Miami-Dade Mayor: FTX paid county $20 million before naming rights deal ended

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County is looking for the next company willing to pay to name the home of the Miami Heat.

The 2021 naming rights deal with FTX was for $135 million over 19 years and included annual payments of $2 million to the Miami Heat.

“We have to be aggressive moving forward because we have an obligation to the Heat to have a named stadium, so we need to explore other options,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during This Week In South Florida on Sunday. with reporter Michael Putney and reporter Glenna Milberg.

Levine Cava also said Miami-Dade County raised $20 million from the FTX naming rights deal. The Miami Heat released a statement Friday announcing the termination of all relationships with the FTX.

“Part of the contract says that if the company goes bankrupt the deal can be terminated,” Levine Cava said during TWISF.

Once the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday morning in Delaware after failing to cope with a sharp rise in user withdrawals. .

Levine Cava also said the FTX millions funded the county’s Peace and Prosperity Plan, a “great initiative.” The county site describes the plan’s goal as addressing “the root cause of gun violence.”

No longer a billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried, who signed the agreement with the county, announced on Twitter Friday that he had resigned and that a bankruptcy attorney was taking his place.

FTX announced on Saturday that there had been “unauthorized access” to its accounts following the bankruptcy filing. The Associated Press reported that the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating FTX.