AZ Alkmaar will be the first professional football club in the Netherlands to pay players in Bitcoin (BTC).

In a statement posted on the club’s website on Thursday, the Eredivisie team, which finished third in the 2020/2021 Dutch football season, announced the cryptocurrency broker Bitcoin Meester as its exclusive and official death by mid-2024.

According to the announcement, the sponsorship deal will be completed entirely in Bitcoin, with the Dutch club expressing its intention to keep all of the BTC on its balance sheet.

AZ Alkmaar will reportedly start paying its players in Bitcoin and join a growing list of sports franchises through BTC to pay professional athletes.

For AZ’s Chief Commercial Officer Michael Koster, the appeal of Bitcoin and crypto is undeniable, so the club has decided to introduce BTC. “The crypto market is booming with exponential growth in users in recent years,” added Koster.

Koster added that non-crypto companies like soccer teams need guidance from established players like Bitcoin Meester. In fact, the crypto broker is one of the few crypto companies licensed by the Dutch central bank.

Cryptocurrency regulations appear to be a major topic of discussion among authorities in the Netherlands, with a government official recently calling for a total ban on Bitcoin.

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Cryptocurrency companies are increasingly entering into sponsorship deals with sports teams to increase their brand awareness and grow their businesses. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Crypto.com recently announced a global partnership with Formula 1.

From Major League Baseball to the National Basketball Association, several American sports brands and star athletes also use Bitcoin and crypto. In June, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady signed a popular crypto advertising deal with crypto exchange giant FTX.