Move over dollar bills and debit cards. Bitcoin has arrived in baseball.
The A’s on Wednesday announced they had sold a full-season, six-person suite at the Coliseum for the price of one bitcoin. It is believed to be the first such transaction in Major League Baseball.
The suite was purchased by Voyager Digital Ltd., which is described in a statement from the team as a “publicly-traded, licensed crypto-asset platform.”
How much did Voyager pay for the suite? As a cryptocurrency, the value of a bitcoin fluctuates — not unlike stock prices — so the cost paid by Voyager would depend on exactly when the deal was processed. According to Morningstar, one bitcoin Wednesday morning was worth $59,228. Using that value for the sake of discussion, Voyager would have paid $731 for each of the 81 regular-season home games for the six-person suite — or roughly $122 for each seat.
“We’re eager to welcome Voyager to the Coliseum when the 2021 season starts this Thursday,” said A’s President Dave Kaval said in the statement. “Cryptocurrency is a viable and tangible currency model, and we know other forward-thinking companies and individuals will join Voyager in using this payment for ticket purchases.”
The A’s announced March 14 that they would sell the six-person suites for one bitcoin through the end of the month. Once the season begins, the suites will remain on sale, but the full-season price will revert back to U.S. dollars and be based on the number of games remaining at the time of purchase. The cost for a suite for one game is $594 for select April games. For more information, visit athletics.com/suites.
“Voyager is proud to make history with this crypto purchase. More and more digital assets are becoming sought-after forms of payment as businesses and consumers embrace cryptocurrencies,” said Steve Ehrlich, CEO and co-founder of Voyager, in the statement.
Michael Lerseth is a San Francisco Chronicle assistant sports editor. Email: mlerseth@sfchronicle.com Twitter @MikeLerseth
