Miami ends FTX Arena naming rights deal amid bankruptcy

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Artists like Carrie Underwood and Rauw Alejandro won’t have to endure the indignity of performing at a Miami venue named after an insolvent cryptocurrency exchange when they hit the road in the coming months. This is because FTX Arena is no more.

On Wednesday, a federal bankruptcy judge terminated the naming rights agreement between Miami-Dade County, owner of the facility, and the now defunct FTX, once the third-largest crypto exchange by volume until that it was discovered in November 2022 that the company was insolvent due to its mismanagement of client funds.

This decision ends the contractual relationship with FTX, which still had more than 17 years to run.

The 21,000-seat home of the NBA’s Miami Heat hosted more than 50 concerts in 2022, including performances by Elton John, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Roger Waters, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber and Tyler, the Creator.

In March 2021, the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners approved a $135 million deal with FTX. Around this time, now-disgraced CEO Sam Bankman-Fried released a statement that read, “This opportunity is more than putting our name on an iconic building. It’s a chance to bring value to the growing and diverse community of Miami and surrounding cities.

That value dropped significantly after FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, just five days after Bankman-Fried took to Twitter to try to allay concerns about his business, insisting that “FTX is doing well. Assets are doing well.

In response to news that the trade would initiate Chapter 11 proceedings, Miami-Dade County and the Miami Heat issued a joint press release, stating that they would “immediately take action to terminate our relationship.” business with FTX, and we will work together to find a new naming rights partner for the arena.

Just a month earlier, in October, the FTX logo had been placed on the roof of the arena, replacing the aircraft associated with the facility’s original sponsor, American Airlines. In 1999, American entered into a 20-year contract which he ultimately chose not to renew. The facility then kept the American Airlines Arena name for more than a year, while Miami-Dade scrambled to identify a replacement sponsor, which it eventually found in FTX.

On November 22, the county asked the bankruptcy court for permission to remove the location’s name, so it could pursue other options. Miami-Dade also suggested that keeping FTX on the facility would compound the “enduring difficulties” of the exchange’s aggrieved former customers.

The situation in Miami is reminiscent of the naming of a new baseball stadium in Houston just over 20 years ago. In the spring of 1999, Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay trumpeted a 30-year, $100 million deal with the Astros for what would briefly be known as Enron Field. At the start of 2002, the Astros were eager to distance themselves from the scandal-ridden society. However, because Enron had already prepaid for a year, the desperate baseball team bought out the naming rights for $2.1 million.

FTX was already behind with another $5.5 payment due Jan. 1, so Miami-Dade didn’t need to repay its former partner. Instead, he had to bide his time, until Judge John Dorsey delivered his decision.

On Friday, local officials and the Heat revealed they had landed on a tentative name. For the time being, the venue will be known as Miami-Dade Arena.

As for a potential partner, mortgage lender Network Capital reportedly made an offer in 2021.

Or perhaps in the spirit of championing digital currency, a Los Angeles arena sponsor will increase its presence on the East Coast, claiming a second Crypto.com Arena.

Then again, Florida has its own distinct history of colorful place names, so perhaps now is the time to resurrect the legacy of Tampa’s lost and lamented 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheater.

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