Miami-Dade wins the right to remove the FTX name from the Heat Arena
MIAMI (AP) — The naming rights agreement between FTX and Miami-Dade County was terminated by a federal bankruptcy court on Wednesday, a move that allows the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange’s brand to be retired of the arena where the NBA’s Miami Heat plays.
The order means that soon, and probably starting very soon, all FTX signage and advertising in the arena will be removed. There was no immediate word from the Heat or the county on when the process will begin.
It will be a massive undertaking. FTX branding is on the roof of the arena, on the basketball court, on many of the entrances, on the polo shirts worn by security personnel and even on many of the electronic cards used by employees to access the facilities.
The termination of the rights agreement “will be effective immediately upon the entry of this order,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John T. Dorsey wrote.
The county asked for the naming rights agreement to be terminated in November, saying at the time that continuing to refer to the building as FTX Arena will only add to the “enduring difficulties” caused by the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.
The county owns the arena and negotiated what was to be a 19-year, $135 million naming rights deal with FTX. The Heat were to receive $2 million annually as part of that deal, which took effect in June 2021.
FTX’s next payment to the county was due for $5.5 million on Jan. 1.
FTX was the third largest cryptocurrency exchange, although it ended up with losses worth billions of dollars (estimates range from $8 billion to $10 billion) before seeking bankruptcy protection after of a spectacular accident that took only a few days.
Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested last month in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States to face criminal charges in what U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called “one of the frauds largest in the history of the United States.” Bankman-Fried has been released on bail and is scheduled to go on trial in October.
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