Today marks the final day of the building formerly known as the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. As of tomorrow, the stadium will officially be rebranded as the Crypto.com Arena in one of the largest naming rights deals in pro sports history.
Crypto.com, which bills itself as “the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency platform” paid a whopping $700M to secure the building’s naming rights for the next 20 years. The platform is the 9th largest crypto trading site by daily volume, and has been securing sports and entertainment partnerships by the boatload recently.
Amongst the site’s marketing ploys, they’ve released a commercial starring Matt Damon, signed deals with Formula 1, the UFC, PSG in France, the 76ers, and more. Though it could be the Staples Center, lovingly referred to as “the house that Kobe built” by many Lakers fans, which may provide the most cultural relevance for the company.
Although CEO Kris Marszalek admits he’s never been to the venue himself, the arena is known amongst sports fans internationally and hosts some of the largest scale events each year. Home to the Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and Sparks, the building has also been the primary venue for the Grammys since 2000 and is a hotspot for touring artists to perform at. It will also be the host site of the 2028 Mens & Womens basketball games for the Summer Olympics. Attended by more than 4 million guests annually, the building hosts 250+ events each year. That kind of exposure is the reason behind the massive price tag to secure the naming rights to the facility.
While some wonder why fans should bat an eyelash at the thought of new neon-signage being put up on a building, others will argue that it feels like the end of an era. While the banners inside, and the teams who call the site home remain unchanged, some fans, and even journalists, haven’t taken the news as well as others:
Known as the Staples Center since it was first opened in 1999, the new moniker will certainly take some time to get used to. The building will officially take its maiden voyage under the new Crypto.com banner tomorrow night as the Brooklyn Nets travel west to take on the Los Angeles Lakers.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner