One of the NBA’s most iconic arenas is getting a new name. Los Angeles’ Staples Center, the current home of the Lakers and Clippers, will become Crypto.com Arena later this year, according to a press release.
The arena, which is also the home of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the WNBA’s L.A. Sparks, will officially be rebranded on December 25, the day the Lakers host the Nets in a prime-time showdown.
According to Sam Dean of The Los Angeles Times, the naming rights agreement between Crypto.com and AEG, which owns and operates the arena, will cover the next 20 years and is worth more than $700MM, making it one of the biggest such deals in sports history.
Although the Lakers and Clippers share the arena for the time being, Steve Ballmer‘s Clippers are building their own arena in Inglewood, California. That arena is on track to be opened in 2024, so – barring setbacks – the Clips will only play in the newly-renamed Crypto.com Arena for a couple more years before moving into the Intuit Dome.
The Lakers aren’t the first NBA team to partner with Crypto.com — the Sixers currently wear the company’s logo on their uniforms. Crypto.com also isn’t the first cryptocurrency brand to enter into a naming rights deal with an NBA franchise. The Heat’s arena was renamed earlier this year as a result of a deal with cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Terrible name. At least lose the “.com.”
Without the .com the naming rights are useless to them
Not really. Everything has a website these days, no need to advertise the site in the name of the arena. The company name should be enough.
The company’s name is “crypto.com” tho. The word crypto by itself is an aggregation of all crypto currency and hence losing its name value
NGMI bro
Staples sucks. Grab a display item, take it to register, only to be told by an associate that item is “online only”. At least it rolled off the tongue better than Crypto.com, which should pay their arena bill with (online-only) hard cash.
We’ll all just call it the Crypto Center anyway.
I’ll probably just call it the Forum and everyone will still likely know what I mean anyway (even if they don’t play there anymore.)
Because Fiserv Forum is so close to L.A.
As many on Twitter pointed out overnight, “The Crypt” seems like a nickname that could catch on.
Don’t you dare. Stop right there.
Seems appropriate given the team’s average age.
Will the ‘Bloods’ buy tickets too?
Hell yes!
They should switch names depending upon who’s hosting. They could leave it as Staples for the Clippers and change it to crypto.com for the Lakers or vice versa. If MetLife Stadium can switch it’s displays and decor depending on whether it’s a Jets or Giants game, why can’t LA do it with the name?
Because that’s not how it works
Will you have to pay for tickets using cryptocurrency? Imagine the electricity bills for those events!
For that kind of coin you can call it whatever you want.2nd thought,would be to empty the other pocket and buy a team!
I doubt crypto.com will even be a company in 20 years.