Home at Intuit Dome, Part 1: Los Angeles Clippers Build Most Technologically Advanced Sports Venue in Recent Memory BeckTV guided the systems integration and control-room buildout By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - 12:06 pm
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The wait is over: the $2 billion Intuit Dome is open. Billed as one of the most highly anticipated venue openings of the 21st century as well as one that will alter the way fans view live sports coverage, the building is an extremely impressive feat of architectural, engineering, technological, and production ingenuity. From the ground up, the Los Angeles Clippers have assembled a boatload of touchpoints for innovation, including an immense 4K- and HDR-capable Halo Board; a SMPTE 2110-flavored, IP-based control room; and other enhancements once only imagined.
Executing a Vision: A Plan Aligned With Tech-Focused Club Owner Steve Ballmer This out-of-the-box, once-in-a-lifetime creation can have been conceived by only one owner in professional sports: Los Angeles Clippers Owner/Chairman Steve Ballmer. The former CEO of Microsoft has always envisioned the limitless possibilities that technology can provide to the masses. Since buying this NBA franchise in 2014, his eyes have been set on a future home that the Clippers could call all their own. With tech as a driving force, Ballmer made it a priority to hire personnel with diverse job experience and to promote executives who bring unique ideas to the table. This included appointing President, Basketball Operations, Gillian Zucker as CEO of Halo Sports and Entertainment - the brand that manages operations at Intuit Dome and at Kia Forum, the home of the G League's Ontario Clippers - in March and making Chief Technology and Digital Officer George Hanna an integral part of the new build.
On the left, the rack room at Intuit Dome under construction. On the right, the completed rack room
Steve pulled people from various backgrounds that had different viewpoints and different expertise, says Jason Lemiere, director, broadcasting, Los Angeles Clippers. On a day-to-day basis, we're lucky to work with and learn from those types of people.
One key hire was Lemiere in July 2023. At that point, the executive group of Ballmer, Zucker, Hanna, COO Alex Diaz, and Chief Marketing Officer Claudia Calderon had worked with WJHW on the initial design, but dirt was still clearly visible, and a lot of the tech backbone wasn't yet put into place. Lemiere had the necessary prerequisites to take on this role: he had worked with the San Jose Sharks from July 2016 to October 2022 as senior director of broadcast and technical services and helped with renovations of their arena's infrastructure.
He was excited to join the Clippers, but, with the complexity of this building, a tall task was ahead of him. My job was to see the project from shovels in the ground to making sure that things are running properly, he says. Everything is tightly integrated into our IT fabric, so it's a very tech-forward building.
Click HERE for Part 2 and HERE for Part 3 of our three-part breakdown of Intuit Dome
External Help: BeckTV Provides Expertise on Systems Integration BeckTV was pivotal in the systems-integration process.
With Lemiere as the Clippers' lead on the project, he would be working closely with systems integrator BeckTV. The company's history in broadcast projects ranges from legacy renovations like Lambeau Field to modern builds like the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Paperwork was signed just after NAB 2023, and construction began the following December. With less than a full year to get the room online, BeckTV got to work right away.
An immense amount of coordination needs to be done because our rooms are so specialized, explains Brock Raum, senior engineer, BeckTV. We kept a close eye on the little things, like getting our rack bases set and aligned and making sure fiber and cable were inspected. If you're hands-off, it could be done wrong and delay the project by weeks. On these large construction jobs, you don't have any weeks to give away.
Raum, the main engineering contact and BeckTV representative for the project, grasped the intended vision from the Clippers' perspective from the beginning. Not only did he need to wrap his head around the sheer number of workflows required to operate these systems, but, in a world where a venue this advanced is rare, some technologies would be brand new to some of the staffers on the franchise side.
When you work with a team that has a very tech-focused owner, you always know the tech is going to be on the bleeding edge, says Raum. There's only a handful of people who have worked with this system, so it's a huge honor to build it but also guide them through it. [The Clippers] have been receptive to absolutely everything we've thrown their way.
The SMPTE ST 2110-based control room drives the 4K HDR show at Intuit Dome.
For the Clippers' part, Lemiere and his team have appreciated BeckTV's back-and-forth approach to the project. The integrator incorporated their feedback, devised customizable solutions specific to the building, maintained a heightened attention to detail, and applied all their resources to this assignment.
They have solely focused on this control room and have been onsite the entire time, says Lemiere. You get to know these people and build a relationship that you might not get somewhere else. They didn't try to cut any corners; it was done the way it should have been done.
True IP-, 4K UHD-Based System: Control Room Achieves Seamless Interoperability Many in the sports-video-production community have been searching for the right environment where IP-based workflows, such as SMPTE ST 2110, can thrive and survive in the long haul.
