A number of industries have struggled to build deeper and longer-lasting relationships with their audiences in the metaverse. However, the sports sector, with its passionate fan base and iconic teams and events, may have the most success in creating this type of engagement. The Metaverse initiatives of some of the world's most prominent sports organizations, including the most recognizable teams, are already promising enough for these groups and the platforms that serve the Metaverse to expand their efforts in this area.
"Sports will play a big role in the next six months," Sam Hamilton, creative director of the Decentraland Foundation, told CoinDesk.
Daniela Dib is a business and tech reporter based in Mexico City.
In many ways, sports are a natural fit for the Metaverse, combining imagination and a passionate audience. It's also an industry that has successfully experimented with cryptocurrencies.
According to CryptoSlam, sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) increased 72% during NBA Top Shot last January. Its creator Dapper Labs, which has partnered with major sports leagues, is currently valued at $7.8 billion.
This post is part of CoinDesk's Metaverse Week.
Other projects are also banking on the popularity of sports to find a bigger gateway for cryptocurrencies. Bitso, one of the largest crypto exchanges in Latin America with over four million users, is now the main sponsor of the Mexican national soccer team. In March, NFT platform SportsIcon unveiled plans for a sports-related metaverse that will allow athletes to interact with fans.
Earlier this month, Italy's top soccer league partnered with ConsenSys and video game platform The Nemesis to broadcast its first soccer match in the Metaverse. FIFA, soccer's world governing body, has signed Algorand as its official blockchain partner ahead of the World Cup, which begins in Qatar in November.
That'snot even counting
the variousNFTs minted in honor of famous athletes and their greatest achievements
.Decentraland and sports
Decentraland, which is building a metaverse on the Ethereum blockchain, is also developing a virtual sports infrastructure. It recently announced that Spanish sports platform StadioPlus will manage NFT sports content in Vegas City, one of Decentraland's largest entertainment-focused districts.
Hamilton believes the sports industry's involvement in the Metaverse is just beginning, and indicated that the protocol he helps oversee will significantly increase his Metaverse involvement over the next six months. Decentraland and other platforms have found that some Metaverse initiatives are better at attracting audiences than retaining them.
Although Decentraland sold 172 NFTs last week at an average price of $6,100, it struggles to keep users engaged, according to the NFT Stats Tracker. According to publicly available data, there are only about 1,200 active players on the platform.
Decentraland CEO Agustín Ferreira said sports are part of the "compelling content" the platform is creating, hoping to emerge strong from the current crypto downturn that has hit alternative coin protocols (altcoin) particularly hard. They are also a way to entertain users.
"We make content and host events because people enjoy them," Ferreira told CoinDesk. "They are an opportunity for us to build something, prepare for the next round and make the most of the next bull market."
Decentraland executives are aware that the current slow pace of adoption and engagement is normal for such a young industry. "We're still at the very beginning and will be working on this for the next 20 or 30 years," Ferreira said.
Sports could be of particular interest to many Latin American users, who are already flocking to Decentraland and are among the most avid fans in the world.
"This demographic is really starting to get into Decentraland, with many tokens and communities slowly growing," he said.
"Cryptocurrencies are a tool for regions like this. "
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Rather than allowing players to port weapons or powers between games, non-fungible tokens will serve as building blocks for new games and virtual worlds
. The Metaverse Will Make Gamers of Us All Essentially,the "Metaverse" is a game - but one with real-world consequences and possibilities
. What can you do in the Metaverse in 2022?The future possibilities of the Metaverse are probably limitless, but is there anything you can do in the Metaverse right now?