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TL;DR
- Botev Plovdiv Embraces Bitcoin: Bulgaria’s oldest football club, Botev Plovdiv, has integrated Bitcoin as a payment option for fan shops and in-stadium purchases, with plans to include ticket purchases soon. To promote its adoption, BTC transactions in November come with a 10% discount.
- Botev’s Prominence in Bulgaria: Botev, based in Plovdiv—one of Europe’s oldest towns, boasts a vast supporter base and has recently renovated its stadium. The Bitcoin offering precedes a significant match against Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
- Global Football and Bitcoin Trend: While Botev is the first in Bulgaria, worldwide clubs like Oxford City, Tigres, Sao Paulo, and RCD Espanyol have accepted Bitcoin. Moreover, football stars such as Neymar and Ronaldinho have delved into the crypto space through NFTs and personal tokens.
Botev Plovdiv Says ‘Yes’ to Bitcoin
The oldest football club in Bulgaria – Botev Plovdiv – rolled out several updates and offerings that its supporters should be aware of. For one, it updated its official website to show “the modern vision” of the team and its dedication to dive deeper into technological advancements.
The club has also splashed the waters by embracing Bitcoin (BTC) as a settlement method, enabling people to use it in fan shops as well as for buying food and drinks during matches. Besides that, Botev Plovdiv plans to add it as a means of payment for tickets in the near future, an announcement on Meta (Facebook) reads.
Subsequently, the club disclosed that individuals who settle purchases in BTC in November will get a 10% discount.
Botev is among the football teams with the most supporters in Bulgaria. Located in the country’s second biggest town and one of the oldest in Europe – Plovdiv, its derby matches are attended by over 15,000 people. Its stadium was recently renovated, while the BTC offering comes a few days before the match against its biggest rival – Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Other Football Clubs and Bitcoin
While being the first in Bulgaria to hop on the BTC bandwagon, Botev is not the only one across the globe. As CryptoPotato reported last year, the British Oxford City allowed supporters to purchase match tickets, food, and beverages in the digital asset instead of fiat.
The Mexican football giant – Tigres – also did so by collaborating with the cryptocurrency platform Bitso. The President of the eight-time champion of the nation – Mauricio Culebro Galván – hinted that this will not be the last such initiative introduced by the club:
“Tigres continued to look to the future, and new initiatives will surely come with Bitso to continue offering greater services.”
One of Brazil’s most successful football teams – Sao Paulo – and RCD Espanyol (a Catalan club competing in Spain’s La Liga) have also embraced the primary cryptocurrency as a payment method over the past few years.
Additionally, many legends of that sport have joined crypto’s ecosystem in one form or another. The Brazilian star Neymar bought non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from the popular collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), while the 2005 Ballon d’Or winner – Ronaldinho – partnered with the decentralized exchange P00LS to launch his own token, called RON.