MIAMI — Miami-Dade County has asked the Federal Bankruptcy Court for immediate permission to terminate its naming rights deal with FTX and strip its branding from arenas where the NBA’s Miami Heat plays.
In a motion filed Tuesday, the counties that own the arena and negotiated a naming rights deal with FTX said continuing to refer to the building as FTX Arena would be a “permanent hardship” brought on by the arena’s collapse. said that it would only increase the cryptocurrency exchange.
“Debtors are not expected to be harmed by the termination of the naming rights agreement,” the county wrote in its motion. “Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County continues to provide valuable marquee naming rights and other benefits to debtors, undermining the county’s ability to seek new naming partners for arenas.”
A public hearing is scheduled for mid-December. For now, the FTX sign remains on the building and its name has not changed.
Tuesday’s move was mostly unexpected. FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11, the same day the county and Heat began the process of terminating their relationship with the company.
The fall of FTX has no shortage of connections in the sports world.Many Athletes — Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Tom BradyGolden State Warriors guard Stephen Currytennis player Naomi Osaka and heat forward Udonis Haslem Among them, — was named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit against FTX last week. The lawsuit alleges that their celebrity status is responsible for promoting the company’s failing business model.
FTX has signed a number of sports-related deals, including Formula 1 racing with Mercedes and a sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball. Mercedes has already removed the FTX logo from its race cars.
The Miami building, which will be called FTX Arena from June 2021, was just beginning a 19-year, $135 million sponsorship deal between FTX and the county. FTX’s next payment to the county is $5.5 million on January 1.
The Heat were to receive $2 million annually as part of the deal.
FTX was the third largest cryptocurrency exchange, but lost billions of dollars before seeking bankruptcy protection. The Bahamas-based company and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, are under investigation by state and federal officials for allegedly investing depositor funds in ventures without their approval.
