NBA’s Miami Heat sheds FTX from its arena’s name | CNN Business

New York
CNN
 — 

The home arena for NBA’s Miami Heat is getting rid of FTX in its name, months after the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange’s fall from grace.

Security software company Kaseya acquired naming rights for the formerly named FTX Arena in a $117 million deal.

Kaseya Center, the new name, comes into immediate effect.

“The collapse of our previous partner caught everyone by surprise but, in conjunction with Miami-Dade County, we worked efficiently and incredibly quickly to fill our naming rights vacancy with Kaseya,” said Eric Woolworth, president of the Miami Heat’s business operations, in a statement.

The waterfront arena’s about-face from FTX comes after the spectacular collapse of the crypto firm last November. Once worth billions of dollars, FTX collapsed into bankruptcy following a liquidity crisis, forcing founder Sam Bankman-Fried to resign as CEO.

Subsequent investigations led prosecutors to allege that Bankman-Fried and others at FTX misused customer accounts, tarnishing the reputation of FTX — and those associated with the disgraced company.

The 31-year-old Bankman-Fried is out of jail on a $250 million bond, awaiting trial under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.

The Miami Heat and Miami-Dade County ended their relationship with FTX and began to search for a new naming rights partner the day the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy. The arena was renamed FTX Arena in 2021 after the company reportedly entered a $135 million, 19-year deal.

Kaseya is headquartered in Miami and is the first local company to receive naming rights to the arena, according to the statement.