Miami-Dade County and Miami Heat Cuts Naming Rights Ties with Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX for Miami Arena

Miami-Dade County and the NBA's Miami Heat have ended their partnership with the insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX and are now looking for a new naming rights partner for their downtown Miami arena.

The statement followed the FTX group's CEO resignation and bankruptcy filing in the US earlier on Friday, which marked the shocking demise of one of the biggest and most influential figures in the cryptocurrency business.

Miami-Dade County and Miami Heat stated in a joint statement on Friday night that they will cooperate to find a new naming rights partner for the stadium, which was only rebranded as FTX Arena last year, and that they find the reports concerning FTX to be "very upsetting."

Like other cryptocurrency businesses, FTX has spent a lot of money sponsoring athletes. For the renaming of the Miami arena in June 2021, FTX reportedly signed a $135 million, 19-year contract. This deal would have also included $2 million annually to the Miami Heat.

A five-year agreement was also reached in 2021 for Major League Baseball to designate FTX as its official cryptocurrency exchange. FTX is also the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team's authorized

With the University of California, Berkeley negotiating a $17.5 million, 10-year naming rights arrangement for the school's football stadium in 2021, even college sports have connections to FTX.