Game on!
Web3 sports platform NFTSTAR has signed exclusive deals with soccer stars Neymar Jr. (Brazil), Son Heung-Min (South Korea), and Luis Figo (Portugal) to build a sports metaverse on The Sandbox. The “Global Sports Village” will give fans opportunities to connect with the athletes through regular meet-and-greets, AMAs, exclusive NFT drops, and a virtual sports arena.
To create this new sports experience on The Sandbox, NFTSTAR partnered with another Animoca Brands company: Forj. Forj is a Web3 brand experience provider that has worked with Ankr, Mantra DAO, Phala Network, Polygon, and The Sandbox.
As for why NFTSTAR went with The Sandbox, co-founder Abe Ren believes it’s the right metaverse for the Global Sports Village. Being one of the premier metaverse companies, Ren’s optimistic that The Sandbox will help NFTSTAR promote its brand, star athletes, and proprietary NFTs. And, also, grow the global sports and gaming community.
NFTSTAR is committed to connecting with billions of sports fans around the world. As another part of this ambitious plan, the company recently launched exclusive Neymar Jr. NFTs on its marketplace. The comic-inspired, Ethereum-based NFT collection (Beastmode) allows holders to influence the lore through community voting.
With these recent moves, NFTSTAR has made it clear where its focus is — the metaverse.
Soccer’s Big Bet on the Metaverse
The NFTSTAR move isn’t a fluke. There are a plethora of big players getting involved in Web3. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered many stories of players, teams, and leagues bringing their brands to the metaverse. Here are a few you should know about:
In November, FIFA partnered with the Upland metaverse. As part of the multi-year deal, FIFA will be launching a series of Web3 games and apps. For the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the duo will create a gamified experience for fans to collect and trade NFT highlights, among other fan engagement initiatives. This wasn’t FIFA’s only metaverse partnership though…
In October, FIFA entered the Roblox metaverse. The pair teamed up to create a virtual world with soccer skill games, collector challenges, in-game events, and video content. In the virtual world, fans will be able to connect, express their fandom, and celebrate the rich heritage of the beautiful game.
Lastly, in September, Spain’s LaLiga entered the metaverse with DCL joint partnership. The joint partnership was between LaLiga and Web3 companies StadioPlus and Vegas City Limited. They will bring new experiences to Decentraland’s main district for sports, gaming, and entertainment: Vegas City.
Whether we’re talking about players like Neymar, leagues like LaLiga, or organizations like FIFA, it’s clear that soccer is betting big on the metaverse. And NFTSTAR’s push to develop the Global Sports Village is just further confirmation of this.