Staples Center now carries a new name. On Christmas, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and Sparks is now Crypto.com Arena.
In a deal between Anschutz Entertainment Group and the Singapore cryptocurrency exchange, the venue will carry the Crypto.com Arena name for 20 years. According to reports, Crypto.com paid $700 million to AEG for the naming rights.
The new logo made its debut on December 25 while the Crypto.com signage will replace the old Staples Center signage by June.
One of the Biggest Naming Deals in History
AEG announced in November that the deal with Crypto.com puts the “brand at the center of some of the biggest and most important sports and live entertainment moments set to take place over the course of the next two decades”.
AEG’s chief revenue officer Todd Goldstein said: “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”.
For AEG’s CEO Dan Beckerman, “This partnership is about the future”. He added that “AEG and Crypto.com not only share a vision about innovation and the future of sports and entertainment, but we also have a shared commitment to our communities where we work and live”.
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek hopes that this will be a big moment for the blockchain/crypto industry. He said that “In the next few years, people will look back at this moment as the moment when crypto crossed the chasm into the mainstream”.
Still the Home of the Los Angeles Lakers
Crypto.com Arena will still be the home of the Los Angeles Lakers until 2041. On the other hand, the Clippers will move to Inglewood in 2024.
The Staples Center formally opened in 1999. Staples Inc paid AEG $100 million for the 10-year naming rights. In 2009, Staples signed a deal for naming rights in perpetuity. However, AEG later bought the naming rights back in 2019.
Since 1999, Lakers won six championships while WNBA’s Sparks won three, and the NHL’s Kings had two championships.
Crypto.com Making Big Moves
Crypto.com is aggressively putting its brand at the forefront of mainstream sports and teams. In July, Crypto.com signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship for a 10-year partnership. The advertisement deal costs $175 million, the biggest sponsorship UFC received. As part of the deal, Crypto.com will appear on fighters’ uniforms.
And two months after its deal with the UFC, Crypto.com sponsored the Philadelphia 76ers. The deal was worth $10 million annually. Crypto.com also sponsored esports organization Fnatic and Canadian hockey team Montreal Canadiens.
