The Houston Texans become the first NFL team to sell game packages with crypto

The National Football League (NFL) team Houston Texans has become the first organization in the league to sell single game suites in exchange for crypto.

The move comes as part of an agreement with Texas-based crypto firm BitWallet, which as of August 16 became the official crypto wallet provider for the team. BitWallet will also provide intermediary services by exchanging crypto for cash for the Houston Texans.

According to an announcement from the Houston Texans, local digital marketing agency EWR Digital made the first purchase of a single game suite using crypto shortly after the offering was launched, making it the first time a game package has been sold in exchange for digital assets in the story. of the sport.

It appears that the crypto deal is for suites only, as there has been no mention of being able to buy regular matchday tickets with digital assets at this stage.

A game suite refers to a luxurious private viewing box at the stadium that is often decked out with buffets, expensive alcohol, bathrooms, televisions, attendants and a prime spot to watch the game.

The Houston Texans’ website doesn’t list a price for single-game or full-season suites, instead asking people to first submit a request to secure one. Fra Seat estimates a single gaming suite for the team to cost anywhere from $14,000 to $25,000, but a BitWallet representative told Cointelegraph that figure could go as high as $40,000.

BitWallet claims to be supported in over 160 countries and currently allows users to trade or hold Bitcoin, (BTC), and has plans to roll out support for Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu ( SHIB) ), Tether (USDT) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) over the next couple of months.

NFL, crypto and blockchain

The Dallas Cowboys became the first team in the NFL to sign a crypto sponsorship deal in April, after Blockchain.com signed on to be their official digital asset partner over a multi-year time frame.

The NFL and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) also partnered with Flow blockchain creators Dapper Labs in late 2021 to launch the licensed NFL All Day NFT collection project. The deal also saw the NFL and NFLPA take an ownership stake in Dapper, with the duo likely getting a fair cut of the $36.8 million in sales NFL All Day has generated since February.

The league also has many crypto-friendly players who have chosen to take either a portion of their salary or contract bonuses in digital assets, including top names like Green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, former LA Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was the top draft pick in 2021.

Related: NFT tools to remedy ticket dilemmas? Experts weigh in

Iconic quarterback Tom Brady has also bet on the space by launching his own NFT marketplace Autograph in April 2021, and also gave a fan 1 BTC (worth $62,000 at the time) to get his historic 600th touchdown pass back in October.