Crypto.com Buys LA’s Staples Center Naming Rights
- “Sources familiar with the terms” claimed the 20 year-long deal was struck at the tune of $700 million.
- The new logo and branding of the arena will be officially revealed on 25 December, when the Los Angeles Lakers play against the Brooklyn Nets.
Staples Center located in Los Angeles, California, March 17, 2014. Katherine Welles / Shutterstock
Popular cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has struck a 20 year-long deal with AEG, obtaining the naming rights for the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles, the company said in a press release on 17 November.
According to the announcement, the Staples Center — which is a multi-purpose arena used for numerous events, including boxing, basketball, hockey, and concerts — will soon be known as the Crypto.com Arena. The new branding for the arena will be revealed to the general public on 25 December, when the Los Angeles Lakers will face off against the Brooklyn Nets at the venue. The CEO and co-founder of Crypto.com, Kris Marszalek, said in a statement:
“We’re very excited about partnering with AEG and investing long term in this city, starting with Crypto.com Arena in the heart of downtown, and using our platform in new and creative ways so that cryptocurrency can power the future of world class sports, entertainment and technology for fans in LA and around the world.”
Even though the new logo and branding of the arena will be unveiled on Christmas Day, it will still take until June 2022 to replace all of the venue’s external signage. As part of the deal, Crypto.com will also become the “official cryptocurrency platform partner” of the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Kings, which play their home games at the Staples Center (soon to be known as the Crypto.com Arena).
While Crypto.com only revealed it had bought the naming rights for the next 20 years, the L.A. Times cited “sources familiar with the terms” who claimed the deal was worth around $700 million, making it one of the largest naming deals in sports history. Built in 1999, the arena has a capacity of 20,000 people and is the host of over 240 “major high-profile events of national and international distinction” each year.
This is not the first time Crypto.com has dived into the sports sector, although it is the first time it has spend money on naming rights. Back in September, the company became the official jersey patch partner of NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, while earlier in the month it also struck a deal with London-based esports performance brand Fnatic. It has also signed a multi-year partnership deal with Italy’s top professional football league, Lega Serie A.
- Crypto.com has once again expanded its regulatory achievements with the acquisition of a major payment institution license for digital payment token services in Singapore.
- The license, for which the company received an in-principle approval last June, enables the exchange to provide a greater range of payment services in Singapore.
Shutterstock
- Nike will begin airdropping 106,453 “posters” for its “Our Force 1” NFT collection on Tuesday, giving .Swoosh users early access to the virtual sneakers.
- The sale of the NFT collection will begin on 10 May, or 8 May for poster holders, and each digital box will be prices at $19.82, a tribute to the year the Air Force 1 sneaker was first released.
- Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek addressed customer concerns during a live AMA session today, claiming that the exchange had a strong balance sheet.
- He also clarified that Crypto.com had sent $1 billion in stablecoins to FTX over a the past year to fulfill order liquidity, and that it had only $10 million exposure to FTX when it fell.