Former football players Shaun Wright Phillips and Jordan Stewart have purchased land in the sports metaverse. Philips will look to use the space for events and display his NFTs.
“This is the new frontier when it comes to sports. The metaverse and owning a piece of it, is about interaction and co-creation – watching live sports with friends all around the world, hanging out with friends, and buying and selling NFTs are some of the things I’m looking forward to doing here,” Philips said.
In addition to Philips, four companies have already pre-bought land in the sports metaverse, including Phat Fantasy, Own the Moment, ThriveFantasy, Press Sports, and Beyond The Game Network.
“I still remember the goal that Philips scored against Manchester United in 2004, and Stewart has had a career here in the UK and the USA. What strikes me the most about these two is their interest for Web3.0, communities, and the interaction with athletes that the sports metaverse will give to consumers,” Alexi Yovanoff, co-founder and COO, SportsIcon, said.
According to a press release, investors see the potential in metaverse to rent a virtual space for parties with sports stars, private lodges to view sporting events in virtual reality (VR) stadiums, or offer key brands a space for sponsorship appearances. The press release claimed that early investors are already making tenfold, million-dollar profits. As per insights from a research by Grayscale Research, the returns are expected to continue to grow and annual revenues for the metaverse will stand at $1 trillion, with $400 billion for gaming worlds alone.