The Lakers are going to be playing in a new stadium come Christmas Day. Not literally. Instead, they will drop the Staples Center name that they have called home for over two decades and go with a new sponsor.
The Staples Center sign was officially being removed from the front facing of the venue as of Monday morning. That seemed to reignite the anger from Lakers fans online who were already unhappy about the name change.
AEG made the announcement in November that the arena would sport the new name for the next 20 years. The naming rights deal is worth over $700 million and goes into effect on December 25th when the Lakers take on the Nets at home.
Crypto.com officially signed on with the Lakers and the Kings as their official crypto partner as part of the deal as well. But the Staples Center letters being taken down today hit home with a lot of fans.
It was the house that Kobe built. It was the place where so many historic moments took place and where professional titles came back home to Los Angeles. And while it is just a name change, you can't help but to feel a little sentimental about it all.
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