DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks are now the first NBA team to accept the cryptocurrency Dogecoin for tickets and merchandise.
The team announced Thursday the North Texas franchise will use BitPay, the world's largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, to allow this new form of payment.
Dogecoin is a decentralized, digital currency payment system that doesn't use traditional banking fees and makes it easier to send money online. It was created in 2013 and currently has a $6 billion market cap.
The Mavericks have been accepting the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a way to pay for tickets and merchandise for nearly two years. At the time, they were just the second NBA team to do so.
BitPay CEO Stephen Pair said the Mavs franchise is a "long-time enthusiast of cryptocurrency" and that cryptocurrency is starting to become more accepted by more businesses.
"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," Pair said.
The Mavericks currently use BitPay to process all cryptocurrency purchases that include BTC, BCH, ETH, USDC, GUSD, PAX and BUSD and now DOGE.
Accepting these alternate forms of payment expands the franchise's sales opportunity into international markets, according to a team spokesperson. Some countries don't have a practical way of using credit card payments or have high fees.
BitPay enables businesses to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment without having to buy, own or manage crypto.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the main reason the team made this decision is "because we can."
"Because we can, we have chosen to do so," Cuban said in a released statement. "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 forever more. For those of you who would like to learn more about Dogecoin we strongly encourage you to talk to your teenagers who are on TikTok and ask them about it. They will be able to explain it all to you."
BitPay gives consumers a digital asset management solution that includes BitPay Wallet and BitPay Prepaid Card, which enables people to turn digital assets into dollars.
