Miami Heat agree to new naming rights deal with Kaseya

After a months-long search following the FTX scandal, the Miami Heat now have a new naming rights partner. Starting immediately, Miami-Dade Arena will be known as the Kaseya Center.

Kaseya, a Miami-based IT security management software company, was unanimously approved Tuesday by Miami-Dade County commissioners to take over the naming rights of the Heat’s arena in Downtown Miami. They will hold the rights for the next 17 years, fulfilling the term previously agreed to with FTX before the cryptocurrency exchange and hedgefund filed for bankruptcy last year.

“What I’m hoping is, 17 years from now, when you look back at the history of what will now be known as Kaseya Center, you basically will know two naming rights partners,” Miami Heat chief marketing officer Michael McCollough told the Locked On Heat podcast. “And the one that was in the middle is going to fade into obscurity because it was only here for a short time.

“You’re gonna have American Airlines and you’re gonna have Kaseya as the two naming rights partners for this building.”

The deal wraps up a strange era for the Heat and the county. Having been known as “AmericanAirlines Arena” since 1999, FTX in April of 2021 acquired the naming rights for $135 million. On November 11, 2022, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Later that day, the Miami Heat and Miami-Dade County terminated the agreement and began the process of finding a new naming rights partner. For about five months, the arena operated as “Miami-Dade Arena.”

The new deal is worth $117 million and mostly matches the payments promised by FTX. Kaseya (ku-SAY-uh) logos are expected to appear, including on the court, as soon as Sunday’s home game against the Orlando Magic, according to the Miami Herald.

The Brickell-based company has 18 offices in the United States and 14 more worldwide, with 4,500 employees in all. They are expected to make a mass round of hires to work in their Miami offices following the deal.