Steve Ballmer Bleeds Microsoft, But Goes With Amazon Deal for Clippers
- Amazon Web Services becomes cloud, AI partner of NBA team
- Startup behind team’s CourtVision tech is longtime AWS user
Steve Ballmer
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Los Angeles Clippers, owned by former Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, signed a partnership with Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud business as the billionaire seeks to reimagine how fans watch sports in a world of cord-cutters and legalized sports betting.
Ballmer said, yes, it was awkward cutting a deal with Microsoft’s biggest rival. He went with Amazon Web Services because it provides the computing power behind CourtVision, a video technology the Clippers are using to develop a mobile app that may “transform the consumer experience.”