Manchester City Football Club has begun constructing a digital replica of the Etihad Stadium, which is set to become the worldโs first stadium of its kind in the metaverse. The reigning Premier League champions signed a three-year deal with virtual reality pioneers Sony to build the iconic stadium in which football fans can experience soccer matches in real-time from the comfort of their own homes.ย
Sonyโs tech experts have already visited the physical stadium in order to begin efforts to recreate it in the virtual world. The companyโs subsidiary, ‘Hawk-Eye’, will build the stadium through “image analysis and skeletal-tracking technologies” and will develop virtual fan experiences.
Sponsored
Club officials plan to allow fans to interact with members of the team within the metaverse and to purchase digital items that don’t exist in real life. The ultimate goal is to enable Manchester City fans who canโt travel to Manchester in person to still be able to closely observe the team’s matches.ย
โThe whole point we could imagine of having a metaverse is you can recreate a game, you could watch the game live, youโre part of the action in a different way through different angles and you can fill the stadium as much as you want because itโs unlimited, itโs completely virtual. But also youโre in control of what you want to be watching at that time. Thereโs not one broadcast point of view, you can look at it through any angle of the stadium. Thatโs the sky โ the limit,โ
Nuria Tarre, City Football Groupโs chief marketing and fan engagement officer toldย inews.
On the Flipside
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Soccer matches going viral in the metaverse may serve to revolutionize TV distribution rights.