In downtown Miami, Florida, right alongside Biscayne Bay, sits the beautiful AmericanAirlines Arena. It's been the home of the Miami Heat and NBA superstars such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O'Neal over the years. Let's not forget about all of the concerts and other events, too.
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The iconic arena opened on New Year's Eve in 1999 and has become a South Beach attraction ever since. It's not going away, but, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, American Airlines is not renewing the naming rights to the arena. There will be a new title sponsor next year, and bids are already flying in.
After 20 years, this is a first, but it has to be one of the more popular arenas across the country. So much so that an Internet porn website has already put in a $10 million bid to rename it, The BangBros Center aka "The BBC" moving forward.
This is not a drill. A porn site literally put in an eight-figure bid for this to happen.
https://twitter.com/BangBrosDotCom1/status/1172216456563560448?s=20
I just confirmed this is indeed a real thing — a bid was submitted. They want a nickname of “The BBC.” https://t.co/pyEovWTbdX
— Jessica Kleinschmidt (@KleinschmidtJD) September 12, 2019
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There is likely no chance this wins. Of course, it's 2019, and really nothing is out of question, but there just can't be a way the people in the city would go for this change to the Miami Heat arena.
But, alas, here we are. NBC Sports reporter Jessica Kleinschmidt confirms this is real and the porn company even put out a press release.
"With Pat Riley at the helm, working his magic like he has in the past, BangBros feels they need to show their support for the next wave of winning to come and give back to the city that's treated them so well. Both the Heat and BangBros have become staples of the city, with huge fans of each. It doesn't get much more Miami than having the arena sponsored by BangBros.
"To show how serious BangBros is, they have already offered $10 million to Myles Gallagher of Cleveland's Superlative Group, and are suggesting the name BangBros Center (The BBC) as the new home of the Miami Heat for the next decade. BangBros already owns the domain "bangbroscenter.com" to partner up and broadcast, promote, market, and help take the Heat from out of the 305 to Worldwide."
The naming rights bid to the Miami Heat's arena is likely a publicity stunt, but it's definitely caught buzz across the country and not just in Miami-Dade County. Maybe even more than Jimmy Butler signing there this offseason.
At the end of the day, this is pretty funny, and we should all sit back and laugh that it actually happened.
