Beginning Christmas Day, the Los Angeles Staples Center will be officially renamed. The Crypto.com Arena will now be the titled home of the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers, the NHL’s Kings, and the WNBA’s Sparks.
The change comes after 22 years of operation under the original name and is facilitated by a $700 million naming rights deal by Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency platform exchange headquartered in Singapore founded in 2016. The platform also has sponsorship deals with Formula One, the UFC, Italy’s Serie A, Paris St-Germain, and the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, as well as having purchased the Philadelphia 76ers’ uniform sponsorship patch.
Reggie Jackson of the Clippers has expressed difficulty accepting the name change.
“[The Lakers] have their history here, Kobe, especially my era, growing up, watching those championships. Shaq [O’Neal]. Nah, it’s too many memories. It’s gonna be hard to not call it Staples,” he said.
—
Photo credit: