The top soccer team AZ Alkmaar has signed an exclusive partnership with the Dutch crypto provider Bitcoin Meester. The team will receive a portion of the payments in bitcoin, which it has agreed to hold.
On its official website, AZ Alkmaar, one of the most successful soccer teams in the Netherlands, announced its partnership with Bitcoin Meester.
The club’s promoter will be a local cryptocurrency company, and a portion of the sponsorship will be paid in Bitcoin. The team also stated that the BTC received will be held on its balance sheet.
As a result, AZ Alkmaar will become the first Dutch club to do so. Michael Koster, the team’s Commercial Director, explained the reasons behind the deal:
“The cryptocurrency market is booming, with the exponential growth of users in recent years. That is appealing, but it is precisely in a new market that some direction is important. Not everyone is already familiar with cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin Meester is able to responsibly guide new users in this world.”
Mitchell Zandwijken, the CEO of Bitcoin Meester, stated that sports, particularly soccer, are one of the most essential markets due to the large fan base.
He called the partnership with the Dutch team “important,” because the crypto provider will be able to expose virtual currencies to AZ fans and the rest of the country.
The team, known as the Kaaskoppen (Cheesheads), finished third in the local league last season, just a few points behind Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. The AFAS Stadium in Alkmaar is where AZ Alkmaar inked the contract with Bitcoin Meester.
The cryptocurrency and Soccer union
The cryptocurrency sector appears to be attractive to the sports world, and soccer teams are no exception. The Italian club Rimini FC 1912 and the blockchain startup Quantocoin collaborated on a huge project.
The technological initiative paid for a quarter of Rimini with digital assets, specifically its native token, the Quantocoin (QTCT). This was a watershed moment since it was the first time a soccer franchise had been purchased with cryptocurrencies.
Newcastle United, an English Premier League club, has joined with the blockchain startup StormGain. According to the platform’s CEO,
“We are thrilled to be partnering with an exciting and a leading soccer club such as Newcastle United. We believe the collaboration of cryptocurrencies and mainstream sports is inevitable.”
In addition, S.L. Benfica, Portugal’s most successful soccer team, stated that their items would be available for purchase with bitcoin. The project, which has about 50% of the Portuguese people behind it, will accept Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and the UTRUST token (UTK).