Clippings: Clippers officially buy The Forum

It’s official: The LA Clippers (through owner Steve Ballmer) own The Forum, as the franchise announced the news on Monday.

Ballmer bought the venue from New York Knicks owner James Dolan, and under the Clippers’ stewardship, the plan is to use the existing venue for live events.

“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,” said Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker in a team statement. “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.”

While some initially believed The Forum would be purchased and torn down to make way for a new Clippers arena, both for symbolic and practical reasons, the team is planning to keep the existing venue around while also still planning to build a new venue nearby. They said the next step for the new arena will be beginning the process of obtaining permissions this summer, a time-consuming effort that usually takes at least a couple years if all goes well.

Still, keeping The Forum will give Ballmer a new income base from non-sporting events, and hopefully that will enrich the Clippers down the line as well.

More news for this Tuesday:

• Assistant coach charity gig goes for $41K: Doc Rivers offered a pretty incredible prize for his “All-In Challenge” charity opportunity with Fanatics, promising an assistant coach experience with more than a few perks thrown in. The winning bid was for $41,000(!), which will benefit those who need food during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Way to go to Doc and the Clippers for offering the gift and the apparently loaded winner who can donate this much money.
• Majority of fans would be fine with closed-door games: ESPN surveyed adult fans and found 65 percent of respondents were in favor of sports returning without fans there in person. Notably, while the NBA, among other leagues, seem to be taking a hard look at reopening without fans present, the NFL have said they don’t want that. Best of luck on that!
• The story of the man who beat MJ at quarters: One of the best moments of Sunday’s episodes of “The Last Dance” was the extended sequence where a security guard beat Michael Jordan — who could stop gambling at any time, you guys! — at quarters. The drip on this guy, named John Michael Wozniak, was ridiculous, and both SB Nation and The Athletic have terrific profiles on him.
• The secret drag racer: Here’s a story I missed when it first came out, but it’s a good one, of a local champion drag racer who had a big secret, from SB Nation.

Today’s question: Are you yay or nay on starting sports without fans physically present?