Another high-profile FTX stadium naming rights deal is reportedly cratering amid the exchange’s meltdown and bankruptcy.
Front Office Sports reports that the University of California, Berkeley, has suspended its partnership with FTX, which owned naming rights to the football field at California Memorial Stadium since August 2021.
UC Berkeley isn’t the first sports partner to back away from the exchange. Last week, Miami-Dade County and the Miami Heat announced they would be taking steps to terminate their relationship with FTX. The exchange had previously secured naming rights to the Heat’s basketball arena in March 2021 after agreeing to a 19-year partnership.
FTX filed for bankruptcy earlier this month amid accusations that the exchange’s high-profile former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, mishandled the firm’s funds by loaning out billions of dollars worth of customer deposits to Alameda Research, FTX’s trading arm.
John Ray III replaced Bankman-Fried as CEO after the former chief executive’s resignation. In new bankruptcy filings, Ray says the platform suffered from compromised systems, faulty regulatory oversight and leadership that was made up of “potentially compromised individuals.”
The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee also reportedly to hold a December hearing to investigate FTX’s collapse.
