Staples Center, the iconic multi-purpose arena in downtown Los Angeles, will be renamed on Christmas Day, in what is said to be one of the biggest naming rights deals in sports history.
What Happened: Staples Center will be known as Crypto.com Arena starting on Christmas Day, when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Brooklyn Nets, the arena’s owner AEG and Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com announced Tuesday.
The venue — the official home of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks — is getting the new name under a 20-year naming rights deal between AEG and Crypto.com.
Crypto.com paid more than $700 million for the naming rights, making it one of the biggest naming deals in sports history, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing sources familiar with the terms of the deal.
The deal also makes Crypto.com an official cryptocurrency platform partner of the Lakers and the Kings.
See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)
Why It Matters: The 20,000-seat Staples Center hosts over 240 major high-profile events and over 4 million guests each year. It is the venue of the Grammy Awards ceremony and will host the basketball competition during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The venue got its original name after office retail company Staples Inc. acquired the venue’s naming rights in 1997.
The new Staples Center naming rights deal underscores the rapidly growing influence and widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD and Dogecoin DOGE/USD.
Crypto.com, which serves over 10 million customers, recently launched a global marketing campaign that features actor Matt Damon.
It was reported earlier this month that Crypto.com became the most downloaded app in the U.S. app store for Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Android operative system, citing mobile application data service Sensor Tower.
Price Action: Bitcoin is down 1.9% during the last 24 hours, trading at $59,626.42 at press time.
Ethereum is down 3.5% over the 24-hour period to $4,166.11, while Dogecoin traded lower by 5.0% to $0.2348 over the past 24 hours.
Read Next: Houston Rockets Teams With NYDIG In Bitcoin Partnership
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