AUS
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GER
ESP
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Highlights
- Leading football team Manchester City is planning to recreate Etihad Stadium on metaverse for its fans.
- Manchester City will be partnering with Sony for the project.
- As per reports, the global metaverse market size is about US$47.69 billion in 2020. It can become an US$800-billion industry by 2028.
The world of the metaverse is fast catching on. From tech to movies to online gaming to politics, the metaverse is reaching new heights. Most leading brands, such as Disney, Warner Bros., Nike, Microsoft, all are making big plans to enter the world of metaverse with different projects.
An Emergen Research report highlighted that while the global metaverse market size is about US$47.69 billion in 2020, it can become an US$800-billion industry by 2028. A part of this growth could be due to the expansion of the AR/VR device shipment segment. According to Trendforce, the market for device shipments could well reach 14.19 million units by 2022.
Now, metaverse is entering the world of sports. With the pandemic restrictions yet to ease in many countries, fans are missing out on the excitement in the stadium during live games.
Also read: How high can Alpine F1 Team fan token (ALPINE) rally go?
Leading football team Manchester City has decided to address this issue and has begun working on a virtual replica of the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City will be partnering Sony with an aim to bring fans closer to the game by building the team’s central hub on the metaverse.
The metaverse partnership
Manchester City has been quite upbeat in revolutionising the club with blockchain technology. It already has a City Fan token, which has a huge follower base. With the metaverse project partnership with Sony, it intends to offer its fans the ability to watch the game in an immersive metaverse environment. It also wants experts to use image analysis and analyse the game in real-time.
Also read: Hasbulla: Crypto genius or smart influencer?
Nuria Tarre, City Football Group’s chief marketing officer, said that the metaverse experience will take the game to another level. The technology can make the fans a part of the original action and enjoy it from multiple angles.
He added that unlike a physical match, the metaverse can adjust an unlimited number of fans as it is virtual, and the experience can be one of a kind.
Other players
Manchester City may be the first one to announce its metaverse plans, other clubs are also working on similar projects. As per sources, Liverpool FC is exploring its own Web 3 and metaverse plans and could reveal them soon.
Recently, Manchester United teamed up with Tezos, sparking talks of its very own Fan Token, and Web 3 projects.
Conclusion
The football game, clubs and fans can change the dynamics of the metaverse industry. It can be a gamechanger for the metaverse projects just like the Fan Token experiment. This space can be huge if other clubs and perhaps other sports streams, like cricket, baseball, Formula One, decide to explore the platform further.
