The San Jose Sharks ice hockey team – based in San Jose, California – has announced that it will start accepting cryptocurrency for significant and recurring payments next season, which will be the first NHL team to accept cryptocurrency.
Starting from next Tuesday, Sharks sports & Entertainments, the parent company of the San Jose Sharks national hockey league team, said that it would accept cryptocurrency for season ticket purchases, sponsorship deals, and luxury box leases, stated by Jonathan Becher, the President of Sharks Sports & Entertainments.
Such large and recurring payments/ purchases include corporate sponsorships, season tickets, and suite leases at the SAP Arena in San Jose.
The Sharks have partnered with BitPay crypto payment service provider to facilitate such crypto payments.
The professional ice hockey team accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Wrapped Bitcoin, including five stablecoins such as USDC, PAX, BUSD, GUSD, and DAI.
The Sharks are already accepting PayPal, which began accepting cryptocurrencies last year.
“We’re accepting PayPal, so then by definition, we’re accepting cryptocurrency. Why not embrace it and make it more visible as opposed to just doing it through a third party?” Becher said.
While PayPal allows conversion of cryptocurrencies into fiat for each sale, BitPay lets merchants get cryptocurrencies directly.
Becher also tweeted that the Sharks are also planning to accept crypto payments for smaller purchases such as single-game tickets, food and beverage, and merchandise payments, saying they will evaluate such use cases shortly.
Sports Team Jumping to Crypto World
The San Jose Sharks are the latest sports team to enter the crypto market.
Behind the scenes, many professional sports teams are increasingly accepting cryptocurrencies for giveaways, collectibles, salaries, and payments.
US professional basketball teams like the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA’s Sacramento Kings accepted cryptocurrencies for ticket payments in the recent past. On March 4, the Dallas Mavericks basketball team owned by Mark Cuban started accepting Dogecoin for tickets and merchandise payments.
On March 20, the Oakland Athletics US professional baseball team started accepting Bitcoin payments for ticket sales and suite leases.
The reason for the recent increase in crypto interests among sports teams is various factors. Cryptocurrency makes transactions easier in many cases. Cryptos also position sports teams on the cutting edge of technology, making them stand out among the rest.
Team players also are requesting to be paid in cryptocurrency because they see it as a long-term investment. In December 2020, Russell Okung became the first NFL player to get paid in Bitcoin.