In an unexpected move, Mark Cuban’s NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, have announced its decision to start accepting Dogecoin as a means of payment for tickets and other club merchandise. In addition, Mark Cuban spoke of how he’s having fun with Dogecoin during a recent interview.
The Dallas Mavericks, via its official Twitter account, disclosed the new decision, noting that it has become the first sports franchise to accept DOGE.
Expressing its delight with the new initiative, the National Basketball Association (NBA) team further noted that the new form of payment will make the Dallas Mavericks store more accessible to users.
“We’re proud to be the first business to accept the #crypto Dogecoin for payment using BitPay!. You can now use #Dogecoin to buy tickets and merch online, making @DallasMavsShop more accessible to MFFLs everywhere,” the tweet read.
We're proud to be the first business to accept the #crypto Dogecoin for payment using BitPay! 🙌
You can now use #Dogecoin to buy tickets and merch online, making @DallasMavsShop more accessible to MFFLs everywhere! pic.twitter.com/1N0fk0NjAT
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 4, 2021
Additionally, the NBA team tapped top crypto payment services provider BitPay to process the team’s DOGE transactions. Notably, through BitPay, Dallas Mavericks users (Mavs Fans for Life) will be able to convert the crypto into fiat currency when buying tickets and other team merchandise.
In a statement, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair noted that the crypto payment services provider was delighted to work with the Dallas Mavericks.
“BitPay believes that with continued cryptocurrency adoption, the industry is reaching an inflection point that will forever change consumer confidence, trust and pave the way for blockchain payments to disrupt the way consumers and businesses receive and spend funds,” he added.
‘Mavericks Support Dogecoin Because We Can’, Says Cuban
According to team owner Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks decided to accept the meme token Dogecoin as a medium of payment for tickets and other club products for one significant reason – “because we can!”
“We have chosen to do so because sometimes in business you have to do things that are fun, engaging and hopefully generate a lot of PR. So we will take Dogecoin, today, tomorrow and possibly forevermore,” he said.
Notably, Dogecoin isn’t the Dallas Mavericks’ first crypto rodeo. Through BitPay, the basketball team has been accepting Bitcoin and some other digital assets as payments for almost two years.
Currently, Mavs Fans for Life (MFFLs) can use Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), USDC, GUSD, PAX, and BUSD to pay for services.
Mark Cuban and DOGE
The Dallas Mavericks owner appeared on the “Blockchain & Booze with Adam Levy ” show this week, during which he spoke highly of blockchain and Dogecoin. He says that he’s been having a lot of fun with DOGE.
He states, “Dogecoin is an easy way to have fun. When I first bought some for my son on the Robinhood app, it was less than a penny. You spend a dollar, you get 100 of them. And he’s watching it and learning about crypto. It’s better than buying a lottery ticket. It’s probably more rewarding than playing daily fantasy sports. It’s a great way to learn, it’s great entertainment, it’s addictive, it’s cheap, and the downside is negligible.”
“If you’re spending thousands of dollars, you’re probably putting your money in the wrong place. But if you’re doing it for the fun of it, why not? It’s a whole lot better than most places and you’ve got a chance to make some money,” he added.
Other Supporters of Dogecoin
Interestingly, Dogecoin was launched as a joke in 2013, but with backing from influential figures like Elon Musk, Snopp Dogg, and others, the crypto has since risen into the top twenty digital assets by market capitalization.
It’s inevitable pic.twitter.com/eBKnQm6QyF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2020
In February, the Tesla boss, through a series of tweets, practically singlehandedly sent the price of the digital asset shooting up by 25%. A huge source for the coin’s push in value is the WallStreetBets Reddit community, who tried to see if DOGE could actually reach a dollar in value. (It topped out at $0.8349 on February 8.)
Also, Dogecoin recently witnessed another bullish run after popular Bitcoin ATM company Coin Flip, via a tweet, disclosed that users can now purchase the token with cash at any of its 1,800 locations globally.
We're excited to announce that we are listing #dogecoin on CoinFlip ATMs!
You can now buy $DOGE with cash at any of our 1,800 locations nationwide!
Find a CoinFlip ATM to buy $DOGE and use discount code "DOGE" for 15% off all transaction fees 😎 https://t.co/Bf4180qiAz pic.twitter.com/8A01jtY9je
— CoinFlip Bitcoin ATM 🏧 (@CoinFlipATM) March 1, 2021
DOGE Price
As of press time, Dogecoin (DOGE) token price has rallied by 1.6% in the last 24 hours. It was trading at $0.056084, with a market cap of $7,201,258,585 and a 24-hour trading volume of $1,391,055,150.
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Featured image courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks.
