Staples Center owner AEG has reached an agreement with the Crypto.com platform to rename the Los Angeles Lakers’ venue, which will soon be known as Crypto.com Arena.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ iconic Staples Center venue will be renamed Crypto.com Arena, the eponymous cryptocurrency platform and venue owner AEG announced Tuesday, striking a deal for a record-breaking estimated $700 million.
« Crypto.com, the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency platform, and AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, have entered into a landmark agreement spanning 20 years for the naming rights to the Staples Center, which, effective Dec. 25, will be known as Crypto.com Arena, » the joint statement said.
The 20,000-seat downtown L.A. arena has hosted home games for the Lakers, the Clippers, who also play in the NBA, the Kings, who play in the NHL (ice hockey), and the Sparks, who play in the WNBA (women’s basketball), since it opened in 1999.
Concerts by major artists are held there, as well as prestigious annual events such as the Grammy Awards. The deal was struck for $700 million (EUR 619 million), reports the Financial Times, noting that the transaction will be in real money and not in cryptocurrency.
The company expects « some resistance. »
This would be a record for this type of partnership. Twenty-two years ago, the office automation firm Staples paid $120 million to put its name on the front of the venue. Crypto.com, also linked to Paris Saint-Germain, the Philadelphia 76ers or the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the leading professional mixed martial arts (MMA) league, is a Singapore-based company dedicated to promoting the use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin on a large scale.
« In a few years, people will look back on this day and think that this is when cryptocurrencies crossed the cosmos and entered the mainstream, » its CEO, Kris Marszalek, enthused in the FT columns.
« There may be some initial resistance to the idea of the (name) change, I think that’s only natural. But we’re willing to work with the local community and prove to them that this is a change for the better, for L.A. and for the fans, » he added.
While the name change will take effect at Christmas, the venue’s physical signage would not change until June 2022.
