It is a page in the history of American basketball that is closing and another, more futuristic, that is opening.
As of December 25, the legendary Staples Center, which hosts the Los Angeles basketball teams (Lakers, Clippers and Sparks), as well as ice hockey (Kings) will change its name, or rather sponsor, to become the “Crypto.com Arena”.
A
historic
deal
, especially for the amount mentioned: various sources across the Atlantic speak of a 20-year contract valued at 700 million dollars, or 35 million per year.
“This partnership is the fastest growing cryptocurrency platform and largest live sports and entertainment company in the world that converge to drive the future of sports and entertainment as well as the incredible legacy of this arena for decades to come, ”said Todd Goldstein, Chief Revenue Officer of AEG, the owner of the stadium, Wednesday to the announcement of the partnership.
We're proud to announce that Staples Center, Los Angeles' most iconic arena is getting a new extremely name:
https://t.co/vCNztATkNg Arena
As part of this 20 year partnership, we're also excited to welcome the @ Lakers & @LAKings as our newest partners!
pic.twitter.com/KCfYKySDRt
- Crypto.com (@cryptocom) November 17, 2021
Growing influence of cryptocurrencies and NFTs in the world of sports
It had been 22 years since its opening in 1999 that the 20,000-seat arena bore the name of Staples, the US office supplies giant. The successor, Crypto.com, is in a very different business: it is a platform that acts as an exchange for cryptocurrencies, where one can consult and exchange these virtual currencies sometimes valued at several thousand dollars. euro per unit, for the most expensive (BitCoin, for example, currently valued at over $ 57,000, or Etehereum, at just over 4,000) or NFTs. A young company, founded in 2016 and based in Singapore, which has already forged important links in the world of sport, notably by becoming a partner of Paris Saint-Germain this year, but also by having signed partnerships with Formula 1, Serie A or the UFC.
An extremely symbolic change that does not only make people happy for the time being. "It's a little tough, Lakers fans and sports fans in general know this stadium as the Staples Center," said Frank Vogel, Lakers coach. I can understand the disappointment of the fans. But this is the evolution of our world. Russell Westbrook, 2017 MVP, native of the region and Lakers player since this summer, prefers to honor the building itself: "As a kid who grew up in LA, I have many fond memories with the Staples Center. So many great things have happened in this building, whatever the name. The building itself is still the building. And that is what is most important. "
This historic partnership, which would potentially be the most expensive sports naming contract in history, marks the increasingly important place occupied by cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens, or “non-fungible tokens”, collectable objects. dematerialized).
In France, the PSG had in particular made speak by announcing that part of the salary of Leo Messi would be paid in "Fan Tokens", the cryptocurrency of the club published since 2018 in partnership with the platform Socios, which claims more than 40 partnerships with football clubs around the world and dozens more in other sports.
A development that echoes the resounding success of the French start-up Sorare, a fantasy football platform combining cryptocurrency and collectible football cards.
