The Phoenix Suns have signed a jersey patch deal with online payment processor PayPal, one that extends into the arena as well as PayPal hopes to make the arena a cashless market, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell.
Per the report, the deal states that PayPal will be integrated into the Suns’ mobile app, allowing fans to make one-touch payments to purchase everything from team merchandise to arena concession items within Talking Stick Arena, where the Suns play, as well as parking for the arena.
Talking Stick Arena will also have PayPal card readers that enable payments by chip, tap or swipe, and will allow fans to make purchases using Venmo, which is owned by PayPal.
“For us, this deal checked all the boxes,” Suns president and CEO Jason Rowley said, per Rovell’s report.
“It was a company with global reach that has the ability to project our brand beyond the local and national footprint, that has a strong presence in our market and is a partner who’s focused on consumer innovation.”
“We believe that they’re a great partner to work on the next generation of consumer experience,” Clarkson said.
PayPal is the second payment processor to land a patch deal with the NBA team. Western Union inked a deal with the Denver Nuggets prior to last season.
“With sports fans, every second counts,” general manager of PayPal North America Robert Clarkson said. “There’s a sense of urgency. The goal is for payments to not take away from that urgency. When someone orders a beer and people have to pass the beer down the aisle and then the money back and forth, it involves 25 people and takes away from their experience.”
Payment processors such as PayPal, Venmo, and even Western Union are becoming more prominent among the younger audience as, in addition to their prominent visibility in the sports world, they are used everywhere from small to large businesses to complete online transactions, physical merchants, and even gamers who actively do Twitch Streams, who use it to process donations from users that wish to contribute to their stream.