Staples Center officially becomes Crypto.com Arena as Lakers face Brooklyn Nets for Christmas Day game
The team lost to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday 138-110 in the final round at Staples Center under the 22-year-old’s original arena name.
The building changes its name to Crypto.com Arena over Christmas under what is believed to be the richest naming rights deal in sports history.
READ ALSO | Iconic Staples Center in LA to be renamed Crypto.com Arena
The platform and the cryptocurrency exchange are paying more than $ 700 million over 20 years to put its name on an arena that has hosted countless major sporting and entertainment events since it opened in 1999.
Signs, billboards and countless small details have been altered around the arena to erase the Staples Center name, which has sentimental significance to LA sports fans who have assimilated the name of a chain of stores. from office supplies to the center of the basketball world for more than two decades.
The Lakers recognized the dedication and honored the name change on Friday with a pre-game video highlighting the team’s biggest moments in their arena.
Fans received a commemorative ticket and a gold t-shirt featuring the team’s first jersey donated to this arena in the 2000 qualifiers.
In a halftime ceremony, former Lakers stars Robert Horry, Metta Sandiford-Artest, Luke Walton, Byron Scott and Gary Payton stood around a Staples court logo with the six Championship trophies of the franchise won in this building.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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