The Sacramento Kings are the latest organization heading towards the blockchain. On Monday, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive announced that he will be offering a bitcoin salary option for members of the organization, including the players. According to coindesk, this will make the Kings the first ever major sports franchise to roll out such a payment option.
The huge news has already circulated on Twitter ahead of the official announcement, which is set to come out in a couple of days.
BREAKING: Chairman of the Sacramento Kings:
“I’m going to announce in the next few days that I’m going to offer everyone in the Kings organization, they can get paid as much of their salary in #bitcoin as they want, including the players.” – @vivek@SacramentoKings
@NBA— Neil Jacobs (@NeilJacobs) April 5, 2021
According to Ranadive, all members of the Kings organization will have an option to receive any amount from their salary in bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency available in the market today.
This move further pushes the envelope for the Kings, who have been one of the first franchises in the NBA to diversify revenue streams to accept cryptocurrency. As early as 2014, Ranadivé had already set out plans to accept BTC for different arena purchases like tickets, merchandise, and food. In 2019, the Kings also developed a rewards program for their loyal fans using crypto-tokens.
Talk about mass adoption.
Gradually, more teams like Ranadive’s Kings have been adapting to decentralized finance. Just last March, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced that they will be accepting Dogecoin as payment for tickets and merchandise. Shortly after that, Cuban confirmed that they immediately received more than 20,000 Dogecoin transactions making the Mavericks the largest Dogecoin merchant in the world.
Add to this, a blockchain-based website called NBA Top Shot where collectors can buy, sell, and trade digital highlights, has been exploding over the past few months, further proving that the future is now.
