“How the Metaverse will connect and impact the sports industry”
Introduction:
Companies and brands are always looking forward to the future to get ahead of the next trend or phenomenon. Shrewd marketers are researching new ways to connect with fans and identifying channels and mediums where fans are more likely to engage with their content. The hunt for the next big thing has now extended past cryptocurrency, past blockchain, and has led to an exciting area which we have discussed heavily above, the metaverse. Thought leaders have predicted the metaverse is the future of sports entertainment and the logical path towards a completely futuristic and decentralized sports community; not just society. Discussions of the metaverse and its impact on society have been ongoing for years, but one global event finally accelerated the conversation: the COVID-19 pandemic.
After nearly the entire population was forced to work from home without the traditional live sports and sporting entertainment we had become accustomed to before the coronavirus made its mark on society. No matter which industry you worked in, the size of your company, or even if you had any interest in sports at all, the pandemic challenged the population to rethink the norms and values of the sporting world at a slow and steady pace Cryptocurrency rose as the shift to decentralized finance -- another key part of the success of the metaverse -- gained momentum.
How will it happen:
NFT collectibles and their blossoming marketplaces began offering a variety of assets that people could purchase, regardless of whether their interests lie in sports, art, gaming, or even music. Blockchain technology backed it all up by proving the authenticity of assets through its decentralized and distributed ledger. Crucial pieces to the functionality of the metaverse have developed where brands and sports properties alike need to begin planning for its arrival - if they have not already. So what does this mean for the world of sports now? The metaverse is not a threat when it comes to the success and continuation of live sports on a global scale. However, everything surrounding those games and events could start to look different.
One company, in particular, Dapper Labs, has been a leader when it comes to assimilating metaverse concepts into the sports industry. After making headlines with NBA Top Shots, an NFT marketplace for NBA highlights and other assets, the company recently formed partnerships with the NFL and La Liga. The partnership with La Liga is arguably the biggest move by an NFT company to bring the world's most popular sport to the virtual world. In doing so, Dapper Labs has strategically captured an element that has been and will be vital to the success of the metaverse. Following the success of the LaLiga, the Premier League – the biggest football league in the world – has also closed an NFT deal with Dapper Labs and CosenSys in 2022. This deal trademarks the rights of the Premier League in any future metaverses created by Dapper Labs and CosenSys. 8 other clubs have also signed for the same deal along with the Premier League.
What happens to Fan Experience in the metaverse:
Recently, football club Manchester City announced that they will be creating their own metaverse where they will build the club facilities like the Etihad Stadium(their home ground), the club shop, etc.
If this is successful – which it most likely will, it will be the first time ever a football team makes their stadium in the metaverse. “But how does it affect fan experience?” one may still ask. A person will put on his virtual headset and enter the virtual stadium and get to experience a 360 degree experience of the live match. Fans who might not be able to buy physical tickets, fans who live abroad, etc are the ones who will benefit the most. From any corner in the world, one could experience a life like game of his favorite club without moving form his place. These tickets might even be cheaper, and with a very small time lag in the live game, fans could get a thorough experience of what a stadium feels like as you would even be able to get sound and feeling vibrations through advanced headsets that could come out in the future.
In another example of how the metaverse will affect the sports industry; we can have a look at the recently concluded Champions League Final in France between Real Madrid and Liverpool. Due to some scam sites, seventy percent of sixty thousand Liverpool fans presented counterfeit tickets of which fifteen percent were even let through due to absolute chaos! Some authentic tickets were branded fake too which cased mayhem.
The use of non-fungible tokens through the metaverse would thus ensure authenticity due to their immutability as only one of one “event tickets” would be minted on the blockchain for the match. Hence, the metaverse would not only improve match experiences for fans who cannot attend the live games, but also improve the customs that a fan has to go through in the build up for the game. Other sports can also pick up learnings from the Champions League final and implement it in their respective sports as the procedure wouldn’t be much different for other sports too.Another interesting case study could be with USA’s oldest racing sport – NASCAR. In August 2021, NASCAR formed a partnership with Virtual Human Studios to include NASCAR branded horses in their popular video game Zed Run. In the game users can buy, sell, breed and race digital horses sold as NFT’s and earn money through the blockchain in game.
This is another way in which sports and sports entertainment (in this case) will progress through the metaverse.
Conclusion:
It is important to remember that there is no foreseeable start date for when/if the metaverse will arrive. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together and in many ways, it has already begun embedding itself into the traditional sports and entertainment landscape. The brands, leagues, athletes, and influencers who understand the potential of this digital revolution and can find creative ways to monetize their assets will be steps ahead of the rest of their competitors. Even though it is not here yet, the leaders and innovators of tomorrow must be asking themselves: "what should be our company's metaverse strategy?"
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