Clippers’ New Home Will Strive to Keep Fans Engaged
Published by
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
By Jon Wertheim In 1988, Paul Allen, who founded Microsoft alongside Bill Gates, bought the Trail Blazers for $70 million. Seated behind the baseline during games and wearing a boyish grin verging on rapturous, he took great joy in the franchise. So much so that he evangelized sports ownership to his friend and coworker. Steve Ballmer recalls that, again and again, Allen gushed to him, Steve, you gotta buy a team! Steve, you gotta buy a team! Says Ballmer: “I saw what that meant to him.” Ballmer was too busy to heed Allen’s suggestion, serving, as he was, as CEO of Microsoft. But in 2014, Ball…