Quarterback legend Tom Brady will reportedly earn $50 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the next two seasons. And according to Brady himself, he would “love” for a portion of his salary to be paid in crypto.
Asked about the prospect of NFL players requesting to be paid in crypto on the Let’s Go SiriusXM podcast, Grady replied: “I think a few players have requested that.”
Brady: “Players are going to be paid in cryptocurrency in the future.”
“I’d love to request to get paid in some crypto and, you know, to get paid in some Bitcoin or Ethereum or Solana tokens,” he added.
“I think it’s an amazing thing that’s happening in the world with the way the world is becoming more digital. And these digital currencies, along with a lot of, if you look how the way the world is going, with all these different digital mediums and how they’re impacting currencies.”
Brady concluded by saying that he can “definitely see a world where players are going to be paid in cryptocurrency in the future.”
Judging from Brady’s comments, it would not be crazy to assume that the seven-time Super Bowl winner will be investing some of his $50 earnings over the next two seasons in crypto.
Is it the start of the crypto revolution in sport?
Brady would not become the first global sporting superstar to be paid in crypto. Following his move to Paris Saint Germain from Barcelona this summer, it was revealed that soccer star Lionel Messi would receive partial payment of his salary (reportedly in the region of $130m over three years) in the club’s own ‘$PSG Fan Tokens’ cryptocurrency.
Earlier this year, Vivek Ranadive, owner of the NBA franchise the Sacramento Kings, announced that anyone in the organization (players, coaches, and staff members) could request to be paid in Bitcoin in near future.
Soccer star Lionel Messi is being partially paid in cryptocurrency by PSG.
DPA vía Europa Press
Other members of the crypto bandwagon include NBA star Stephen Curry and current NFL free-agent offensive tackle Russell Okung. Having famously amously tweeted, “Pay me in bitcoin,” in May 2019, Okung converted half of his $13 million salary to bitcoin. Also in 2019, quarterback Matt Barkley tried but failed to have his NFL teams (the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals) pay him in bitcoin.
But if bitcoin proponents of Brady’s stature start requesting to receive some of the salary in crypto, the pressure could build on NFL teams to embrace digital currencies.
