The Miami Heat’s home venue’s name has been changed from FTX Arena after the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, as the court terminates the naming rights deal.
The arena building is owned by Miami-Dade County; they negotiated a deal with FTX for 19-year, $135 million naming rights effective June 20, 2021. Before that, the naming rights had been held by American Airlines since 1999. Since 2000, the heat has made the building their home.
What is the temporary name of the stadium’s arena?
After the huge collapse of FTX, the county asked the court to terminate the contract, saying the ‘FTX Arena’ would only bring ‘enduring hardships.’ That’s why the county decided to call the building ‘The Arena’ for the time being, but after the court’s ruling, they decided on a new temporary name.
— Kaseya Center (@KaseyaCenter) January 12, 2023
“Effective immediately, Miami-Dade County and the Miami Heat have agreed that, until such time as there is a new naming rights partner, to refer to the arena as Miami-Dade Arena,” both the county and heat said in a official statement.
Miami-Dade Arena pic.twitter.com/sAn69PKIZQ
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 13, 2023
The statement also added, “The removal of the facility’s existing signage and the changeover of branding elements will be ongoing in the coming weeks.”
However, removing all the signs and symbols will take quite some time, as the court, the arena roof, the entrances, the shirts, the swipe cards of security, and in-game personnel all bear the FTX logo.
The embroidery on the players’ jerseys was also changing drastically for the Heat.
The FTX was the third-biggest cryptocurrency exchange, and it has recently lost between $8 billion and $10 billion. Their branding brought in $2 million per year. the county is still looking for new naming partner of the ‘Miami-Dade Arena.’
The previous partner, American Airlines, already declined to renew the contract in 2019. So for the time being, we have to use this temporary name for the Heat’s stadium.
The Miami Heat is the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and will play its next home game on Sunday, January 22, against the New Orleans Pelicans.
