The Oxford City FC is competing in the National League South and is therefore not well-known in Europe and the rest of the world. But it seems the “Hoops” are playing in the premier league when it comes down to adopting the world’s hardest money that has ever been invented. Bitcoin has often been discussed as digital gold and an inflation hedge, but it is also available for payments.

How and why is Oxford City FC adopting the Bitcoin standard? And who is the king of Bedford?

Buy your ticket, pay with Bitcoin

Fans can purchase tickets as well as merchandise and refreshments using Bitcoin as an alternative to cash and card payments. The downside is that the football club won’t accept Bitcoin right away but only through a partnership that requires customers to use Bitcoin-powered card wallets that have to be pre-charged.

The upside is that these cards can be used to route payments through the Lightning Network and also work with NFC technology which will make it easier to pay in a contactless fashion similar to regular card payments.

According to a press release the football club hopes to do its part in Bitcoins mass adoption and may even convince its competitors to follow its example.

Real Bedford FC is already into Bitcoin

Bitcoin podcaster and journalist Peter McCormack bought the Bedford football club and rebranded it. Ever since Bedfords football club attracted many sponsors from the crypto and blockchain industry turning his efforts into a huge success for the club. McCormack is internationally known for his podcast “What Bitcoin did”.

But England is not the first and not the last station for crypto-related sponsorships. In Germany Bayer Leverkusen entered a partnership with Floki Inu and Hoffenheim partnered with Baby Doge. With each partnership, cryptocurrencies are brought to the center of public interest.

It remains to be seen if these partnerships will help the market to mature or just end up being marketing stunts. Other concepts go beyond payments but looking to tokenize the tickets itself offering special deals and benefits to fans who chose to buy their seats with crypto and manage tickets in their wallets. With more use-cases adding value to the business model of football clubs it is more likely that crypto is going to pave the way and become part of every game that we are going to enjoy in the future.