American professional basketball team Miami Heat on Saturday terminated its partnership with bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
The Miami Heat acquired the FTX naming rights to its basketball stadium last year. The stadium will still be known as the FTX Arena.
“The reports about FTX and its affiliates are extremely disappointing. Miami-Dade County and the Miami HEAT are immediately taking action to terminate our business relationships with FTX, and we will be working together to find a new naming rights partner for the arena,” the team said in a statement.
“We are proud of the impact our Peace & Prosperity Plan — sponsored by County Commissioner Keon Hardemon and funded through the original deal — is already having in preventing violence and creating opportunity for young people across Miami-Dade,” said the team.
“We look forward to identifying a new partner to continue funding these important programs in the years ahead,” it added.
The FTX Arena (formerly known as American Airlines Arena during 1999-2019) is a multi-purpose arena located in Miami, Florida, along Biscayne Bay.
The arena is home to the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association.
In March 2021, FTX acquired the naming rights to the arena for $135 million.
The NBA approved the deal in early April, and the arena was fully renamed to FTX Arena in June 2021.
The beleaguered crypto exchange FTX on Friday announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, as its Founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried resigned from his role.
John J Ray III has been appointed the new CEO and nearly 130 additional affiliated companies — including FTX US and Alameda Research — have also begun the bankruptcy process, the company said in a statement.
