Crypto.com Plans to Renovate Iconic Los Angeles Arena

Putting Big Money on Sports (Marketing)

In a Twitter post earlier this week, Crypto.com released a video of some of the changes it plans to bring to Los Angeles' iconic Crypto.com Arena -- formerly known as Staples Center - for which Crypto.com spent $700 million to buy naming rights in November 2021. The name-change officially took place on Christmas Day 2021.

The deal is the most expensive naming rights purchase in U.S. sports history.

The Crypto.com Arena is a symbol of the city of LA. Opened in 1999, it is the home ground of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers men's basketball teams, the Los Angeles Sparks women's basketball team, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, and the venue for many events such as the Grammy Awards, huge concerts, marquee boxing matches, and prestigious Hollywood awards ceremonies.

This is also where basketball games are expected to be held during the 2028 Olympics in LA. The arena is a part of the popular culture of LA and the U.S. The center can hold up to 240 events annually, attracting 4 million visitors.

The timing of the planned upgrades, reportedly to cost many millions of dollars, to the Crypto.com Arena may come as a surprise, given that the Crypto.com business just cut 5% of its staff in the context of the "crypto winter," which has posed complex existential problems for many companies and platforms in the market.

Crypto.com also has sports sponsorship deals with many well-known brands, including Aston Martin F1 team, Fnatic esports team (U.K.), Montreal Canadiens hockey team (Canada), Football League Serie A, Copa Italia Super Cup (Italy), World Hockey Championship, Formula 1 Racing, UFC Fighting Tournament, Paris Saint-Germain Club (France) and Philadelphia 76ers basketball team (U.S.).

Not stopping there, the exchange spent up to $ 100 million on a global advertising campaign with the participation of actor Matt Damon. Needless to say, marketing is a massive component of Crypto.com’s efforts to compete with other competitors, such as Binance, FTX, Bybit, etc., including through sports.