Intuit Dome officials and local politicians needed no reminder that Thursday was a historic day for Inglewood and the Clippers. The concert was preceded by a ceremonial opening ceremony featuring LA Clippers Chairman (and Intuit Dome champion) Steve Ballmer, Halo Sports CEO Gillian Zucker, Mayor James T. Butts Jr. and Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi. “Damn, I’m hot,” Ballmer said as he took the stage. “I have to say, I’m a little nervous tonight. I love what we’ve built, but I want all of you to love what we’ve built.”

What they built is a $2 billion facility that took years to build. It sits on 26 acres and is outfitted with cutting-edge technology, including a double-sided “Halo Board” scoreboard that surrounds the arena. The facility also includes five basketball courts (one playground, two practice courts, one promo court and one on the spacious outdoor plaza), a training facility, medical areas and player rooms, an indoor pool and a 80,000-square-foot plaza with two bars, a restaurant and a massive team shop. The arena, built to resemble a net with a ball in the middle, is also adorned with a handful of public artworks by local artists, including murals, sculptures and digital displays, including a ship made of basketball hoops and backboards designed by Glenn Kaino.

Guest stars at the Bruno Mars concert included Jennifer Lopez, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance, Meghan Trainor, Kelsea Ballerini, Chase Stokes, Simu Liu, Halle Bailey, Sophia Bush, Victoria Justice, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Kenya Barris, Jimmy Jam, Derek Hough, Jimmy O. Yang, Chris Olsen, Amanda Kloots, Bozoma Saint John, Crystal Kung Minkoff, Rob Minkoff, Babyface, Irving Azoff, Shelli Azoff, WME Chairman Richard Weitz, Doug Walden, Cam Christie, Derrick Jones Jr., Jordan Miller, Kai Jones, Kobe Brown, Mo Bamba, DJ D-Nice and others.

“It’s a great pleasure and honor to have you here,” Ballmer also said in his remarks, addressing the wild and ambitious “drive” to build the Clippers’ permanent home after sharing Crypto.com Arena with the Los Angeles Lakers. “When I bought the company, the LA Clippers basketball team, I said to myself, one of the great benefits of buying the Clippers is that we’ll never have to build an arena. I said to myself, look, all these teams are selling out, you have to build arenas. We’ll never have to do that. … Well, it took me about six months to realize that it might be a good idea to have my own home.”

At the home’s opening tonight, Ballmer even took the time to acknowledge that there would likely be problems, especially since the Intuit Dome relies entirely on technology, as it is a cashless and app-based facility that uses facial recognition and smartphones for purchases. “I know they like to talk about technology. Can I tell you what technology means? Technology means software, and I really hope that everything works tonight. … It’s not going to. I did version one of many software products, so bear with us, just bear with us if you need it.”

This request for leniency and patience proved to be a prescient warning, as the app malfunctioned between 7 and 8 p.m. and caused a traffic jam at the entrance. A huge crowd of several hundred people crowded into the courtyard, but despite the delay in letting the audience in, this did not disrupt the festivities much, as Mars continued shortly after the scheduled show time of 9:30 p.m. At some point during the night, Mars called security about an urgent situation that occurred with a male guest in the front area. His condition was unclear at press time.

The Intuit Dome, whose construction began in September 2021, is located not far from Inglewood’s other gems, SoFi Stadium and the Kia Forum, and has already committed to hosting the 2026 NBA All-Star Game and the basketball games for the 2028 Summer Olympics. On the immediate calendar, the Intuit Dome will host comedian Sebastian Maniscalco this weekend, followed by concerts by Marco Antonio Solis, Olivia Rodrigo, Twenty One Pilots, Usher, Weezer and Billy Joel.

“It’s our house,” Ballmer said in closing his remarks. “We also knew that our house had to be about more than just basketball. Our house had to be about music and basketball and all the support and advice we’ve received from (Irving Azoff) and others to make it a home, a home that people want to come to. I think this is the best basketball facility ever built – I actually think so. I hope you agree with me, but I’m certainly thinking about it. Whether people around the world know about it, we hope they come visit us.”

You can find further impressions of the opening night below.