Miami Heat is latest to cut ties with FTX after ‘taking immediate action to TERMINATE relationship’

The Miami Heat are seeking to immediately terminate their business relationship with Crypto Exchange FTX, the NBA team announced Friday. 

FTX, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, announced they are filing for bankruptcy and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned.

Miami also announced that they will begin working to find a new naming rights partner for the arena.

The statement from the Miami Heat in part read: ‘Miami-Dade County and the Miami Heat are immediately taking action to terminate our business relationships with FTX, and we will be working together to find a new naming rights partner for the arena.’

Miami-Dade County, which owns the arena and negotiated the naming rights deal, struck the agreement with FTX in March 2021. The name of the building changed from AmericanAirlines Arena to FTX Arena three months later.

The Heat were to receive $2 million a year as part of the deal. Most of the remainder of the roughly $90 million was to be paid to the county, the vast majority of it earmarked toward fighting gun violence and poverty.

The Miami Heat is seeking to immediately terminate its relationship with Crypto Exchange FTX

The Miami Heat and Miami-Dade County statement on the relationship with FTX

The Heat’s statement added: ‘We are proud of the impact our Peace & Prosperity Plan – sponsored by County Commissioner Keon Hardemon and funded through the original deal – is already having in preventing violence and creating opportunity for young people across Miami-Dade, and we look forward to identifying a new partner to continue funding these important programs in the years ahead.’

After Bankman-Fried’s resignation, John J. Ray III, the Chicago-based lawyer who oversaw the liquidation of Enron after that company’s collapse, will take over as CEO to lead FTX through bankruptcy. 

Mercedes Formula One team also suspended their relationship with FTX Friday and announced that the FTX’s logo would no longer appear on their racecars.

FTX branding will be removed from Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Mercedes cars 

FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned as the company files for bankruptcy

The Formula One season is approaching it’s final race of the season and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and teammates George Russell, have yet to win a race this season.

FTX also has partnerships with a range of other teams and stars athletes including Tom Brady, Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Naomi Osaka and the MLB.

Brady, Curry and Osaka are among the athletes who have lost money in the recent crash of FTX. Curry inked a partnership with FTX in September 2021 – his first in the crypto space – and shared his excitement over the deal in a press release at the time.

Osaka, meanwhile, took an equity stake in FTX in March, which was described as a ‘long-term’ contract that would pay her in cryptocurrency.

Curry’s Warriors also have involvement with FTX, as the exchange agreed to pay the team $10million in December 2021 in an international rights sponsorship, as CNBC reported at the time. 

In the deal, FTX obtained in-arena signage at the Chase Center, brand placements with the club’s G League and NBA 2K esports team, as well as rights to the team’s NFTs.

Brady and ex-wife Gisele Bundchen were also among the celebrities caught up in the crypto crash.

But neither Brady or Bundchen are expected to see losses to the magnitude of Bankman-Fried, the company’s recent developments could certainly leave a dent.

The ex-couple took an equity stake in the company last year, with Brady announced as a brand ambassador and Bundchen an environmental and social initiatives adviser.

Brady and Bundchen even appeared in commercials for the company in 2021. 

Tom Brady appeared in commercials for FTX, including one with a flamethrower