The Miami Heat’s post-FTX era is set to begin pending final approval by Miami-Dade County officials. So, what is Kaseya, anyway?
South Florida IT security management company Kaseya is about to win the naming rights for the Miami Heat arena.
A Tuesday memorandum sent to Miami-Dade County’s Board of Commissioners will finalize a 17-year, $117.37 million deal through June 2040 to rename South Beach’s largest venue Kaseya Center by October when the 2023-24 NBA season begins. According to the document, Kaseya is a global software company with nearly 50,000 customers across 25 different countries.
The venue is owned by the county itself rather than its three-time NBA champion tenant. As part of a management agreement, Miami-Dade would pay $2 million per year to the Heat’s Basketball Properties, Ltd., and then a total of $83.275 million over the length of the deal designated for an “anti-gun violence and prosperity initiatives trust fund” that helps fund programs like Fit2Lead, a paid internship program for at-risk youth.
Formerly known as American Airlines Arena and FTX Arena, the Heat’s home is currently known as Miami-Dade Arena after a long-term deal with FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that came to make headlines for all the wrong reasons, was terminated in November of 2022.
On March 30, a trademark was filed for the Kaseya Center, per attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben Perrott PLLC. Per the filing, “the mark consists of a stylized letter K appearing within a diamond shape and the words KASEYA CENTER appearing beneath.”
That logo could be used on blankets, towels, and clothing including caps, hats, jackets, shirts, t-shirts, and sweatshirts. Kaseya Center will be used to promote sports competitions, concerts, exhibitions, and other events for marketing, promotion, and other business purposes.
In March 2021, Miami-Dade County struck a $135 million naming rights deal with FTX for the 21,000-seat venue, which was terminated in January due to the crypto company’s November 2022 bankruptcy. It’s not a coincidence that the FTX deal had 17 years left when the county ripped up the contract, the exact length of Kaseya’s new contract. The county claims this new deal will generate $3.546 million more than the FTX pact, per the memorandum.
