NBA's Sacramento Kings to Reward Loyal Fans With Crypto Tokens

Based on the ERC-20 standard, the Kings Token will be a first for a U.S. professional sports team.

AccessTimeIconOct 7, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 11:32 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

The NBA’s Sacramento Kings are the first U.S. professional sports team to develop a crypto token for fan rewards.

“Fans can get those points and put them in their wallets and experience it all on the blockchain platform,” Kings CTO Ryan Montoya told CoinDesk.

Further, Montoya said the token, called Kings Token, will pair with a predictive gaming platform the team has developed in anticipation of the legalization of sports betting in California (the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal restriction on sports betting in May 2018).

The Kings Token is a joint effort with blockchain-based event ticketing platform Blockparty.

“In our opinion, the blockchain has a role in the entire event experience,” Vladislav Ginzburg, Blockparty’s chief development officer, told CoinDesk. “Whether it’s a sports game, music festival or Broadway show.”

Blockparty is putting together a case study on the project, CEO Shiv Madan added, in the hope that it will be shared with other NBA teams if the project is deemed a success.

All-tech team

It’s just the latest foray into blockchain technology for the Sacramento team, which is based 90 miles northeast of San Francisco.

In 2014, the Kings became the first NBA team to accept bitcoin as payment in its arena. Last year, the Kings became the first professional sports team to mine cryptocurrency, setting up a program called MiningForGood that donates the funds to charity.

Kings Tokens will exist within a token wallet added to the team's Golden 1 Center app, which tracks the engagement and accumulated points of fans. Fans can earn rewards through the predictive gaming platform and redeem those points for access to unique events, signed merchandise or courtside tickets, for example.

The ERC-20 token will run on ethereum but will only initially be usable within the team's Golden 1 Center arena. While fans won’t be able to trade the token for another currency or have a private key, they will be able to show a QR code to redeem points and see the confirmation of transactions through a block explorer. In testnet now, the Kings plans to launch the token by opening night on Oct. 25.

In future iterations, token users may be able to transfer tokens to their peers, and earn rewards by eating at nearby restaurants or making it to the game before tip-off, Ginzburg added.

“This is a mass adoption story,” Ginzburg said, adding:

“Forty-one games of 20,000 people – I’m going to go ahead and say that many of those people don’t own any crypto whatsoever. Suddenly by downloading the Golden 1 Center app, they are going to have an ERC-20 wallet with an ERC-20 token.”

Golden 1 Center image via Shutterstock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.