The fall of a crypto giant is causing reverberations across the sports world.
Crypto exchange FTX is scrambling for around $8 billion — including $4 billion just to stay solvent — after rival exchange Binance backed out of a deal to acquire it.
The fall of FTX will likely have implications for the athletes, teams, and sports leagues that made deals with the crypto exchange.
- A Miami-Dade County representative told Front Office Sports that it will explore legal remedies should FTX be unable to pay the balance on its 19-year, $175 million naming rights deal for the Miami Heat’s arena, signed in March 2021.
- FTX also has deals with MLB, UC Berkeley, the Mercedes Formula 1 team, and star athletes including Tom Brady, Steph Curry, and Shohei Ohtani.
- Brady was an investor in the company, which was recently valued at $32 billion.
FTX and the Los Angeles Angels reportedly abandoned a deal over the summer due to falling crypto prices.
Another Crypto Tumble
FTX’s own token lost over 88% of its value in the past week, dropping to a market cap of $1.16 billion.
Its precipitous fall has shaken the broader crypto market: Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped a respective 18.9% and 22.7% over the past five days.
It is unclear if the fallout will affect existing tie-ups with other crypto exchanges, such as Binance’s deals with Cristiano Ronaldo and Serie A club Lazio, or Crypto.com’s 20-year, $700 million deal for the naming rights to the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, and Kings.
