Earlier this week, multi-billionaire, television personality, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, announced that the NBA team would be accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment during the 2018-2019 basketball season. Cuban revealed the exciting news when he was asked by Mavericks fans on Twitter when they will be able to use the cryptocurrency to purchase tickets. His response was simply, “Next Season.”
Cuban also confirmed this news with Bloomberg by stating that the team will also be taking Ether as well. He then noted that as far as tokens were concerned, the team will be accepting tokens that are originated by companies they have business relationships with. He also shared:
“Some people want to buy products in ‘crypto’ to prove a point. We are happy to make it easy for them. And for Existing Mavs fans who prefer to spend krypto currency, we are happy to make it easy for them.”
The Mavericks news comes less than six months after Cuban, who is also described as a onetime bitcoin skeptic, announced he was backing venture capital under for cryptocurrency-related investments, 1confirmation. The Shark Tank star stated:
“It’s an interesting space that I [want] to get involved with and learn more.”
The Mavericks are notably not the first NBA team to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. The Sacramento Kings began to accept Bitcoin as a form of currency in March 2014, with the Kings co-owner, Vivek Ranadive, revealing at the time to ESPN:
“When I sold the NBA on keeping the team in Sacramento, my pitch included using the sports franchise as a social network to push the technology envelope. This is an example of that.”
