The Sacramento Kings NBA team just became the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin, according to an announcement from payment processor BitPay. Starting Thursday, BitPay spokeswoman Jan Jahosky said Kings fans can use bitcoins to buy merchandise at the team shop, located at the Sleep Train Arena.
The Sacramento Kings will begin accepting Bitcoin as payment for team merchandise and game tickets purchased online by March 1, making it the first professional sports franchise to accept the rapidly mainstreaming digital currency. Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive, who is also the CEO of business software developer Tibco, said the decision to offer Bitcoin as a payment option reflects the team’s commitment to a more fan-friendly and technologically inclusive philosophy which he has dubbed “NBA 3.0.” Purchases will be processed through BitPay, the world’s largest payment processor for virtual currencies.