Staples Center will be getting renamed starting Christmas Day; it will be called Crypto.com Arena. Arena owner AEG announced that the downtown Los Angeles home of the NBA’s Clippers and Lakers, the WNBA’s Sparks and the NHL’s Kings would change its name after 22 years of operation.
A person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press that Crypto.com is paying $700m across 20 years to rename the iconic building. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the parties are not publicly announcing the terms of what’s believed to be the wealthiest naming rights deal in sports history. The name will change when the Lakers host the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA’s annual Christmas showcase.
The major sponsor, Crypto.com, is a cryptocurrency platform and exchange with its headquarters in Singapore. Founded in 2016, Crypto.com has been on a spending spree across the global sports landscape during the past year. The platform has inked high-visibility sponsorship deals with the UFC, Formula One, Paris St-Germain, Italy’s Serie A and the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens — while also buying the Philadelphia 76ers’ uniform sponsorship patch.
