Last week news broke that the basketball arena in Los Angeles will be getting a name change at the end of the year. After 22 years as Staples Center, the facility will be renamed to Crypto.com Arena on Dec. 25. The company behind the change, Crypto.com, is a cryptocurrency platform and exchange that also offers crypto-backed debit cards and digital wallets. It
reportedly purchased the naming rights to Staples Arena for a whopping $700 million, one of the largest amounts ever paid in such a deal.
Fans and residents of Los Angeles, however, are
less than enthused about the change. “I don’t like it. Staples Center is very classic … It’s a monument for L.A.,” said one fan. “Even if y’all change the name, we’re still going to call it Staples Center.”
“I thought it was a joke,” said another.
Vanessa Bryant, widow of legendary Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant, had the best reaction though. She posted on Instagram that Staples Center will be “Forever known as The House That Kobe Built.” All other names pretty much fall short at this point.
