‘Sick to my stomach’: Fans furious over Staples Center arena’s new name

Followers of rival NBA teams come together to complain about ‘weird’ renaming

The Staples Centre in downtown Los Angles (Getty Images)

Sports fans have been outraged following the announcement that the Staples Centre will be renamed by another sponsor, Crypto.com.

The 19,000-seat arena, which has been the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers since 1999, is scheduled to undergo the name change at the end of the year.

It comes after Crypto.com bought the naming rights to the stadium for a rumoured $700m ($520m). It has been known as the Staples Centre since its inception.

Dozens of Lakers and Clippers fans took to Twitter to complain about the Crypto.com arena, with many coming together to complain. Sports and news commentators also spoke out against the change.

“The Crypto.com Arena is genuinely the worst name I’ve ever seen given to anything that needed naming ever,” wrote James McManus, the head of TV station BT Sport.

NBC News reporter David Ingram also wrote: “I don’t know if crypto is the future, but I suppose we’re past the office supply boom”. His comments were in reference to Staples, the office supply chain.

Fans of the NBA teams who are based at the stadium, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers, meanwhile came together to condemn the naming rights being sold to Crypto.com.

“Lakers and Clippers fans coming together in peace and harmony just to hate the fact that Staples Center would change its name to Crypto.com Arena,” tweeted David Darahan.

“But for sure the owners made a fortune for this,” he added. “Might be billions! Lol, it’s gonna be weird for sure.”

Another Twitter user and “ hardcore Lakers fan” wrote that renaming the Staples Centre made them “sick” and asked: “Crypto.com really? Staples Center forever to me & all Lakers fans. Top Level Domain is most unnecessary top of name itself.”

As reported by The Los Angeles Times and others on Tuesday, the Singapore-based cryptocurrency seller will hold naming rights for 20 years following a deal with owners AEG.

Reports suggested that the renaming to Crypto.com will also mean rebranding the stadium signing and the creation of a 3,300 square feet “activation space” featuring crypto-related activities.

NBA reporter Cal Durett was among a handful to welcome the news, although he admitted that he was not a fan of the two big NBA teams who call the Staples Centre home.

He tweeted: “Not a Lakers or Clippers fan for sure but pretty cool that the Staples Center is being renamed after Crypto.com. Been using CDC for a while now and it’s really easy to use. Plus, hopefully, CRO takes off now as a result.”