Lakers, Kings Playoff Runs Proving Lucrative for Crypto.com Arena
This month’s NBA and NHL playoffs have been a goldmine for AEG, the owner of Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, which has hosted postseason runs from all three tenants — the NBA’s Clippers and Lakers and the NHL’s Kings.
“Historically, April is always a very productive month for us, probably our busiest month,” Nick Baker, COO of AEG Global Partnerships, told Front Office Sports. “But this year in particular has been historic in terms of the amount of business we’ve been able to execute, as well as maximizing the event schedule.”
Over the course of six playoff games and five nights, Crypto.com Arena’s premium seating sales team – which includes multi-year leases for suites, seats, tables and lounges – has secured $5 million in contractually obligated revenue. Nightly sales for the arena in general have drawn 120,000 participants in total during this multi-sport play-off. This month’s Southern California music festivals, Coachella and Stagecoach, are also powered by AEG.
The sports and entertainment giant has been able to capitalize on the influx of cross-industry activity to secure a new wave of sponsorship sales.
“Last weekend in the space of 48 hours, we had signatures on three new contracts that exceed $160 million in contractually obligated revenue,” Baker said, though he would not yet disclose the companies behind those deals. “Two of these are current partners who are extending for the next five to six years, the other partner is a brand new partner.”
AEG’s assets have sponsorships with more than 150 brands, including Coachella activations with Adidas, YouTube, Heineken, Discord and Epic Games. A total of 330,000 fans bought tickets for Coachella and Stagecoach, which begin this weekend. MLS’ LA Galaxy, also owned by AEG, have reached 96% of their 2023 revenue goal, according to the company, despite an underwhelming performance on the field this season.
Baker says three years after COVID-19 shut down sports, the live events industry has surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
“The new normal is bigger than the old normal,” Baker said. “If you think about what we’ve done this month, there’s no doubt we’re out of a pandemic, but in my mind we’re further than we were before the pandemic.”
Since Crypto.com paid $700 million in a 20-year deal for naming rights to the arena formerly known as Staples Center, the market went through a painful “crypto winter” that included the collapse of fellow exchange FTX, which lost its naming rights to the stadium deal with the Miami Heat among other terminated sponsorships.
Amid skepticism from some corners about the sustainability of the business, Crypto.com is committed to its long-term plans for the arena.
A nine-figure renovation project was announced last August, and a representative for the platform told Front Office Sports that the company is “95% done” adding permanent signage to the building.
The Lakers host the Memphis Grizzlies for Game 6 of their first-round playoff series at Crypto.com Arena on Friday. The Kings will do the same against the Edmonton Oilers the next night.
