FTX loses Miami Heat arena naming rights as bankruptcy court terminates $135 million, 19-year deal

FTX bankruptcy proceeding continued on Thursday, with the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange losing another major estate. FTX and its sports deals had been a crucial part of the company's branding, which came to an end today. Meanwhile, the lawyers of the exchange brought forward new revelations.

FTX loses its arena

The FTX saga took another unfruitful turn as the cryptocurrency exchange lost the naming rights it once had for the Miami arena. The arena, under the control of Miami-Dade county, is also home to the NBA team Miami Heat, which FTX had named "FTX Arena".

The deal that came into effect back in June 2021 was terminated on Wednesday after US Bankruptcy Judge John T. Dorsey acted in favor of the county. Judge Dorsey wrote that the termination "shall be effective immediately upon entry of this order". The deal was initially set for 19 years, with FTX pouring in $135 million, out of which the Miami Heat were set to receive $2 million annually.

However, since November 2022, Miami-Dade county has been attempting to strip the arena of FTX's name following the exchange's bankruptcy. The county stated that referring to the arena as "FTX arena" would have added to the "enduring hardships" that came with the crypto winter.

The Miami-Dade county deal is not the first that FTX has lost, as right after its bankruptcy announcement in November, e-sports company Team SoloMid suspended their deal with the exchange worth $210 million.

FTX recovers $5 billion

FTX bankruptcy proceedings made some positive development on Wednesday as the exchange's lawyers claimed recovery of cash, liquid cryptocurrency and liquid investment securities worth over $5 billion. This amount was earlier expected to be around $1 billion..

In addition to this, FTX bankruptcy lawyer Adam Landis also stated that FTX had a backdoor policy for Alameda Research. Through this, the company had a credit line worth $65 billion. According to Landis, the money provided to Alameda was used to buy planes and throw parties, as well as make political donations.