Third in the last Dutch first division championship, Az Alkmaar signed a sponsorship contract with the Bitcoin Meester platform until 2024. Particularity of the contract? A part will be honored in cryptocurrency: bitcoins.
Football can’t stand up to the cryptocurrency madness. The Dutch professional club Az Alkmaar announced in a press release the signing of a strategic partnership with Bitcoin Meester. This company allows its customers to buy, sell and securely store various cryptocurrencies. Az Alkmaar is the first Dutch football club to sign such a partnership.
“The cryptocurrency market is booming, with exponential growth in users in recent years”, explained Michael Koster, the commercial director of AZ, in the club’s statement. According to him, the attraction of bitcoin and cryptos is now undeniable. Especially since Bitcoin Meester is one of the few platforms approved by the Bank of the Netherlands.
A contract until 2024
In detail, the fruits of this sponsorship contract will be partially donated in bitcoins (BTC) to the football club announces the press release. This amount in BTC will be kept as is in the club’s balance sheet. The last third of the Eredevisie football championship and the cryptocurrency platform are now linked until 2024.
Satisfied with “Enormous growth” that Bitcoin Meester has experienced in recent years, Mitchell Zandwijken, its CEO, is delighted that “The partnership with AZ is part of the ambition” to continue this growth of their user base. “We want to introduce AZ supporters and the rest of the Netherlands to cryptocurrency and Bitcoin Meester in an engaging way. “
According to Michael Koster, the commercial director of AZ Alkmaar, the advice of the specialized platform would be “The key to mass adoption”. If the football club has decided to hold the BTC it gets, it is because it believes in their potential.
Transfers, merchandising, bonuses …
The adoption of bitcoin and other non-fungible tokens (NFT) in the world of football is gradually becoming more democratic. Since April 2021, Southampton, an English Premier League club, can now “Pay the bonuses of its players in bitcoins”, reports Nasdaq.com, thanks to a new sponsorship contract signed with the gaming brand Coingaming Group.
The bitcoin is also invited in the purchase of player. According to the newspaper the team , David Barral, Spanish striker, was the subject in January 2021 of the “First transfer made entirely using cryptocurrency”. The Spanish third division club DUX Internacional Madrid is behind this historic transfer.
In Portugal, SL Benfica accepts payments for goods in cryptocurrency. Watford, another English club, allows the purchase of derivatives in bitcoins, while FIFA and UEFA are experimenting with paying for tickets in cryptocurrency.
The club and the online betting platform Sportsbet.io also have a partnership which includes the implementation of a payment option at Watford’s online shops where fans can purchase derivatives using bitcoins, with the ‘goal to eventually extend the bitcoin option to match outs as well.
In addition to security, this means of payment makes life easier for the organizers, who would then only have to manage a single currency.
