The Forum sale is complete, as CAPSS LLC, a new corporation formed by Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and Clippers vice chairman Dennis Wong, finalized the purchase of The Forum in Inglewood from Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. for $400 million.
The Forum sale ends a turf war between Ballmer and MSG over live entertainment in Inglewood–but, in this era of social distancing, the purchase of The Forum certainly poses plenty of challenges to Ballmer and crew.
Newly created Forum Entertainment LLC will operate The Forum as a live event venue with the existing leadership team of Geni Lincoln and Mike Fallon remaining in place, reporting to Gillian Zucker, Clippers President of Business Operations. In addition, it is expected that all of the venue’s California-based staff will remain as employees of Forum Entertainment LLC.
“We are excited to welcome The Forum to our family. The talented team at The Forum has created a world-class live entertainment venue, and we are committed to building upon that reputation,” Zucker said via press release. “Having The Forum just a short distance from the L.A. Clippers’ new arena will give us the opportunity to provide the City of Inglewood with a number of benefits, including a collaborative approach to managing traffic and community activities.”
Even under the best of circumstances, with fans allowed into venues in the late summer or early fall, health experts and elected officials will likely recommend social distancing for months to come. In Inglewood, you will now have four venues of varying sizes–SoFi Stadium and an associated 6,000-capacity entertainment venue, the new Clippers arena and The Forum–vying for entertainment dollars in coming months and years. The new Clippers arena is billed as having 18,000 seats for NBA basketball; The Forum is billed as having a capacity between 7,000 and 17,800, depending on the event and the configuration. The new Clippers arena will certainly offer a high-end experience; The Forum, lacking luxury suites, does not. But the focus on entertainment at The Forum, which will continue under Clippers ownership, has been successful. The Forum hosted nearly 100 events, including some of the most iconic names in music, as well as several special events such as award shows, mixed martial arts, and boxing.
Image courtesy Madison Square Garden Corp.
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