Recently, Real Madrid became the first football club in the world to announce that it would accept bitcoin on tour at its Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The move became another nod from the sports world to the digital currency, coming after the Barcelona ace Lionel Messi claimed to be mining criptomoedas.
After the Spanish episodes, behold, the Brazilian football also surrendered to the use of the cryptomeo. And the lead came from a rather unlikely team: the modest Bragantino, a team that has just emerged from the second division of São Paulo football (Serie A2), and returns to the state football elite after two years. Along with the return, the club celebrates its 90 years of existence. And that was the fact that led Gross Mass (name by which the club is known by the fans) to announce that it would be accepting bitcoin as payment for potential sponsors in 2018.
The measure is the first of a Brazilian club towards acceptance of bitcoin as a means of payment, and is the first in the world of football aimed directly at sponsorship. According to the president of the club, Luiz Arthur Abi Chedid, the measure aims to show that the club is open to new world trends, even close to completing a century of existence. He also cited the Real Madrid case as an example of this trend.
"We made this announcement to show that the club is in tune. We are celebrating 90 years, but we are keeping an eye on the future and the news. It is also a way to attract a younger audience. Real Madrid already sells tickets (for touring in Santiago Bernabeu) for cryptomeo, for example. It's a trend", Chedid said.
Companies interested in sponsoring the club and paying with the criptomoeda will be able to buy quotas from one bitcoin, or about 52 thousand reais at the current quotation. The club already has two sponsors, but did not inform the form of payment used by them. In addition to the main sponsorships, which are still open, Bragantino also plans to sell special quotas for matches against the state's big teams, due to the visibility of the games. The quotas will be punctual and exclusive for matches against these teams (São Paulo, Santos, Palmeiras and Corinthians).
Bragantino's acceptance of the coin may mean a small step towards the popularization of bitcoin as a means of payment among Brazilian clubs. The doors that this measure can open are endless, from the possibility of sponsoring high values to obtaining sponsors from other countries faster and lower costs. Let the Brazilian teams follow the example of Gross Mass.