INGLEWOOD, CALIF. — The Los Angeles Clippers and the City of Inglewood have entered into a three-year exclusive negotiating agreement (ENA) that will allow the basketball team to explore the option of building a new basketball arena within the city. The arena would also include training facilities and team offices.
The Clippers will consider a 20-acre site situated south of Century Boulevard at Prairie Avenue, directly across the street from the future football stadium and entertainment district that the Kroenke Group is developing.
The ENA establishes a three-year timeframe during which the Clippers will develop the details of its proposed basketball facility. The city will conduct an environmental review, including an evaluation of the proposed facility’s construction and operational impacts, after that time.
The Clippers have been playing at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles since 1999. The team’s current lease will expire at the end of the 2023-2024 NBA season. Anschutz Entertainment Group owns Staples Center.
The new arena would be privately funded and privately capitalized. The Clippers would be responsible for the costs to plan, entitle and develop the proposed facility, per the agreement. Within 24 hours of signing the ENA, the L.A. Clippers will pay the City of Inglewood $1.5 million, which will fund the city’s administrative costs. The Clippers will also provide any additional necessary funding.