Miami Heat are tearing down their FTX sign to rename their arena the Kaseya Center on a 17-year deal

The Miami Heat now have a new name to call home, after they got rid of FTX months after the cryptocurrency exchange’s fell to the floor and declared bankruptcy. The security software company Kaseya recently acquired the naming right for the former FTX Arena after a $117 million deal. 

This means that in immediate effect, the Florida team’s new stadium is called the Kaseya Center.

The Miami Heat have agreed to a 17-year naming rights deal with Kaseya for their home arena:

Kaseya Center.

The deal is reportedly worth $117 million. pic.twitter.com/wzfy4wtM9Z

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 4, 2023

“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,” president of the Heat’s business operations Eric Woolworth said in a statement.

The tearing down of FTX’s sign which was the face of this water-front arena is the result of the unexpected collapse of the crypto firm on November of last year. The company, once worth billions of dollars, had to file for bankruptcy after a liquidity crisis forced its founder Sam Bankman-Fried to stand down as the firm’s CEO.

However, it didn’t stop there, consequently their reputation burned down to the floor after investigations led prosecutors to condemn Bankman-Fried of criminally misusing other customers accounts. This finally doomed the company and everyone associated with them.

This is the reason why the Heat administration and Miami-Dade County had to act quickly to get rid of any alliance with FTX, and find another potential advertiser who could invest in their stadium. The arena was renamed FTX Arena just two years ago after the firm reportedly invested in a $135 million, 19-year negotation.

Who’s behind Kaseya and what good will this bring to the county’s community?

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

Xavier González, Kaseya’s Excecutive Vicepresident, says his company is currently worth $12 billion and that they approached the county following the FTX’s collapse. “We are a home-grown business, we are based here in Miami, and we are adding a significant amount of jobs here in Miami.

“So for the opportunity for us to become synonymous with Miami, and Miami synonymous with Kaseya is really humbling,” an excited González told the press.

County Comissioner Eileen Higgins feels relieved that FTX is finally out of the picture. “I am even more thrilled to know the Kaseya Center will be named for a responsable company and it’s not in a fly-by-night crypto thing,” she said.

Comissioners unanimously approved the deal considering it will bring at least $83 million to the county’s budget to add more initiatives involving anti-violence and poverty programs. “FTX was a blip on the map, at the Miami-Dade County quickly pivoted,” Comissioner Keon Hardiman said.

“One again, we’ve secured a great deal of money to invest within our communities. I think this is a wonderful day for our county and its residents”, he concluded.