A US federal bankruptcy court in Delaware has agreed to terminate the naming rights agreement between Miami-Dade County and FTX, allowing the arena’s owners to seek out a new partner.
The 19-year US$135 million deal went into effect in June 2021, and meant the facility was called the FTX Arena, retroactively until 30 December 2022.
Miami-Dade County must now take down all signage, advertisements and promotional materials from FTX, as well as referring to the stadium as FTX Arena in public.
In November, the county and Miami Heat announced that they were taking immediate action to terminate their business with FTX, while also stating they had begun the search for a new naming rights partner.
After the FTX collapse, prosecutors reported that over one million investors and customers had lost a collective US$8 billion, which then resulted in founder, Sam Bankman-Fried being charged last month.
Along with the Miami Heat, FTX had sponsorship deals with esports organisation, TSM, and the Mercedes F1 team, while several high profile athletes had joined the crypto exchange as ambassadors, including Steph Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Tom Brady and Naomi Osaka.
