I think exclusive deals for credit cards like that are becoming more commonplace. There are at least two counterexamples with Visa, but I'm not sure where (or even if) to add these in the article: The Olympic Games have only accepted Visa for ticket purchases for years; while the NFL's New England Patriots started taking only Visa last year. Sure it might shut out holders of non-V/MC cards, but is it really "controversial"?
What's funny is when these kinds of things happen by accident. For example, thanks to Visa's greed (they insisted on a $20 flat fee on all payments), students can't use Visa cards to pay their student fees. So our school is now MasterCard, American Express, or Discover only, at least when it comes to paying the university.
Mastercard: Exclusive Deals
