Is there a trend in the business world as big as Bitcoin right now? Everyone seems to be talking about it, be it from a positive or a not so positive side. In industries from all walks of life, Bitcoin has been taking more and more importance when it comes to thinking about currency options for doing business now and moving towards the future. With the sports industry, the story has been quite the same. From athletes starting to get more and more involved in this cryptocurrency world to sports betting platforms using it as a new and attractive currency option for their customers to do their dealings with ease, bitcoin is the talk of the town. Let’s see how beneficial is bitcoin in the sporting industry.
With this new digital currency option taking the world by storm, how much can the sports industry truly benefit from its presence and effect on the economy? Let’s take a look.
It’s Becoming The New Investment Tool For Athletes
When you think of an athlete of the status and image of Lionel Messi or Floyd Mayweather Jr., the first thing that pops into anybody’s mind is how big of a name they are in the sporting world and how it can be taken as a given that almost everything they do is automatically a success. With their fortunes amassing more and more wealth on a daily basis, if not even by the hour or minute, athletes like these have taken to bitcoin as their new form of investment. By using bitcoin as an option for their dealings, be it for sponsorship contracts or personal and private investment deals, more and more athletes are taking a bigger liking to this crypto currency and there is no real sign of stopping this anytime soon.
Many factors put bitcoin over regular paper or plastic money options, especially if you take into account the level of privacy and security that this crypto option offers its users. But not just that, by using bitcoin, athletes like Messi and Mayweather Jr. to name a few have found an enticing, and yes, very legal way to avoid high taxation issues as the gain rates that bitcoin offers is usually in a lower percentage than regular paper or plastic money with the income tax rates being significantly smaller.
Players Are Now Wanting To Get Paid in Bitcoin
This trend all started with former Carolina Panthers player Russell Okung. While still playing for the Chargers Okung asked the team’s executives for his salary to be paid in bitcoin, something that was denied to him by the team but that got the ball officially rolling on the subject of athletes being allowed to choose the currency in which they wanted to get their earnings. After moving from the Chargers to the Panthers, Carolina accepted Okung’s condition but not entirely. Okung would go on to get half of his $13 million salary from the Panthers through a crypto currency managing platform called Strike.
While Okung was the first player to ever succeed at getting his salary earnings paid to him with bitcoin more and more athletes have become more involved in the subject with the likes of Matt Barkley trying his luck at getting his former teams to pay him in bitcoin and even most recently Jaguars rookie sensation Trevor Lawrence converting his signing bonus from Jacksonville to bitcoin and Ethereum through the crypto managing firm Blockfolio. Teams like the Mavericks and Kings in the NBA on the other hand have already shown clear signs towards allowing their athletes to be paid in bitcoin in the near future.
For Sports Fans, Dealing With Bitcoin Makes Everything Way Easier
With cryptocurrencies becoming an everyday staple now, especially bitcoin it was only a matter of time before the sporting world would try to find the best way in which fans could benefit from using said currency. Nowadays fans from teams like the Oakland A’s in the MLB, the Miami Dolphins in the NFL, and the previously mentioned Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings in the NBA have all taken into accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a form of payment from fans for sporting event tickets, official team merchandise, and other dealings.
Another leg of the sporting industry in which bitcoin has had a warm and friendly welcome is the sports betting industry. With this industry being legalized around the US, wagering platforms have taken bitcoin as a new option for fans to do their betting moves with comfort and ease. With bitcoin providing a very safe level of privacy and security in its dealings, sporting fans who love to wager have found a new and very attractive option to bet money on their favorite teams and events around.
