Next season, Reial Club Deportivo (RCD) Espanyol will become the first team in La Liga, Spain’s major soccer league, to accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for the purchase of tickets, merchandise and food and beverages, according to a press release.
“The sponsorship agreement offers huge advantages both on and off the pitch, and for both Pericos and all soccer fans who visit our fantastic facilities,” said Mao Ye Wu, CEO of Espanyol. “With this step, we become pioneers in a field that is not the future, but already the present.”
Through this sponsorship with Crypto Snack, Espanyol is committing to a long-term approach of adopting cryptocurrency. This adoption is set to bring Bitcoin to the forefront of Europe through one of the main professional soccer leagues in the world.
“We signed an agreement for the remainder of the season and three more years that includes the presence of [Crypto Snack] in the training shirt and in the first team shorts. We are an enterprising club and we want to be a Blockchain sector meeting point,” Antoni Alegre, director of marketing for Espanyol, stated.
RCD Espanyol is one the oldest clubs in La Liga. Angel Rodriguez founded the club in 1900 under the name Sociedad Espanola de Football, a college sports club at the time looking to adopt the new English sport. Later, the name became Reial Club Deportivo Espanyol in 1912, when King Alfonso XIII awarded a royal title to the club.
The continued diffusion of bitcoin in the realm of professional sports has seen the Tennessee Titans become the first NFL team to accept bitcoin for large and recurring purchases, Coinbase sponsor the NFL, Bitcoin Magazinepartner with two Ukrainian NBA players for humanitarian relief in Ukraine, and other forms of adoption. Espanyol now looks to capitalize on this trend and has made a multi-year commitment to do so.