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On February 9, the American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals, announced the team has partnered with Terra, the open-source blockchain platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Washington Nationals detail that the team is a “leading innovator” and is “consistently introducing new technologies to enhance the fan experience.”
Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Washington Nationals has partnered with the blockchain platform and DAO Terra, according to an announcement published by the team on Wednesday. The deal with Terra follows a slew of sports-related deals with crypto firms, but the MLB team will be the first to partner with an open-source blockchain project. In addition to the partnership, the algorithmic stablecoin UST that’s issued on the Terra blockchain will be “accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park as early as next season.”
“The Nationals continue to push the envelope,” the managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals, Mark D. Lerner, said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Terra to name our most exclusive club and explore bringing powerful new fan experiences to Nationals Park, including the use of UST cryptocurrency to make purchases.”
Terra and its native token terra (LUNA) have come a long way during the last 12 months and today, LUNA holds the 11th position in terms of crypto market capitalization. Year-to-date, LUNA has climbed 794% in value against the U.S. dollar. The blockchain platform and DAO Terra has the second-largest TVL (total value locked) in decentralized finance (defi) with $14.44 billion. Terra’s stablecoin, UST, is the fourth largest USD-pegged stablecoin in terms of crypto market capitalization, with 11.2 billion UST in circulation.
“This first-of-its-kind partnership between a DAO and a sports franchise opens a new world of opportunities for bringing crypto and defi to the masses,” Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, explained in the partnership announcement with the Washington Nationals. The Terra founder added:
By approving this sponsorship deal, the community has a new way to engage and educate the public, including the policy makers doing important work in Washington, D.C., about decentralized money and the burgeoning technology that underlies it.
Last year, Crypto.com acquired the naming rights to the iconic Staples Center in Los Angeles and changed the name of the stadium to Crypto.com Arena. MLB already has a crypto partner, as it inked a deal with FTX in a long term arrangement, making FTX the MLB’s official crypto exchange brand. MLB has also been working with the non-fungible token (NFT) digital collectible company Candy Digital. The deal between the Washington Nationals and Terra will transform the exclusive “Nationals Club” into the “Terra Club.”
The Terra Club features a climate-controlled area located at field level directly behind home plate and members of the club get all-inclusive food and beverages. “Guests with tickets in the Terra Club can enjoy their meal in the dining room or take advantage of in-seat delivery of food and beverages while not missing a second of the action on the field,” the Washington Nationals’ announcement concludes.
According to the deal introduced by Do Kwon, it’s a five-year partnership for $40 million. “The partnership agreement with the franchise in one of the major American professional sports leagues represents an unprecedented and groundbreaking opportunity to capitalize on the entry of a household and well-reputed franchise into the Terra community,” the Terra founder said at the time.
