Friday, March 21, 2025
UBS, the naming rights partner for UBS Arena off Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont, was a sponsor for the FireAid concert that took place on Jan. 30. Proceeds from the concert were donated to communities in southern California that were devastated by wildfires earlier that month.
The concert, which was hosted at the Kia Forum and the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA, was broadcast live on many streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. The concert featured a range of artists, from modern performers such as Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Lady Gaga, and classic performers such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart.
According to Annelise Mesilati, who is the head of brand activation and sponsorship for UBS, the concert was an opportunity for the company to exercise their existing corporate commitment to support communities they operate within.
“We just really felt that this is something we could get behind to support wildfire recovery efforts in LA, and to really help rebuild the community that has been devastated by the fire,” Mesilati said.
The producers of FireAid reached out to UBS about two weeks before the performance, she said, and they pulled together the rest of the sponsors within a very short span of time. Luckily, she pointed out, the 67th Annual Grammy Awards were just around the corner, and many artists were in the area the week before it aired.
UBS has a large cohort of employees in California, she added, so the company was able to invite employees and clients who have been affected by the wildfires to the concert at no cost to them. “This is kind of a moment of relief for them,” she said.
The disaster relief initiative, supported by the concert and their sponsors, is not only going toward alleviating victims’ suffering from the current wildfire disaster, but will also be contributing to future efforts for wildfire prevention.
A recording of the live concert is still available on many streaming services, and donations can still be made to the charity via cash transferring apps. Visit FireAidLA.org for more information and a full list of artists, sponsors, and streaming services that participated in the concert.
