AmericanAirlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat, may see cryptocurrency platform FTX become the newest sponsor of the venue. Though it’s still named after the airline, American’s 20-year deal expired in 2019.
If the partnership with FTX goes through, it would mark the first time a cryptocurrency exchange has held naming rights to a professional sports venue in the States.
While there’s been no official announcement, the Miami Herald reported that ftxarena.com has been registered as a domain name by an unidentified party and accounts with the potential arena name were found on social media.
American Airlines paid the Heat about $2.1 million per year for naming rights to the stadium. Miami-Dade County has been paying the team nearly the same amount while it searches for a new partner.
In other crypto meets sports news, the Oakland A’s are offering all-season suite tickets for one Bitcoin, which jumped to over $60,000 for the first time last week. The Dallas Mavericks began accepting Dogecoin for tickets and merchandise earlier this month.
In February, Forbes said the Heat is worth $2.38 billion, good enough for 12th most valuable team in the NBA. Miami-Dade County reportedly wants to land an arena naming rights deal that runs through the 2029-30 season.
