Crypto.com Arena Replaces Staples Center in $700 Million Deal

This Christmas, Santa is mixing things up in Downtown Los Angeles. In a historic $700 million deal, Crypto.com has become the new name for the iconic Staples Center, which has hosted the Lakers, Clippers, Sparks and Kings for over 20 years. Under a deal between the Singapore-based currency exchange and AEG, Crypto.com will now own naming rights for the next 20 years and will officially be renaming the stadium the Crypto.com Arena beginning Christmas day.

The arena’s new logo will debut when the Lakers play the Nets on December 25th, and all Staples Center signage will be replaced by June of 2022. “In the next few years, people will look back at this moment as the moment when crypto crossed the chasm into the mainstream,” CEO Kris Marszalek said about the new name. “This is just such a brilliant move from the guys at AEG, because the next decade belongs to crypto,” he said. “And this positions L.A. and this particular venue right at the center of it.”

AEG and Crypto.com are still working out the partnership’s details, but integrating cryptocurrency payments into the arena and all online purchases may be on the horizon. Renaming Staples Center is just the latest marketing push for the 5 year old crypto company. A new ad unveiled in October features Matt Damon stating boldly, “four simple words that have been whispered by the intrepid since the time of the Romans … fortune favors the brave.”

Crypto.com paid more than five times as much for the rights to L.A.’s arena than Bahamas based FTX did recently for the Miami Heat’s arena – but Marszalek isn’t worried at all. “There’s not a shadow of doubt in my mind that it was worth it,” he said. “My level of conviction is 100%.”