Lakers and Kings Playoff Runs Prove Lucrative for Crypto.com Arena

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This month, the NBA and NHL playoffs have been a gold mine for AEG, owner of Los Angeles Crypto.com Arena, which has hosted the playoffs of all three tenants, the Clippers and Lakers of the NBA and NHL Kings.

Historically, April is always a very productive month for us, probably our busiest month, Nick Baker, COO of AEG Global Partnerships, told Front Office Sports. But this year in particular was historic in terms of the amount of business we were able to conduct, as well as the maximized calendar of events.

Over six playoff games and five nights, Crypto.com Arenas’ premium seating sales team, which includes multi-year leases for suites, seats, tables and lounges, secured $5 million from contract income. Nightly sales for the venue as a whole drew 120,000 total participants in this multi-sport elimination race. This month, the Southern California music festivals, Coachella and Stagecoach, are also managed by AEG.

The sports and entertainment giant was able to leverage the influx of activity across all sectors to secure a new wave of sponsorship sales.

Just last weekend, within 48 hours, we signed three new contracts exceeding $160 million in contract revenue, Baker said, although he has not yet disclosed the companies behind it. of these agreements. Two of them are current partners extending for the next five to six years, the other partner is a brand new partner.

Between LA team playoff games and AEG music festivals, the company has facilitated sponsorships with more than 150 brands, including Coachella activations with Adidas, YouTube, Heineken, Discord and Epic Games. A total of 330,000 fans bought tickets for Coachella and Stagecoach, which begins this weekend. MLS LA Galaxy, also owned by AEG, has reached 96% of its 2023 revenue target, according to the company, despite disappointing performances on the pitch this season.

Baker says three years after sports was shut down by COVID-19, the live events industry has surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

The new normal is bigger than the old normal, Baker said. If you think about what we’ve done this month, there’s no doubt that we’ve come out of a pandemic, but in my mind, we’re further away than we were before the pandemic.

Since Crypto.com paid $700 million in a 20-year deal for the naming rights to the arena formerly known as Staples Center, the market has been through a painful crypto winter that has included the collapse of the FTX exchange, which lost its stadium naming rights deal with the Miami Heat among other terminated sponsorships.

Amid skepticism in some corners about the sustainability of its business, Crypto.com has embarked on its long-term plans for the arena.

A nine-figure renovation project was announced last August, and a representative from the platform told Front Office Sports that the company was 95% complete adding permanent signage to the building.

The Lakers host the Memphis Grizzlies for Game 6 of their first-round playoff series at Crypto.com Arena on Friday. The Kings will do the same against the Edmonton Oilers the following night.

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