Miami wins bid to cancel $135 million NBA arena contract with bankrupt FTX

Miami dunked FTX over naming rights to the arena where the NBA Heat play their home games.

A federal bankruptcy judge has terminated a $135 million sponsorship agreement between Miami-Dade County site owner and FTX cryptocurrency exchange founded by accused fraudster Sam Bankman-Freed.

Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges, denied on Thursday that he stole billions of dollars in client funds to cover risky bets made by his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

He is under house arrest at his parents’ $4 million Palo Alto home after being released on $250 million bail.

Judge John Dorsey, presiding over FTX’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection case, issued a court order on Wednesday ordering Miami-Dade County to remove all FTX signage and advertising from the 21,000-seat downtown Miami arena.

A spokesperson for the arena told Local 10 News in Miami that the venue would simply be known as “the arena” until the county made a new deal with a sponsor over the naming rights.

In March 2021, FTX and the district signed a 19-year naming rights agreement for the arena.

But county officials tried to pull out of the deal in November when FTX filed for bankruptcy protection.

They argued that keeping the FTX name would remind former clients of the “ordeal” caused by the site’s collapse.

FTX’s deal with Miami-Dade was part of a wider marketing strategy that garnered the support of celebrities including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Larry David and more.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Brady and Bündchen were among the largest individual FTX stockholders before the platform collapsed, according to court documents released Tuesday.

In November, Forbes estimated that, on paper, Brady’s stake was worth roughly $45 million, while Bündchen’s stake was worth about $25 million. The newspaper based its claims on documents that Bankman-Fride once provided to Forbes.

Brady and Bündchen have played a key role as brand ambassadors for FTX, once appearing in an ad in which they encouraged a number of ordinary people such as plumbers and doctors to invest in cryptocurrencies. The former couple reportedly received equity stakes in exchange for their promotional efforts.

Additional reporting by Thomas Barrabee