FTX branding will be removed from Miami Heat arena

The Miami Heat home will no longer be called the FTX Arena after the naming rights deal between FTX and Miami-Dade County was terminated by a federal bankruptcy court on Wednesday.

It’s a move that will enable the brand of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange to be removed from the arena where the NBA’s Miami Heat plays home games.

The order means that soon – and likely very soon – all FTX signage and advertising in the arena will be removed. There was no immediate word from the Heat or the county as to when the trial will begin.

Miami Heat’s home will no longer be called FTX Arena, a federal bankruptcy court ruled

This is going to be a massive undertaking. FTX branding can be found on the arena roof, on the basketball court, above many entrances, on the polo shirts worn by security personnel, and even on many of the electronic cards employees use to gain entry to the facility.

The termination of the Rights Deal “will be effective immediately upon receipt of this order,” wrote US Bankruptcy Judge John T. Dorsey.

The county called for the termination of the naming rights deal in November, saying at the time that continuing to designate the building as the FTX Arena would only add to the “ongoing hardship” caused by the cryptocurrency exchange collapse.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried smiles as he leaves court after pleading not guilty to criminal charges of defrauding investors in his crypto exchange out of $1.8 billion

The county owns the arena and has negotiated a 19-year, $135 million naming rights deal with FTX.

The Heat was scheduled to receive $2 million annually as part of that deal, which went into effect in June 2021.

FTX’s next payment to the district should have been $5.5 million on Jan. 1.

FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, though it ended up suffering billions of dollars in losses — estimates range from $8 billion to $10 billion — before filing for bankruptcy protection after a spectacular crash that lasted just days.

Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested last month in the Bahamas and extradited to the US to face criminal charges in what US Attorney Damian Williams has called “one of the biggest fraud cases in American history.” is tracked.

Bankman-Fried has been released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court in October.