technology is a friend or foe of the live sports experience. and Scott's answer to those questions might surprise you. I'm Bryce Clinton and this is the Roar Podcast. >> Welcome to the Roar Podcast. I'm your host, Adam Gman. With me today is Scott Sonenberg. Scott, welcome to the podcast. >> Thanks. Good to be with you.

[01:36] >> Well, we're excited to have you on. Obviously, a lot going on in in in the world of the Los Angeles Clippers, but we like to start uh the podcast where we start all of our podcasts, which is tell us a little bit more about yourself and how you got to the position of chief commercial officer at the Clippers. >> Sure. Well, I've been in the NBA for 22 years. I got my start with the Bulls back in ' 04. Steve Shanwald was the executive vice president at the time, brought me in to oversee the partnerships department. At the time there was just a couple of sellers and one activation person. So we were pretty small in size. You know within a year or

[02:08] so we brought our radio rights in house and suddenly my team doubled in size and and it was off to the races. I mean we had quite a bit of success when we brought our our rights in house and we're we're selling bringing a lot of new partners on board. As I continued to grow within that role you know down the road I was later promoted to to vice president of corporate sales. With that came additional responsibility with entertainment. So overseeing the game entertainment experience with uh with the Bulls and if you've been to a Bulls

[02:38] game, you know, they've got some of the best entertainment in in all of sports. So really proud of of that team that they've done um even well after, you know, I was there and and certainly well before as the the Bulls were I feel like some of the pioneers in sports entertainment. But my focus for the most part was on the sales side and a corporate part. And again, we had a lot of success. I mean, another thing that we I was really proud of when we were there, we really started to leverage the bull's uh strength overseas and bringing partners on from overseas. So, we

[03:09] started traveling the world and brought a uh a partner on from Poland and we were in all different parts of the world, China and the Philippines and Mexico and on and on. and the Bulls continue to do that as as they are a global powerhouse in the world sports. So, I was excited to be a part of that. Um, you know, once we we renewed our United Naming rights deal, we started building a a a little plaza there or an atrium is what we called it and then additional office space. And it was just

[03:41] a great place to work, you know, it was a a great environment. Loved working for Michael Ryanorf during my time there. Uh, but then I I I feel like once once the atrium was built and I was in my new office, I remember very vividly looking out at the skyline and this big beautiful office that was just built and thinking, gosh, I feel uncomfortably comfortable right now and I'm ready for a new challenge. And it was about that time that the Clippers had reached out to me. Steve Balmer had acquired the Clippers a few years in advance and was

[04:12] building out his executive team and a recruiter reached out to me to talk to me about the opportunity. I was, you know, I wouldn't say I I jumped on it right away, but I was open to the conversation. And the more I learned about it from the recruiter and then the person that eventually came became my boss, Gileian Zucker, our CEO, I was excited. I was excited about the challenge of building a new stadium. I was excited about the advancements in technology that we would introduce through through the new stadium and to be able to sell it was something really

[04:42] really exciting for me. Now, at the time, the Clippers were towards the bottom in sponsorship revenue. You we were a tenant in a building, you know, at Staples Center, then now Crypto.com Arena. And so, I also looked at it as there's just a lot of a lot of really positives here and the trajectory is nowhere but up, you know, with building a new stadium and being able to control all of that revenue. Um, it was just a unique opportunity. So, I was very excited to get the the offer and then

[05:13] make the move. And that was about 8 years ago. Uh since then have grown you know my department in size on both the partnership marketing, our partnership strategy, partnership sales and then a few years ago I took on uh premium seating about a year prior to opening uh into a dome. And so overseeing all of those relationships on premium and partnerships department is is what I do now. >> Yeah, there there's a lot there and you know obviously also as I'm from the Chicago area or now live in the Chicago area maybe made an upgrade on the weather situation. I'm sure that didn't

[05:43] hurt >> hurt the conversation. >> That helped. I mean, that was not a tough sell to my wife. My wife's from Mexico City and I'm like, "Hey, we can move to California." She's like, "I'm in." >> So, we enjoyed it out here, our recruiting trip, and and found a great place to to live out here. So, it's it's been a great move for us and for the kids, for the family. >> Yeah. I mean, obviously the Mexico City and LA weather are very aligned, although Chicago does actually have a very big Latino and Hispanic community here, which is also interesting. like you're also moving to obviously another

[06:14] great area from that perspective. >> One question that actually was I was going to potentially talk about with the Clippers, but you brought it up with your Bulls experience is the idea of these international partnership opportunities and building a global brand, you know, and global relationships in the context while also having to think about the DMA and the local elements. Can you talk about that and how that's I think that's a conversation that a lot of NBA teams have is there's these global opportunities but also having to service the local DMA. >> Yeah, I mean when you look at the NBA and the four major sports leagues in the

[06:46] US, nobody does a better job of reaching its fans globally than the NBA and it shows in our social media numbers. I mean, we're way ahead of the next league, which is the NFL in in our social media numbers. So the NBA is is really the to credit for that. Uh we have our preseason games that we have overseas. We have even some now inseason games that are played over the NBA has done a fantastic job of leveraging those opportunities to introduce us to to new partners there as well and we look

[07:17] forward to being able to travel overseas and and playing some games also. But but we've done a great job of being able to leverage leverage that and we've we've brought a few partners on from China over the years and and look forward to continuing to grow that. The NBA has done a great job of bringing talent in from overseas and the teams have been able to leverage that for partnerships as as well. Yeah, the the NBA is fantastic at expanding the game globally and the teams take advantage of that.

[07:47] You know, you obviously mentioned everybody knows Los Angeles is a two team market and the Lakers have historically been obviously a team that has a lot of residents in the market. So, how do you think about that in your current job where you're trying to obviously maximize revenue across mult multiple different revenue streams? But, you know, that's got to be something that you guys, you know, how do you expand global reach or how do you expand reach both clearly within Los Angeles but also outside of Los Angeles as well? >> Yeah, we don't really think about the Lakers. Uh, I'm sure they don't really think about uh either. you know, they they have their niche and their fan

[08:19] base. We have ours. They have partners that gravitate towards them. We have partners that gravitate towards us. We feel that we have now built a basketball arena that's the greatest basketball arena in the world without question. And so, you know, your previous question was about kind of, you know, the global reach. Building into a dome has has really enhanced that global reach for us. We hear from teams every week that ask us questions about how did you do this, how did you do that, how did you incorporate that technology and why did you do this? You know, we've really

[08:50] become the standard for venues and I and I also believe we're well be well in front of it. Um, you know, there's things that we did at Into a Dome that you may not see for a few more years from other new stadiums that are are getting built. Um, so we've become kind of that uh that team that a lot of others who are thinking about building stadiums or going through renovations are are reaching out to us. So, um, you know, LA is a competitive marketplace. You know, it's more than just the Lakers. You got a dozen other

[09:21] professional teams and major college sports programs, but there's space for everyone. You know, I think one thing that we've really found a lot of pride in is showing results through our our partnerships. We work with a lot of thirdparty agencies that allow us to kind of show an ROI on what what we're doing from a partnership standpoint. We also try to create partnerships that are unique, that are one of one that you won't find anywhere else. A little bit more about that, but but yeah, there's there's space space for for everyone and we're really proud of the team that we

[09:51] have here and the feedback that we get from our partners that we've that we've brought on board. Well, you're talking a bunch of sweet spots for us on this podcast in terms of new technology teams asking you, but I can't let I guess even though this is a basketball oriented podcast, can't let the pitch go by when you talk about partnerships and ROI and unique partnership opportunities. What are what are some of the numbers that you're seeing and what are some of the unique opportunities that you're you guys are able to provide to partners? >> Well, it goes beyond just, you know, eyeballs and impressions that that people see. I mean, we take a lot of

[10:22] pride in in understanding exactly what our partners are hoping to accomplish through a relationship with the Clippers. Um, I mean, you can start right there with uh naming rights. You know, we were out in the market for a few years in advance talking to potential partners about naming rights and as a part of that, you know, we're understanding what a partner wants and what they believe in as an organization and do those goals align with ours and with in it they align perfectly. You know, we wanted to create the greatest fan experience in the world in sports.

[10:55] In it is trying to create the greatest customer experience for small businesses. We wanted to utilize technology in order to deliver that. Inuit is trying to maximize technology in their space to be able to deliver great customer service and great results for for those people that use their platforms. Sustainability sustainability is is a hot topic with every organization or if it's not it should be. Steve Balmer, to my knowledge, contributes more towards sustainability efforts than anybody else in the world. And that says a lot about how important

[11:27] it is for him in building a stadium that he wants to be able to make an impact on on the environment as a result of that stadium being built. So, you know, Into a Dome is 100% solar operated. We've got massive batteries that allow us to store the power that we generate from those solar uh panels in in those those batteries that were built for us. And we can even operate in a 4hour uh blackout in in Los Angeles if we needed to. Um and uh and you know it goes all the way

[11:58] down to the concrete that we poured. The concrete that we poured um was better for the environment than traditional concrete. Now it was significantly more expensive, but that was just kind of some of the things that were on our minds when we were building into a dome. We wanted it to be all about sustainability. There's no gas running through the building. I mean, it's 100% uh electric. So, so all of those things were important to us and when we told into it about this vision that we have, they're like, well, it's sustainability is important for us, too. That's a story that we want to be able uh to tell. Um,

[12:29] so there was just a lot of synergies between us and them that allowed us to create a a partnership around it and be able to tell the stories that we both want want to tell. And I I think that's that's what makes a a great partnership is when you have those those synergies and can tell stories together because your values are aligned. >> Yeah. I mean obviously people know this podcast as a numbers and quantitative driven podcast that we talk a lot about numbers and data but narrative is really important. One of the things that we like to focus on or talk about is

[13:01] numbers and narrative and aligning narratives and you know the companies that live their values and organically can talk about their values through the partnerships is really important. So, um, I think whether it's into it or some of the other partners that you have, you know, what when you talk about having the the best arena for fans, I think it's really interesting all the things that you've done. Again, I want to dive into that, but explicitly for the partnership perspective when you're saying we're developing the best experience for fans. How does that come through from a partnership perspective? Are partners really seeing all the stuff

[13:31] that you're doing and engaging with what's happening inside the venue? >> Yeah, I Well, they help deliver it. They help deliver that great experience. So, um, I'll kind of take you through the experience at at Into a Dome and, you know, include some partners and how they help bring it to life. You know, what's different about Into a Dome is everybody has to have their own ticket. So, we control the identity of everybody that comes through the building and that's through our relationship with Ticket Master. Now, that wasn't an easy relationship to to navigate. Now, we have Ticket Master is fantastic, but we were asking them to do something that hasn't been done before because in a

[14:02] typical venue, you may download the ticket master app and then your ticket sits there. At Intudome, you're actually downloading the Intu Dome app. Everybody's got to have their own ticket. And the reason why is we want to tailor that experience for each individual fan. So when you download the app and you set up an account and set up your Gameface ID and your Gameface ID becomes your ticket to get into the building, it becomes your credit card to buy things. You walk into a concession stand, it recognizes you, the gate opens, you grab whatever you want, and you go sit down. it becomes your your ID

[14:33] as well. If you'd like to purchase alcohol in the building, your game face ID allows you to to do that. So once you download the app and it takes 90 seconds and you have put everything in there, you can then navigate your way around into a dome without having to take out your phone, without having to show anything. You can just walk seamlessly and when you're sitting in the venue and you want to go grab something to eat, you just go and and grab it. The gate opens and you don't have to wait in the line. You don't have to get out a credit card. You just seamlessly do it as if you're sitting in your your own home. Steve explained it when we were talking

[15:05] about the the vision for Into a Dome. He said, "I want people to come to Into a Dome and experience the game as if they're sitting in their own family room with 18,000 of their closest friends." >> Now, what does that mean? Well, if I'm sitting in my family room and I want to go to the fridge and grab something to drink, I just get up and grab it. >> Same experience at Intu Dome. You know, there's a lot of talk about restrooms as well. Um, a lot of sound from Steve talking about restrooms because he doesn't want lines. What do people hate when they come to buildings? They hate lines. >> Yeah. Well, just to stop you on that point, that is something that we, one of

[15:36] the common things we talk about from a data perspective is a gap analysis. And frequently, you know, people rate what's important versus what actually is working. One of the highest gap analysis that you see consistently is restrooms. Both in terms of weight line, in terms of, you know, there's a lot of different things about restrooms. So I actually shared his enthusiasm enthusiasm about restrooms because that is the number one thing that you can really be optimized or one of the number one things. Just wanted to put that in there that I am actually very supportive of that. >> Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Everybody is. You know, it's one of the pain points that people have when going to venues. They don't want to wait in line because

[16:06] you're waiting in line, you're missing the action. And our biggest thing was we want people in the bowl watching the game without having to wait in line. So how do we solve for that? We actually didn't need technology to solve for that. just added multiple upon multiple restrooms in the building. We have three times the number of restrooms that you would find in a typical venue. >> Yeah, I think that's also a good point is just like technology isn't always the way to move things forward. Right. Exactly. In this case, it's listening to the fans, understanding what fans would want and driving them back to their seats, which is obviously Steve and the whole organization's goal. One thing you mentioned earlier, and I want to bring

[16:37] it back to the point of entry and using your face and all, you know, downloading the Clippers app. You mentioned that other teams are reaching out clearly besides the toilets. probably the number one thing that people talk about from a fan experience is the entry and is this experience with ticket master. Is that the thing that people are reaching out to you the most about or is that some or is it something else inside the arena because it is novel and it is something that you know it certainly is one of the things that I'm most interested in when I think about the inuit though. >> Yeah, that certainly at the at the top of the list. um we incorporated

[17:09] technology in the building just not for technology sake but to enhance the game experience to eliminate lines and so questions that we're hearing from venues are you know what partners did you use and why did you choose them because in every one of these areas we've got multiple partners to choose from and they're not always driven by sponsorship you know we ask that each of these partners do a sponsorship of some level with us as a part of the relationship but um but if the technology of one is better than another. We are always lean towards the better technology because it

[17:40] it really is all about the fan experience. And so yeah, and we wanted to work with trusted partners in this space. So Clear, you know, Clear is one that everywhere, every airport that you walk into, you know that you can trust Clear. And so we thought, well, we want people to know they can trust us as well. And so let's align ourselves with someone that everybody knows. And so we have a relationship with Clear, just for one example. Um, and then there's multiple others. I probably recently with TSA, everybody's probably wanting to have a more a stronger relationship

[18:11] with Clear. >> Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So people know who they are and that's one again one of many examples that we have in the technology partners that we we chose and and why we chose them. And then you know from a partner standpoint we wanted to bring partners that would enhance the experience as well. Um you know AT&T is a great partner of ours. pitched them our vision of into a dome and everything that we're wanting to do and they said gosh this is going to be an area that we can really showcase our technology too. So we're going to build this massive dome like buildout on the on the terrace

[18:44] level of in a dome where you can create your own virtual world within it. It's it's unlike anything I've seen in any other venue and then we highlight and showcase what that world is that these individuals created or these fans created on our Halo board. And so we've been able to connect a partner like AT&T with the Halo in kind of helping them tell their story through, you know, a oneofone Halo scoreboard that is unlike any other that you've seen in the NBA. So that's one way that we may tie the partner together.

[19:14] >> How do you come up with like, you know, obviously that's a novel idea. Clearly the Halo board was something that the team also emphasized, but creating these novel stories, narratives, I mean, that's novel. So how do you come up with these ideas? who you know where where's kind of the inspiration from because these are all obviously out of the box thinking ideas that are not typical in the industry. >> Yeah. I mean a lot of it is driven by you know what partner objectives may be. So you know we may sell a platform on the terrace and then tell tell AT&T that

[19:44] hey this is what we what our vision is for in a dome. How can you help us better tell the story and how can you kind of help help tell yours as well. So then they brainstorm with their agency and they come back to us with a few different ideas. And so you know in that instance a lot of it was driven by by AT&T and us just trying to align ourselves with with them and and again vice vice versa to create a really unique and cool experience that fans when they get to the top of the terrace they want to check it out because you're not going to see anything like it in the

[20:14] NBA. Um and so AT&T delivers experiences like that. you know, we have a new partner with Candy Crush this year where um you know, we actually went to them and said, "Hey, we have a challenge that we want you to help us solve." And that is coming out of the out of halftime and into the third quarter, every NBA team sees the same challenge, but you know, fans like to linger in the clubs and the lounges and they slowly stroll in, you know, midway through the third quarter. And it, you know, if you'll recall, our

[20:46] our whole vision for Into a Dome is fans in the seats. We want fans watching the game. We want fans cheering the the team on. We want them to help impact the game. And if they're hanging out in the clubs and lounges, um, that impacts us, you know, to kind of help us with that, we eliminated TVs in the clubs and lounges. So, you can't watch the game in the in the club. We want you in the inter Bowl. So, we go to Candy Crush. We say, "Hey, help us solve for this." And we created a game on our Halo board where as each fan comes in after Halime

[21:18] um and I'll have to back up a little bit because we have power going through each of the seats. So that allows us to put a four button pad on the seat on the armrest. It allows us to have an LED light there. It allows us to charge our phone there. It allows us to interact with it with an NFC chip that's installed there. So if we want to prompt the fans to download something by tapping the their armrest, they can do that with the NFC chip. So So we have all of that capability. So we go to Candy Crush and we say, "Hey, help us solve for this." And let's create a game

[21:48] that as each fan comes into the inner bowl coming out of halftime and they push the button, a checkerboard on the halo lights up. And as as more and more of these checkerboard pieces light up, once we get to a certain level, then we'll have our game entertainment team come out and shoot prizes into the crowd and shoot things which all fans love to to see. So, you know, the first game we ran it, a lot of the fans were like, "Huh, this is interesting." They didn't really see what was happening. And then the second game, fans were literally running over people to get to their seat and pushing

[22:21] the buttons. And if someone wasn't sitting next to them, they're pushing that button because they want the board to light up so that they can get the prizes shot shout out to them. So, you know, it's things like that where we go to a partner, we have we want you to help us solve for this. We think this is a great synergy with what your game is and Candy Crumb, let's create something together and something memorable and into a dome and we've been able to accomplish that with that. >> That's really interesting about Candy Crush. You know, you mentioned that this was kind of an existing problem. One thing that I thought was interesting that you brought up with about AT&T was

[22:52] and some of your and ticket masters, you're thinking about all of these things as the new venue was being built. So from your perspect, you know, you were, you said obviously one of the things that you were interested in coming to the Clippers is obviously the new venue that is now at two. So from a partnership perspective for something like the AT&T experience which is something you have to think about as you're doing the construction how early did you engage with partners and obviously as they're part of the being part of the venue and allows for more organic you know activation and ways to showcase their products or offerings or technology. When did you start having

[23:22] those conversations? How do you start thinking about those conversations? Particularly as more and more sports organizations are thinking about you know either new builds or renovating their current builds. you know, how early did you engage with partners in the process? >> Um, we brought CIA on board probably a year and a half before groundbreaking. So, we had a relationship with CIA about four and a half years. Um, our goal in working with them was really just to expand, you know, our reach. you know, a lot of new venues um tap into an agency

[23:55] because, you know, my team of four sellers now becomes a team of 24 28 sellers uh globally and they've got a lot of relationships that we may not even have. So, um so we brought CA on to work with. They were fantastic. Worked with them. I would say 6 to 8 months in, we really started to identify some naming rights partners. We had a few lined up. Um, obviously one of those was into it and our goal was to have a naming rights partner by groundbreaking and groundbreaking was three years out.

[24:28] It was a three-year build. So, we we had about a year and a half that we wanted to close a naming rights deal and and literally it was down to the wire. We got into it signed a day or two before groundbreaking. And it was many many late nights through the holiday. You know, we had Labor Day we were working with and and it was like no vacations for anybody. we got to get this thing. So, um, so we did, but that sets the stage for everyone else because we needed to know who our naming rights partner was before we went out into the market with our founding deals and more

[24:59] traditional partnerships because we don't want to sell a category. You know, let's say it's a low seven figure category. We would didn't want to sell that category if we had a naming rights partner that may buy it for many, many more dollars. And so, you got to sell naming rights first. And and that's why we were out in front of it so far in advance. and and thankfully it worked out really well for us where they they did sign they've been a great partner to work with. Um and then from there we started to fill the other gaps with founding partners and selling other key assets you know throughout the building. Were they involved though from like an

[25:30] actual building like the physical creation of spaces or you know one reason we one reason we reconnected recently is about premium spaces and how you guys think about premium spaces and want to get into that as well but from a build perspective were they involved or partners involved at all in terms of like we were interested in these types of spaces or experiences AT&T or otherwise? Yeah, with all of our partners, we make an introduction to our chief technology officer and in most cases those partners, we find something that we can utilize through our

[26:02] partners. So, it is um an organic partnership. It's not just a sign that we're putting up or a promotion that we're running. We are literally using their services. And so, um and that's the case with, you know, several of our partners. into it was one that we made the introduction to and um introduced them to our CTO and and they've kind of helped helped us in a few different areas. >> And then one other thing before we enter into the premium phase I really wanted to jump into, you know, you said create using the point of entry and using the

[26:32] the Clippers app and using everything to create a personalized fan experience for everybody inside the in it dome. So what does that mean practically, right? How do you try to do that or actually do do that I should say in terms of creating this personalized experience leveraging data analytics you know everything that you guys could have access to to create these personalized experiences. >> Well with that personalized experience there's a lot that we know about each individual fan based on what they do at into a dome. So we know what time they

[27:02] arrived and we can reward them with a prize you know with a free churro. thanks for getting here early. Here's a free churo. Um, you know, we can send a push notification to them. So, we we want to create incentives to impact behavior. And one real important incentive is, you know, to get people here early, uh, and and reward them with prizes as as a result. That would be the incentive. But, um, you know, we want to impact behavior. So, um, so we know when they get here, we know what they're buying, you know, when they go to the concession areas. So, if we wanted to

[27:34] partner with, you know, one of our vendors to say, "Hey, thanks for purchasing whatever when you came to Introdome. Here's 20% off through a relationship that we have with some third party uh to purchase the same thing at your local grocery store." I mean, we can create things like that. Um, we have decibel meters that hang from the Halo board. Now, what does that allow us to do? Well, we know where the sound is coming from. We can't hear your conversations. >> We don't want to hear what you're talking about, >> right? But we do hear the sound that's

[28:04] coming from each individual seat. We have it down to the seat. And so what can we do with that information? Well, we can reward the loudest fan of the game literally by using data to say this person made the most and in the fourth quarter we'll give them a prize. Or there may be a section and we may say hey thanks for being such a great section here. Here's a free water on us. Show this at the concessions. there's there's a lot of things that we can do with the data and and to be honest, we're just tapping the surface. We're

[28:34] just getting started with it. Um, but those are some of the things that we're capable of doing just by knowing our fans. >> And then what's been the partner in fan response? Obviously, having this level of data provides a new level, a novel level of insight. You know, even to the point like you just said, like, well, you can find out who the loudest fan was or is. And that's obviously can be pretty interesting to see who's the most enthusiastic, but also it gives you a level of data and insight that is different and from my perspective better in terms of understanding the fans. So what's been the response from fans and

[29:06] partners about this you guys having this level of data? >> Fantastic. Yeah, we created a rewards program this season to reward people with different things and you can earn points and you can earn rewards with the more points that you that you receive throughout the season. And so, you know, anytime fans can win something by by being a part of it, they're excited. Fans love, you know, free churros or free chicken sandwich relationship with >> it's a lot of churros. And I love churros, too. That seems like a big one.

[29:36] >> We love churros. And there there's an inside joke there that actually our chief technology officer loves churros. So, it was all about the churros and making sure we had the right vendor for churros. >> Well, making sure like all the data unbelievably says everybody loves churros. I can't believe that we're >> That's right. That's right. Tough to pass on, >> but yeah. I mean, but that's a good example, right? It's like whether it does say that or not, but like understanding that people like Churros or whatever it is that the data that you're collecting, you know, how it does that influence those conversations that you're have particularly on the

[30:07] partnership side, but also like how you're thinking about fans and fan engagement and what to have in venue, even the types of promotions and prizes that you're having obviously can be determined by the data. So, how do you think are you guys using that or how are you using that exactly in order to kind of maximize your revenues, commercialization, and overall fan engagement? >> Well, again, I think we're just getting started on what we can use the data forward. Initially, it was let's start this rewards program. Let's see what what comes in through the the data. What are what are the habits that we want to

[30:39] drive with our fans? You getting there early and purchasing things. we want our fans to, you know, to engage with the app. And so there's rewards built into to all of those things. But, but again, I think we're just we're just really getting started. Um, you know, we know gosh, we know what percentage of our fans have only been to one game. >> Yeah. >> And it's, you know, it it's it's a number that we then can say, okay, let's let's assume the number is 20%. you

[31:11] know, um, we can then take that other 80% and say, gosh, if we can get that 80% to another game. What does that mean to our our bottom line? And how can we incentivize them to do that? Um, all right, we know we came to a game and u maybe there's a an offer that we can provide for a game or a group offer or something um or some other incentive inside the building, you know, merchandise credit or or something that we can get them to come to one more game. I mean, if we can just impact that group, um, then we've we've done, you

[31:45] know, quite a bit quite a bit with that data. >> Yeah. And one thing I would, um, wanted to talk about just before we hit the premium and the hospitality side is, you know, when you talk about loudest fans and fans who are probably coming to more than one game, it's those who sit in the wall and just how the wall impacts the overall experience and how, you know, I think there are a lot of probably secondary or multiplier effects that the wall has. So just a what is the wall for people who don't know and b how does that impact the other points of your business uh particularly inside the venue? >> If you go back to what the vision for

[32:17] into a dome was I look at a lot of these venues that are built they take on the personality of the owner. >> Yeah. >> Or the chairman. And everybody knows Steve as the greatest. >> Steve is is going nuts. I mean he's into it and he wants everybody else to be into it. Like >> into it because it's the into it don't. >> Yeah. Well, that makes it >> Yeah, that makes it easy to be able to tell that. That's why that we love our relationship with into it because it's an easy tag on words. Um, but so we want

[32:48] everybody to be as engaged as Steve and how do we do that? How do we actually impact the game? And so the vision from day one was let's create the greatest homec court advantage possible. And if you look at sports and those teams that have the greatest impact on the game, you got to look at, you know, college athletics, basketball, um, you know, that that homec court advantage if you're a Duke fan and the Cameron crazies and things like that. Or there's a lot of teams that we visited overseas that our CEO and Steve visited overseas

[33:18] to see what their fan section was about. And here right in our backyard at LAFC, they've got a great fan section behind the goal. And so, you know, those those venues impact the outcome of the game. And if they're able to do that, how do we create that at into a dome? Well, we wanted to create the wall, which is 51 uninterrupted rows. It's as steep as fire code would allow us to bit to get. I mean, if you're standing at the top of the wall, I mean, you're looking straight down. >> Yeah. >> Um, and it is a wall of fans. And within

[33:48] that we have the swell which is a few hundred like of our basically our our super fans that are on their feet non-stop. I mean those those fans are cheering, chanting everything that you would see again at a soccer game overseas or college basketball game or or whatever. I mean that's that's that group and they're doing lots of different antics to try to get into the heads of of the opposing team's players. Last season was obviously our first year into a dome. And what was the impact that the wall had on the opposing team when shooting free throws? Well, the

[34:19] worst free throw percentage in the NBA last season was shot against the wall by the opposing team. So, what we built and what we created worked. I think our even three-point percentages shooting into the wall was among one of the worst >> bottom five. Um, and so we we created an environment that allows us to really impact the game, and we're really really proud of that. This past year, we actually flew the wall to fans that sit on the wall to a road game to see if they could help impact the game.

[34:50] Unfortunately, the game didn't turn out so well, but those are some of the types of things that we're willing to do for our fans. >> Well, we know from our own analysis, effective field goal percentage is the thing that drives winning the most. and if you can impact three-point percentage and free throw percentage that'll actually have a tangible impact on winning in addition to the overall experience. So that's you know obviously not news to your team but I think it can be something to think about right is particularly as you're building the venue there are ways that actually can impact the you know onc court experience while also having the multiplier effect

[35:20] of the offc court experience by making it more exciting to be there. Uh and then to one of the other things though on the other side of that on the flip side is the premium experience and how you think about premium and how you create you know we talked about this a little bit at the conference we were at but it was you know how do you create unique premium experiences particularly in a in a city and and uh you know DMA like LA where there are a lot of premium options. So, you know, from your perspective, how do you think about premium and how do you think about having a premium experience that drives people, you know, people, companies, um,

[35:52] content creators, whoever you're trying to attract to the experience and to the init? >> Well, this is LA and there are a lot of options from the sports entertainment perspective. So, with into a dome, we wanted to create an option that's one of one, one that you cannot find anywhere else in the NBA. So if you look at the suites that we have available, you start with the cabana suite. So the cabana is four suites, separate suites located just behind the basket, just behind Steve's seats, actually rows three, four, and five. And you have a suite

[36:24] that is, you know, it almost looks like, you know, underneath a ship, which was designed that way. this incredible tight space that uh tight but but spacious in the sense where you've got your own bartender there. You've got, you know, food and everything, but as soon as you walk out, you're there in your seats, rows three, four, and five. And it's it's almost like a little patio that you have. You've even got a sofa in the back. And it's this really unique experience that you can't find anywhere else in the NBA. Now, I share that also

[36:54] because I've got a brother who's a courtside seat holder in in Utah for the Utah Jets. And he's like free throw line extended, some of the greatest seats that you can find. Um, which by the way, if you've got feet on the wood, courtside seats in the NBA, I don't think there's a better sports experience out there. >> That's as good as it gets. And so, I've got my brother coming in town and I say, "Hey, um, why don't you come in town, catch a game at our new stadium?" He's like, "I don't know. I've got pretty good seats here. I'm good." I said, "I think I've got something that my rival knows." And he's like, "Impossible." And I said, "Just come out, check it out."

[37:24] Brought him into the cabana suite. We sat in there and he said, "All right, you got me." Like this. Although feet on the wood, nothing is better. You know, people that are feet on the wood, it's like two seats or four seats. People aren't, it's not a whole group of people. You're not getting 10 people there court side of your family and friends. But the cabana, you got 11 seats. You got, you know, co-workers, clients, family, whoever you want. and you all have incredible seats. You're all interacting together and you've got a suite that's connected to it. And so

[37:55] if there's anything that rivals a Courtzside seat, it's got to be the command. So we've got four and we've got three sold. There's only one left and we sell it on a per game basis. Um, you know, until one of the things we discussed is, you know, maybe people getting closer, you know, you obviously mentioned you can't be on the court necessarily, but getting these premium experiences as close as possible to the court and to the action. Are you seeing obviously that it seems like obviously resonated with your brother but like also resonating with some of your other clients who are

[38:26] looking to you know that was one of the things that we talked about a little bit is that you know people with these premium experiences because they can be far removed from the action people would actually prefer to be closer was that something by design obviously you mentioned it's right behind seats is that something you guys thought about as part of the construction >> absolutely wanted we didn't want people to have to choose between do I want to sit in a suite and have some space or do I want to have great seats and enjoy the game. You know, with our premium uh seating options, starting with the cabana, you get both. You got great seats and you got a suite. You know,

[38:57] next up is our bungalows, which is more of a traditional bunker suite. We've got 10 on each side. You've got anywhere from 12 to 14 seats in in those, but there it's you got a seat or you got a suite behind the the stands there. You walk down a little hallway and then you're in rows 7 through 10, which is about rim level between the baskets. And for someone that loves to take in the game and see the whole floor and see how the plays come together, that may be their best seat. You know, sometimes when you sit too close, it's you're too

[39:28] close. You can't you you can't see everything because the action's right in front of you. But when you're a few rows removed in the bungalows, now you've got incredible seats that are about rim level. You can see all the the action take place. Those bungalows you also get for all events. Similar to Cabana, you get for all events. And when there's a concert, those rows 7 through 10 become rows 1 through three for the concert. So because the 1 through six get retracted for the stage and and floor seats and that kind of thing. And so for someone

[39:58] that wants to sit and enjoy a concert, it's the best seat in the house in the bungalow. So again, we don't want our fans to have to choose. You know, if you want a a great premium experience, you you can have a a suite plus great seats. Um, and so those are our two main main products. Now, beyond that, uh, we've got our Halo Suites, which again is is a little bit more of a traditional uh, suite, kind of mid-level, mid-tier, um, with all the food and the amenities and all the concerts and everything that

[40:29] comes with it. Uh and then just below above that we have our Halo lofts which are if you're looking for a four or six or eight seater because you don't you can't fill a full suite all those events then you opt for that and you get um you know all events plus your own dining table and buffet experience >> and so far nobody misses the TVs or they talked about a TV >> it was an adjustment I'll tell you that it was an adjustment because a lot of our premium suite holders they may have suites in other venues >> right exactly >> and so they'll they'll come in and

[41:00] they'll be like, you know, they do have some TVs in their in their suites, but the clubs and lounges do not. And so it was, yeah, it was an adjustment, but I'll tell you, six months in, they're like, "All right, I get it. I get it because I'm in the stands. I don't want to miss, you know, a single second of the action. Respect it." Um, you know, you're not going to make everybody happy. Some people are still going to want their sweet in the club, but but if you're looking at the vision for Into a Dome and to create the greatest home court advantage, you got to have people in their seats. >> Well, that goes to our our f I was going to say it goes to our final

[41:31] question which is what we we're asking all of our guests is the impact of you know clearly the imp impact of artificial intelligence and the artificial intelligence explicitly on the sports world. One of the thesis we have at at Roar and at Surge is that actually artificial intelligence can catalyze in real life experiences and that people are going to want these types of experiences where technology maybe drives them to want more community, want more engagement, want to have these more in-person events. You know, obviously in the context of televisions, right, if you eliminate televisions, people can be more focus. Obviously, that was the goal is to get

[42:02] people more focused on the games. But from your perspective, do you see that a that that's one way that you guys are thinking is that artificial intelligence maybe is a boon for the in real life experience element of the Clippers business or and b just from your perspective as obviously a senior executive and decision maker, how do you see artificial intelligence impacting your day-to-day work? >> I mean, it's impacting everybody's day-to-day work. We're seeing it I mean just in in our landscape. I mean um you know from sales outreach where you tap

[42:32] into AI and its resources from identifying leads we're using AI for helping build decks for you know potential partners we're using AI you know ticketing is using AI marketing I mean all across the organization we just hired a full-time person that's all focused on AI and allowing us to maximize all the opportunities that AI provides us and and we like most organizations are just having the surface. I was going to say, how much has that changed in either since the beginning of the year or the last six months? Because I I've seen a real acceleration. Yeah, >> daily. I mean, literally daily. We start

[43:05] every leadership meeting with what cool and and interesting things have you done with AI recently? Not just from a professional standpoint, but from a personal standpoint. And so, it is changing the landscape and we're creating all sorts of new ideas by tapping into AI and its resources. So, it it's a tremendous technology that that will absolutely change the world. Now, nothing will replace inerson sports. The in-person sports experience and how you come together and how you become best friends with someone you just met at a game that you'll never

[43:35] forget for the rest of your life because of some shared moment that you had. That's what sports brings. And no technology in the world is going to ever replace that or no really cool home experience is going to replace that. So, it's a matter of utilizing technology to enhance whatever you're working on from a business perspective. Again, we're using it in different areas that we have. Um, but we're we're really just getting started. We literally just hired our full-time person about three weeks ago and and we're having, you know,

[44:06] weekly meetings with her to to better understand how how we need to utilize these these resources. Yeah, it's something that we get asked about a lot because we're infusing AI into a lot of our stuff. But I think just a I think it's good to hear that you guys are doing that as well. But b I I do genuinely believe that artificial intelligence will make exactly what you said about sports. There's nothing that replaces sports. If anything, it enhances the importance of sports and entertainment because those are the types of communal experiences that people are going to want. And clearly that's obviously a bet that the Clippers

[44:37] are making as well or it seems like it. I should >> Yep. Absolutely. He's like right here. You can speak for yourself. >> Absolutely. No, no question. No question about it. >> Well, Scott, it's great to have you on the podcast. Appreciate the time. Appreciate the insights. And thank you for being a guest on the podcast. >> Glad to do it. Look forward to seeing you again.