Starting Christmas Day, the iconic Staples Center which is home to NBA teams Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will be renamed to Crypto.com Arena following a $700-M brand deal.
STAPLES Center, one of the most legendary sporting and music stadiums in the world will bid goodbye to its iconic name, and will soon be renamed as Crypto.com Arena, following a 20-year brand deal worth more than $700 million.
“This partnership represents the fastest-growing cryptocurrency platform and the biggest sports and live entertainment company in the world converging to drive the future of sports and live entertainment, as well as the incredible legacy of this arena for decades to come,” Todd Goldstein, Chief Revenue Officer of AEG, said in the press release.
The iconic arena in downtown Los Angeles, which has been home to both the Lakers and Clippers since 1999, will be renamed on Christmas Day.
It is also home to the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. The Grammy Awards have been held at the arena since 2000, too.
“It marks an exciting new chapter in the history of our company and our respective industries, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have such a visionary partner like Crypto.com supporting our global fan base and local community.”
Staples Inc. purchased the naming rights when the building opened in 1999 for $116 million over 20 years, and in 2009 extended that agreement into a lifetime deal.
But shortly before the pandemic in 2019, AEG reacquired the rights to resell the name of the building.
The new owner, Crypto.com, is a cryptocurrency platform and exchange headquartered in Singapore.
Founded in 2016, Crypto.com has been on a spending spree across the global sports landscape over the past year.
The platform has inked high-visibility sponsorship deals with Formula One, the UFC, Italy's Serie A, Paris St-Germain and the NHL's Montreal Canadiens.
They also purchased the Philadelphia 76ers' uniform sponsorship patch.
Some of the notable figures who’ve made unforgettable memories in the Staples Center were quick to react.
The late Kobe Bryant’s wife Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram to express her sentiment. “Forever known as ‘The House That Kobe Built,’” she wrote.
Current Lakers’ coach Frank Vogel also commented on the news. “I understand the disappointment the fans will have, but that's just the way of the world,” he said in an interview during the LA-Milwaukee faceoff. This is the business we're in. Almost universally around the country, there's a business element to naming rights with arenas. It's really out of our control."
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