The second NBA team who decided to receive Bitcoin (BTC) as the form of payment for match tickets and merchandise are, no wonder, the Dallas Maverick.
Happy to have you in the #crypto game @dallasmavs ๐โน๏ธโโ๏ธโน๏ธโโ๏ธ๐ https://t.co/DdYRlzWZan
โ BitPay (@BitPay) August 13, 2019
It is not surprising that this happened if we know that the team owner and billionaire tech investor Mark Cuban is a great crypto supporter as well.
A Twitter user asked Cuban when it would be possible to buy basketball tickets with the cryptocurrency. He said it would be possible next season and added that they would accept BTC, ETH, and possibly some other currencies. โ[Thatโs] to be determined.โ
But letโs start from the beginning. As the world continues to accept crypto more and more every day, fun industry especially the sports industry is realizing how the cryptocurrencies are important, and not just that. It is becoming clearer that they are much easier and more practical to use.
The move to crypto-acceptance has been happening for some time in the sporting space. In 2014, the NBA team Sacramento Kings began accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method for tickets and merchandise, in a move that was considered a first in the sports industry.
From then onward, loads of organizations began investigating the use of digital tokens. The NBA outfit Cleveland Cavaliers announced a new partnership with cryptocurrency exchange UnitedCoin and Miami Dolphins recently partnered with Litecoin (LTC) as the NFL teamโs official cryptocurrency.
According to part of a Dallas Mavericks press release, it seems that the team will be using BitPayโs services to process their fansโ Bitcoin payments.
If bitcoin is your thing, you can now use bitcoin to purchase tickets & merchandise for the Mavs pic.twitter.com/a4Gc0O6J1T
โ Isaac Harris (@IsaacLHarris) August 13, 2019
Marc Cuban and Crypto
Last week Marc Cuban gave an interview in which he spoke about the connection between Bitcoin and gold itself.
He said:
โI see gold and Bitcoin as being the same thing. Their value is based off of supply and demand.โ
Itโs interesting though that Cuban actually hates gold but it seems that the idea of โdigital goldโ has caught him a bit as well. He obviously understands what trends are and he knows that a lot of Mavโs fans are billionaires themselves and โ pretty much into crypto.
Letโs also not forget that his involvement in the crypto space started 2017 with investments in both a digital currency hedge fund and an ICO, as well as the launch of the Ethereum-based Mercury Protocol back in August 2017. After that year โ he for sure stopped talking that โBitcoin is a bubbleโ.
This summer he also spoke about Facebookโs Libra calling it a big mistake and could even be dangerous. However, he then added that he is not against cryptocurrency at all.
Cryptocurrencies in the Sports Industry
Be it as it may, sports are becoming an increasingly fertile ground for bringing blockchain and cryptocurrency to a vast audience.
American boxer Mike Tyson recently announced he will be leading a new blockchain-powered cross-entertainment venture and fan token ecosystem that aims to catapult aspiring young fighters to success.
After last yearโs UEFA Soccer Championship, a number of Europeโs biggest teams started to adopt a blockchain-based solution that gives fans a number of token-powered utilities to interact with the team. Juventus, Paris Saint Germaine, West Ham and Roma have all engaged in their own partnerships with the blockchain-based fan engagement platform Socios.
