A big change is coming to Staples Center, the longtime home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.
Starting on Christmas Day, it will be renamed to Crypto.com Arena as part of a new naming rights deal with the cryptocurrency website.
Staples Center – the iconic home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers among others since 1999 – will have a new name beginning Dec. 25: https://t.co/lur8Hbuv0r Arena. It’s believed to be the largest U.S. venue naming rights deal to date.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 17, 2021
The stadium opened in 1999 and started hosting Lakers and Clippers home games that fall.
In its first season in business, Staples Center saw the Lakers win the NBA championship, which was their first world title in a dozen years. The Purple and Gold would win two more championships in the next two seasons.
Staples Center has also been the home for many other events, such as concerts, and it has been the lynchpin behind revitalizing downtown Los Angeles and making it a hot destination.
Christmas Day was already going to be a big day on the Lakers’ calendar, as they will face Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets that afternoon.