The LA Clippers are officially launching their very own streaming service. It’s a move that will change the way fans watch basketball and likely have a ripple effect on the rest of the NBA. This venture, known as ClipperVision, is the very first direct-to-consumer streaming platform in the NBA.
ClipperVision will stream more than 70 games live in-market directly to fans without a pay TV subscription, with the first stream beginning on October 22. It will launch six different streaming options, with more coming in the future.
Here are the listed options, as stated by the Clippers:
- “BallerVision – BallerVision will feature live commentary from some of Clipper Nation’s biggest and most well-known personalities — Jamal Crawford, Baron Davis, Paul Pierce, Quentin Richardson, and Matt Barnes — along with guest appearances from Steve Ballmer and celebrity Clippers fans.
- Traditional Clippers Broadcasts – The app will provide access to live game streams from Bally Sports SoCal and KTLA featuring traditional on-air talent and graphics.
- CourtVision powered by AWS – Fan-favorite augmented reality streams are back. The CourtVison stream, similar to ShotIQ Mode in the Clippers CourtVision Beta, will carry over augmented graphics for real-time shot probability, statistics, and more.
- CourtVision Mascot Mode powered by AWS – This stream will feature new and enhanced animations, graphics, and special effects added in real-time with machine learning, an expansion of the similar mode from Clippers CourtVision.
- ClipperVision in Korean – The Korean-language stream on ClipperVision will be the first Korean-language commentary available OTT in the L.A. market, and it will be called live from Korea by commentator Yong-Gum Jeong, former basketball player and Korean Basketball League champion Tae-Sool Kim, and basketball reporters Hyun-Il Cho and Dae-Bum Son. Korean-language streams will also be available to fans across the United States and internationally, including in Korea, via NBA League Pass, another first.
- ClipperVision en Español – The Spanish-language stream will be hosted by veteran broadcaster Francisco X. Rivera. Experienced analyst Roger Valdivieso will take the commentator chair along with an extensive list of invited guests. ClipperVision en Español is the first team direct-to-consumer platform produced specifically for a Spanish-speaking audience and it will also be available to fans across the United States and internationally on NBA League Pass.”
The entire Clippers season will be available for $199.99 on ClipperVision. Fans who subscribe to the 2022-2023 season will also receive a free limited-edition LA Clippers jacket and regular season access to Bally Sports+. The opportunity to sign up starts now at www.clippers.com/clippervision. Fans in Southern California can still watch games on Bally Sports SoCal and on free-to-air TV on KTLA 5.
AllClippers had the chance to speak with Steve Ballmer about the venture, where he discussed this passion project he’s been working on since taking ownership of the team. The idea of ClipperVision is something Ballmer has been flirting with for a very long time.
“Yeah, I wanted to do it since I got here,” Ballmer said. “When I was at Microsoft, I kept asking myself, ‘If you own a sport’s rights, how would you transform — whether it’s augmented reality, interactivity, how would you transform the experience in watching sports?’ And it just had to take the right time and place as it related to TV rights deals, etc. And we’re able to, in a special relationship with Bally so they’re gonna put us on cable, they’re gonna have their own streaming service and we’re gonna have ClipperVision.”
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Steve Ballmer won’t be making an appearance on every single episode of BallerVision, but he’ll make some pit stops during specifically road games. If you’re wondering whether there will be a Ballmer Cam, unfortunately, that won’t be hilariously happening.
“I have no such thought myself,” Ballmer jokingly said. “My wife would think it’s crazy. I kind of enjoy not being self-conscious watching games. I think I might get a little self-conscious.”
One of the most fascinating concepts about ClipperVision was the emphasis on the Korean market. The NBA has been pushing toward the Chinese market for years, and just recently played overseas games in Japan, with Korea getting a bit left behind in the expansion process. Steve Ballmer understood just how big the Korean market was in Los Angeles, and wanted to cater to it.
“Big Korean population in LA,” Ballmer said. “I think underserved. A lot of Korean is spoken in LA, the second biggest Korean community in the world after Korea. So we actually have broadcasters doing the game from Korea. We have legit Korean sportscasters, and we have legit Spanish sportscasters doing the game. The Korean team will actually be in Korea doing the games.”
For Steve Ballmer and the Clippers, affordability was a big focal point when creating this new service. The price point was a simple concept for Steve Ballmer, “let’s find an affordable price that also makes this sensible to invest in.”
While the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome arena isn’t scheduled to open until the 2024-2025 NBA season, ClippersVision is already laying the building blocks of interactivity in the new arena. The app will connect to fans’ NBA ID, where fans can link everything they do in the Intuit Dome and more.
“How do we transform the experience our fans can have watching the game,” Ballmer said. “Where can we do things that are, that add? In the new arena, what do we want to do? We want to make things a little more intense. We want to make it a little bit more sensible to stay at your seat cheering. We want to enhance that. We got some crazy ideas about how to use chips and seats and controllers to enhance the way you interact, watch the game, get rewarded for cheering loudly… Most of our fans will actually never walk in the building. Most fans are fans through the broadcast or through clips after, and with ClipperVision we’re asking ourselves, ‘How do we change the experience?’”
ClipperVision has been a very long time coming for Steve Ballmer and the LA Clippers, but now their visionary project is here. Streaming services have long dominated the way consumers use television, with most fans only using their TVs to watch live sports. The Clippers want to transform the way fans watch NBA basketball both on TV and in person, and that journey finally starts now.