Giannis Antetokounmpo # 34 of the Milwaukee Bucks leads basket against Bam Adebayo # 13 of the Miami Heat during the second half at the American Airlines Arena on March 2, 2020 in Miami, Florida.
Michael Reaves | Getty Images
A city trying to change its brand as the center of the world of cryptography could soon have a cryptocurrency exchange at the stage of its NBA franchise.
FTX has won the rights to the entertainment venue now known as the American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat. The deal, approved Friday by the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners, is $ 135 million over 19 years.
The NBA has yet to approve the deal before it becomes official, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said in an email. The NBA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Heat declined to comment.
Now the company joins a long history, sometimes in cadres, of firms with stadium denomination rights. Some brands are becoming synonymous with their franchises, such as Gillette and New England Patriots or Staples Center and Los Angeles Lakers.
However, for other companies, the naming rights served as advertising posters reminiscent of their struggles. The Sports Authority had to pay for its sponsorship at the NFL’s Broncos Stadium after the bankruptcy in 2016.
Enron owned the rights to MLB’s Houston Astros Stadium before an accounting scandal toppled the company. And in Oklahoma City, the Chesapeake Energy brand is still on the NBA’s Thunder basketball court, even after the company introduced bank protection last year.
The era of the point like two decades ago provides even more fodder for name rights that have failed. Technical company CMGI was the original sponsor of what would become Gillette Stadium, but had to reduce that deal after its shares were closed, according to a CNN report at the time. The now-defunct companies Adelphia and PSINet also had naming rights for NFL stadiums near the turn of the century.
Politicians and business leaders in the Miami region have worked over the past year to make the company a welcoming environment for technology and cryptography companies. Francis Suarez, the mayor of the city of Miami, told CNBC last month that Miami “positions itself as a city as one of America’s most tech-friendly cities” and announced that employees of the city can choose to pay them in bitcoin.
Many of the commissioners and Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, praised the agreement that the funds from the agreement could be used for initiatives to curb poverty and armed violence. Some of the commissioners, including Rebeca Sosa, expressed concern about granting the rights to a young company that has a limited presence in the United States, but the deal happened with an overwhelming majority.
FTX is an international cryptocurrency exchange that does not operate in the US and has more products than its counterpart, FTX US. Bankman-Fried said the two are separate companies and is the majority shareholder in both.
The Miami Heat have been one of the most successful NBA franchises in recent years, appearing in 5 NBA Finals since 2010 and winning two titles.