When Crypto.com secured the naming rights in November for the arena formerly known as Staples Center, it made a very literal, straightforward statement: If you want to project an image of financial might and staying power, it’s hard to imagine anything more explicit than a $700 million commitment for physically giant signage over 20 years. But the cryptocurrency exchange was thinking about the power of metaphor here, too.
The company had already poured hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising across sports. But this was its first arena deal, and they’d deliberated over getting just the right fit, says Crypto.com chief marketing officer Steven Kalifowitz. They’d talked about perhaps going after a football stadium. But so many NFL venues sit outside downtown areas—one building amid an ocean of parking lots—and they wanted a more vibrant, connected setting. There was the possibility of a European soccer stadium, but many of those venues are used just for soccer, and the marketing team wanted to pursue something broader.
The company wanted a stadium that was home to multiple teams from different sports, and to big events outside of sports, too. It was hoping to evoke the idea that crypto was for everyone—that the community was ready to expand into the mainstream—and, just as crucially, that it was here for the long haul. Which is what led the company to the Staples Center.
