MSG SELLS L.A. FORUM TO BALLMER

The Los Angeles Forum has been sold by MSG to Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft and current owner of the L.A. Clippers. The deal was made for $400m in cash, and the arena will continue to operate as a live music venue.

The purchase clears the way for construction of a new basketball arena, putting an end to Ballmer's squabbling with MSG over his wish to build a new home for the Clippers in Inglewood, adjacent to the Forum and the new SoFi Stadium football field.

Ballmer said, "This is an unprecedented time, but we believe in our collective future. We are committed to our investment in the City of Inglewood, which will be good for the community, the Clippers and our fans."

MSG bought the Forum for a reported $23.5m in 2012, and remodeled it from a sports arena into a premier music destination. Ballmer hopes to break ground in Inglewood next year, and construct the new Clippers arena in time for the 2024-25 season.

We once, in our youth, attended a Rush concert at the Fabulous Forum, were passed a joint which in hindsight must have been laced with PCP, which then caused us to completely lose our peripheral vision and hide under our seat in the darkness until the effect wore off, but that's another story for another day.