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Dogecoin Accepted as Payment by NBA's Dallas Mavericks as Owner Mark Cuban Invests in NFT Platform

Dogecoin (DOGE) will continue gaining traction, and it will soon be entering the NBA thanks to seasoned investor and owner of Dallas Mavericks – Mark Cuban.

Dallas Mavericks will be accepting Dogecoin payments for tickets and merchandise purchased online. The NBA team and BitPay – one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency payment services – will partner up to enable Dogecoin payments by fans.

The hype Tesla founder Elon Musk has created for Dogecoin seems to have carried on and snowballed, as the meme-based cryptocurrency has entered mainstream adoption. The Mavs are not the only ones who have embraced Dogecoin as a form of payment. Earlier this week, Coinflip ATM provider announced that the Shiba-Inu token will be made available for purchase across 45 states in the U.S., on 1,800 machines.

Before DOGE, the Dallas Mavericks have been accepting Bitcoin as payment for almost two years. Although the NBA franchise has been very forward-thinking with cryptocurrencies, it is not the first in the league to accept cryptocurrencies – In 2014, the Sacramento Kings announced that it will accept Bitcoin payments for tickets and merchandise.

Mark Cuban embraces crypto and NFT wave

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban previously disclosed that he himself had bought DOGE initially so that his son could teach him about crypto. He said:

“For those of you who would like to learn more about Dogecoin, we strongly encourage you to talk to your teenagers who are on TikTok and ask them about it. They will be able to explain it all to you.”

Mark Cuban, the owner of NBA Dallas Mavericks and a billionaire investor, has been among the market bulls embracing the cryptocurrency wave. Cuban appears to favour Ethereum over Bitcoin, however, having only warmed up to the “digital gold” asset recently.

The Dallas Mavericks’ Dogecoin announcement comes as Cuban revealed that he recently invested in Mintable, an NFT platform. The NFT company took to Twitter to announce that the seasoned investor has backed its services, saying:

“It’s official! Mark Cuban has invested in Mintable & we are now proud to be one of the Mark Cuban Companies!”

Cuban said that in his opinion, NFTs were potentially going to replace physical collectibles at some point. He himself has gotten ahead of the game by launching his very own NFT-based “Mark Cuban mini-series.”

What are NFTs?

NFTs are non-fungible tokens that have been all the rage as of lately. They are tokens that are used in several applications, where you can find digital items such as crypto art, digital collectibles, and online gaming accessories. NFTs are one of their kind and are what StadiumTalk dubs “the Mona Lisa of baseball cards,” as each token is unique and irreplaceable.

Most NFTs run on the Ethereum blockchain, and they represent physical assets that have been tokenized. Currently, the hype around NFTs has led to an explosion of digital art being sold via blockchain technology.

Recently, a Banksy art piece worth $95,000 was bought by a blockchain company. The Banksy painting was digitized by Injective protocol. The process involved burning the painting to then create a digital representation of the art using blockchain technology.

Portland Trail Blazers Pairs with StormX as the First NBA Crypto Jersey Patch Partner

On Thursday, StormX, a leading cryptocurrency cashback provider, announced that it will conduct a jersey patch advertising transaction with Portland Trail Blazers (POR).

This is the first cooperation between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the cryptocurrency company for the NBA team in history. The partnership is also the first collaboration between StormX and Portland Trail Blazers.

According to CNBC’s report, StormX will conduct the transaction through Wasserman Media Group’s sports organisation, enabling StormX’s company logo to appear on the Trail Blazers game and practice jerseys. StormX will also receive on-court, courtside, and baseline brand exposure, including TV visible brand exposure, according to StormX. The logo will also be marked as the team’s intellectual property rights internationally.

Blazers CEO Chris McGowan said in a statement, appreciating StormX “revolutionary”:

“The deal allows the Blazers fanbase more education around cryptocurrency and earning Crypto Cashback.”

StormX owns a customer base in 173 countries. StormX allows users to earn cryptocurrency when buying top brands, such as cashback or reward-based business models and has paid out over $4 million in Crypto Cashback rewards since launch.

Simon Yu, CEO and Co-Founder of StormX, said that:

“We’re honored to be the first crypto company to form a jersey sponsorship with not only a team of such high calibre, but also with a league of the same stature. Like the Trail Blazers namesake, we see ourselves as trail blazers in the drive for the mass adoption of crypto, by helping everyday people earn crypto while they shop.”

Reportedly, StormX will also create the team’s first NFT to be launched this month.

Cryptocurrency has been particularly active in the sports field, especially after the success of the irreplaceable token platform NBA Top Shot.

Early this Tuesday, Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com was paired with racing car brand Formula 1 as a global partner.

Image source: nba.com

Google Partners With Dapper Labs to Aid the Growth of Web3.0

American search engine giant Google has announced its partnership with Canadian-based blockchain firm, Dapper Labs to help provide the infrastructural capability needed for the scalability of the latter firm in its bid to advance Web3.0.

As reported by Forbes, the move marks one of the broad arrays of partnerships that the tech giant has in store to engage with the blockchain world, and the current deal with Dapper Labs is billed to span for multiple years.

The deal will feature Google Cloud will act as a network operator, offering its infrastructure to help Flow scale. This will imply that in addition to the more than 50 applications that currently make the Flow Blockchain their home, more than 2,000 developers are building on the Flow network. According to Dapper Labs’ CEO Roham Gharegozlou, the developers will be able to “connect to Flow access nodes at lower latency through Google’s suite of cloud services.”

Drawing on the environmental impacts of blockchain mining, the vice president of Google Cloud North America, Janet Kennedy, said the crypto mining will not be permitted but that developers will have the choice to choose which region powers their nodes based on the energy consumption of that region.

“It’s really about helping them with rapid and sustainable growth,” says Kennedy. “Blockchain technology is becoming more and more mainstream. Such companies like Dapper need scalable, secure infrastructure to grow their business, and even more importantly, support their networks.”

Dapper Labs is amongst the most iconic blockchain startups that came into the limelight with the launch of CryptoKitties back in September 2019. Also renowned for creating the Flow Blockchcian network, which powers the emergence of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Dapper Labs’ core project also spans the NBA Top Shot marketplace. This outfit has grossed over $700,000 million in sales with over 600,000 active wallets.

The Dapper Labs partnership with Google will further streamline the connectivity for developers who can easily connect to the company’s software when compared with the other cloud infrastructures available today.

Crypto.com Officially Becomes the Philadelphia 76ers Team's Jersey Patch Partner

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com announced that it has formally formed a partnership with the Philadelphia 76ers, becoming its official jersey logo-designated sponsor.

The Crypto.com logo will appear on the left shoulder of all four 76ers jerseys in the new season.

In the next regular season against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 20, the new jersey with the Crypto.com logo will officially debut on that day.

It is reported that this is the first cooperation with an NBA team with more than 10 million cryptocurrency exchanges, with a total transaction volume of more than 400 million U.S. dollars.

According to the jersey logo partner agreement, crypto.com will use its expertise to launch the first non-fungible token (NFT) in team history for the 76ers.

Fans can purchase non-fungible tokens of Philadelphia 76ers through Crypto.com NFT, a newly launched NFT trading platform focusing on art, design, entertainment, and sports.

President of Business Operations Chris Heck from the 76ers team said that this cooperation would jointly change the pattern of cryptocurrency entering the sports world and noted that crypto.com is what they have always thought of as creative, innovative partnerships.

Kris Marszalek, the co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said that:

“The NBA is one of the most popular leagues in the world, and the 76ers were an obvious choice. Together we’re going to create integrated experiences for fans everywhere; our patch and court integrations are just the beginning.”

Crypto.com’s cooperation with NBA teams is not just the beginning of its entry into the sports field. As early as this March, Crypto.com signed a one-year sponsorship agreement with the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL.

Last week,Crypto.com reached 3-year cooperation with Paris Saint-Germain worth 29.5 million to 35.4 million U.S. dollars. As reported by Blockchain. News on June 30, Crypto.com has paired with Formula1 as its Global Partner.

NBA's Rockets Team up with NYDIG, to be Paid in Bitcoin

NBA team Houston Rockets announced that it will collaborate with the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), a top player in the bitcoin arena. The NYDIG will become the exclusive partner with the Rockets across a range of cryptocurrency services.

This partnership aims to expand the Bitcoin ecosystem through visits, education programs, and community support programs; in doing so the initiative will provide NYDIG exposure across all of the team’s platforms.

Both parties agreed to use bitcoin as a form of payment for the team’s expenses and sponsorships; while the proceeds will be held on NYDIG’s secure, regulated, full-stack bitcoin platform. But the NBA team hasn’t disclosed what specific offerings will be provided as a product of the collaboration.

In addition, NYDIG will also become the first naming partner of the Houston Toyota Center Suite, and some of the high-level functions will be named “NYDIG’s Bitcoin Suite”. NYDIG will also obtain the baseline apron during the Rockets game.

NYDIG delivers Bitcoin products across industries, from banking and insurance to fintech and nonprofits.

Gretchen Sheirr, President of Business Operations from the Houston Rockets, said：

“Partnering with NYDIG allows us to leverage the growth of Bitcoin to provide creative rewards and payment options to our fanbase and associates.”

This partnership is another successful feat for Rockets boss and billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who last week sealed a deal with NYDIG to add Bitcoin rewards for his Landry’s restaurant chain, which launched a BTC payment option this year.

Trey Zeluff, director of digital-asset strategy at Fertitta Entertainment, expressed that the expansion of the collaboration between the Fertitta family and NYDIG to the Rockets was a very natural choice, stating that：

“The Rockets are a leading sports brand and NYDIG is the leader in bitcoin financial services. Together, we will deliver new opportunities for Rockets fans and the City of Houston to learn about and use bitcoin.”

Earlier this month, NYDIG acquired U.K.-based micropayment service firm Bottlepay for an estimated amount of funds between $280 million and $300 million.

This crypto partnership is the third for Rockets. The team previously partnered with bitcoin mining firm Bitmain in 2018, and in earlier 2021, signed a deal with Socios – a company that makes crypto token fan rewards.

The NBA is not a stranger to cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Before Fertitta, Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks who in 2019, began accepting bitcoin and Dogecoin as a form of payment for merchandise and game tickets.

The league is also popular for its digital collectables or NFTs known as Top Shot, which fetched millions of dollars.

Crypto.com Grabs Naming Rights of Staples Center for $700M

Hong Kong-based Crypto.com signed a 20-year cooperation deal worth $700 million with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns the Staples Center and the L.A. Live.

As part of the deal, Crypto.com won the naming rights for the Staples Center which is home to the NBA team Los Angeles Lakers.

The Staples Center will be renamed to Crypto.com Arena, and the official change in the arena’s name will take place on December 25, when the Lakers will be hosting the Brooklyn Nets.

This will be the largest venue naming rights transaction in U.S. history so far.

As reported by Blockchain.News on August 24, The American cryptocurrency exchange giant FTX sponsors the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) with $17.5 million in cryptocurrency in exchange for getting the 10-year naming right of the California Memorial Stadium.

AEG president and CEO Dan Beckerman said that this cooperation is about the future in a statement.

“AEG and Crypto.com not only share a vision about innovation and the future of sports and entertainment, but we also have a shared commitment to our communities where we work and live. We look forward to partnering with Crypto.com to create meaningful initiatives to bring that vision to life in the years to come.”

Crypto.com co-founder Kris Marszalek stated that the city of Los Angeles has always been an undeniable global cultural and entertainment leader and innovative hub. He believes that the use of his cryptocurrency platform in creative ways can power the future of world-class sports, provide entertainment and technology to fans in Los Angeles and around the world.

This is not the first time that Crypto.com has been involved in sports, as early as September 24 this year, Crypto.com announced that it had formally established a partnership with the Philadelphia 76ers, becoming its official jersey logo-designated sponsor.

Earlier in Sepertember,Crypto.com reached 3-year cooperation with Paris Saint-Germain worth 29.5 million to $35.4 million. As reported by Blockchain. News on June 30, Crypto.com has paired with Formula1 as its Global Partner.

FTX Secures Global Sponsorship Deal With Golden State Warriors, Estimated $10M Worth

FTX Derivatives Exchange has inked a global sponsorship deal with professional NBA basketball team Golden State Warriors, a move that will provide FTX brand presence throughout the team’s stadium called the ‘Chase Center’.

CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the transaction, that the deal is a multi-year pact estimated to be worth about $10 million.

Besides the brand presence at the Chase Center, FTX will also be prominently featured at the Warriors G League and NBA 2K team and digital floor ads during RSN games.

“FTX is a company that caught our eyes a couple of months ago,” Warrior president and chief operating officer Brandon Schneider said in an interview with CNBC. “We think we’re at the beginning of the beginning. We’re all learning, and this space will evolve quite a bit,” Schneider added.

FTX is notably amongst the top digital currency trading platforms that are taking advantage of the allowance to ink sponsorship deals with NBA clubs. Beyond the NBA, the Sam Bankman-Fried led global entity recently entered into a $17.5 million 10-year naming right of the California Memorial Stadium with the University of California, Berkeley (UCB).

Digital currency service providers are bent on pushing their brand awareness to the mainstream. Firms like Crypto.com and Coinbase also have a strong presence in the advertisement terrain in the United States. Based on the industry’s infancy in general, many critics are advocating caution as these trading platforms push their offerings to members of the public.

The position maintained by some is that cryptocurrencies, as it is today, is similar to the push in the Dot Com era where startups in the space folded upright after going on the offensive in branding the way crypto firms are doing today.

“I see similarities of the behaviour on the front end of a bubble,” said Peter Laatz, global managing director at sponsorship valuation firm IEG. “The behaviours of the rush-to-spend and the influx of cash coming in with naming rights at a league-wide level with still some consumer confusion about what the product is – it’s very similar to the dot-com bubble.”

Either way, the growth trajectory of the crypto ecosystem appears sustainable, and for now, crypto ads and branding have come to stay.

Image source: Shuttstock

NBA champion Andre Iguodala to Accept Salary Payment in Bitcoin

American basketball player Andre Iguodala, who plays for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, tweeted Monday that he will accept bitcoin as a salary.

Andre Iguodala, a three-time NBA champion with an annual salary of $2.647 million, has become the latest celebrity to accept cryptocurrency as a salary.

Iguodala said on his Twitter that Warriors player Klay Thompson and I are both staunch bitcoin supporters. And will withdraw a portion of Bitcoin (BTC) from annual salary withdrawals through Block’s (formerly Square) Cash app.

Iguodala added that he will also give away $1 million worth of BTC to fans to increase cryptocurrency adoption.

Paying salaries in the form of cryptocurrencies seems to have become a trending option, some government officials also choose to use cryptocurrencies as partial or full salary payments.

As reported by Blockchain.News on November 3, Francis Suarez, an American attorney and politician serving as the 43rd Mayor of Miami, announced on Twitter on Tuesday that his next salary will be received in Bitcoin (BTC).

National Football League’s star Odell Beckham Jr has become the latest high-profile athlete to accept his salary in Bitcoin from his team Los Angeles Rams.

Aaron Rodgers, the American football quarterback of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), said on Twitter that he is firmly optimistic about the future of bitcoin and will accept bitcoin as part of his salary.

NBA to Release 18,000 NFTs in the 2022 Playoffs

The National Basketball Association (NBA), a professional basketball league in the United States, will mint 18,000 dynamic non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum network for each player taking part in this year’s playoffs.

The NFT collection dubbed The Association will involve 240 players and 16 teams, each player being allocated 75 NFTs.

The NBA playoffs is the main postseason tournament held to determine the league’s champion. Therefore, this year’s edition will be commemorated using NFTs, given that they will have the capability of changing appearance based on a player’s on-court performance.

Per the announcement:

“The Association NFTs are connected to live data feeds and computations for each respective team and player via Chainlink Oracle. This allows each player’s NFT appearance to change in an automated manner based upon the pre-set achievements that are written into the Galaxis smart contract.”

Furthermore, participants will have an equal opportunity to mint any player because the NFTs will be assigned transparently and randomly using Chainlink VRF. The report noted:

“The Association NFTs are being issued in a blind-mint, meaning that nobody will know which 2022 NBA Playoffs player they will receive prior to the reveal on April 22nd.”

The rollout of these digital assets coincides with the release of an NFT collection by the Golden State Warriors, one of the playoff teams.

The 2022 Playoff NFT Collection by Golden State Warriors has 2,000 limited NFTs minted on the Solana network using crypto exchange FTX.

NFTs are touted as game-changers that are revolutionising different sectors. For instance, the Dubai Police recently rolled out a set of NFTs comprising 150 free digital assets as part of a campaign to showcase security, innovation, and communication values.

Therefore, the Dubai Police became the first government entity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop digital assets to enhance policing.

NBA Partners with Sorare for NFT-Based Basketball Fantasy Game

To enhance the fan experience and render more interaction, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has partnered with the web3 fantasy game platform Sorare.

In a statement, the NBA pointed out that the fantasy basketball game will allow fans to develop a lineup of NFT-powered digital collectables based on their favourite teams and players.

Moreover, earning points will depend on NBA players’ real-life performance. Per the announcement:

“Sorare will launch the first officially licensed, free-to-play digital collectible-based fantasy basketball game, which will be released this fall for the NBA’s 2022-23 season.”

Through the strategic partnership, Sorare will be granted the right to use official NBA team and league logos on its products.

The NBA sees the basketball fantasy game as a stepping stone toward expanding its fan base, according to NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

He added:

“Our partnership with Sorare will give NBA fans an entirely new way to engage with our teams and players. With Sorare’s emerging NFT fantasy platform, we see significant opportunities to broaden our community of fans and grow NBA basketball around the world.”

By leveraging Sorare’s platform, the basketball fantasy game will be accessible to more than two million registered users across 185 nations.

Nicholas Julia, Sorare’s CEO and co-founder, pointed out:

“The NBA has been at the forefront of digital experiences and collectibles, and our game gives basketball fans the ultimate sports entertainment experience, where they can play like a general manager, own their game, and foster real-world connections.”

By creating unique digital tokens and signing top leagues and clubs to its fantasy platform, Sorare seeks to boost digital assets and blockchain adoption in daily life.

For instance, Sorare created an NFT-based fantasy baseball game after joining hands with Major League Baseball (MLB) earlier this year.