I think they took a major step towards their vision of "Cryptocurrency in Every Wallet" - which is trademarked by the way - with this whopping deal. According to the LA Times the arena's new logo will be revealed for the first time on Dec. 25 during a nationally-televised Christmas day matchup between LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the LA Lakers and Kevin Durant, James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets.
So many storylines to cover here. We could break down the sheer size of the deal, whether this is going to usher in even more deals - yes I do think so - remember those FTX ads during the World Series, and how rapidly the adoption curve of crypto may now begin to accelerate. By the way, did anyone even notice that Shohei Ohtani took a stake in FTX according to this article. I am curious what the PE firm Sycamore Partners who acquired STAPLES in 2017 was paid for unwinding the STAPLES lifetime naming-rights deal signed in 2009. Crazy to think what has happened in the past ten years that we would go from an office supply store to a crypto and payments platform on the name of an iconic events and sports venue like STAPLES Center..
Competitors Binance and Coinbase, which is now public, are likely to step up efforts on the marketing and branding front as this deal is further digested.
Official press release from AEG Worldwide (which owns and operates the STAPLES Center) available here.