By Jacob Lyle
November 21st, 2021
The downtown historical Los Angeles home of the NBA's Lakers and Clippers, the NHL's Kings and the WNBA's Sparks will change its name after 22 years, this was announced last Tuesday night. Staples center is now in the transition to Crypto Arena.
Crypto.com is paying $700 million, according to multiple reports, over 20 years to rename the building. The parties aren't publicly announcing the financial terms of what's believed to be the richest naming rights deal in sports history.
It's amazing to consider that when the last time arenas had major name changes as a whole was during the dot-com boom two decades ago, highflying technology companies bought up naming rights to stadiums and arenas.
Crypto.com Arena will not be the first stadium named after a cryptocurrency brand. FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Hong Kong, signed a deal this year with the Miami Heat and the local authorities — worth $135 million over 19 years — to rebrand the arena where that N.B.A. team plays. Instead of American Airlines Arena, it is now called FTX Arena.
Are we at the start of a shift within major naming rights that involves the future of cryptocurrency? This should be very fun and intriguing to watch as time goes on!