Key Takeaways:
- Australian Open launches its first virtual tournament on Decentraland.
- Supporters will have unrestricted access to exploring the Australian Open and enjoy added benefits.
- AO has sold the Art Ball NFTs within a few minutes of the public sale going live.
Australian Open (AO) will launch its first virtual tournament in Decentraland this week to encourage fan engagement.
AO to Host First Virtual Tennis Tournament in Metaverse
Earlier this month, one of the world’s biggest tennis tournaments – the Australian Open (AO) entered the world of NFTs and Metaverse. It has now partnered with Decentraland, a leading virtual reality platform, to host this year’s championship. AO has taken this initiative to allow local and international spectators broad access to the tournament amongst the swelling Omicron.
AO Decentraland is all set to launch on January 17, 2022, according to an email shared with CryptoPotato. Supporters will have unrestricted access to observe the main stadium – Rod Laver Arena, the Beach House, the Gram Slam Oval to watch tennis matches. In addition, the tournament organisers will replicate the best elements of Melbourne Park, and visitors will be able to explore restaurants in the area as well.
Australian Tennis Project Manager, Ridley Plummer, sharing his opinion, stated that AO’s decision to plunge into Metaverse is crucial. It will help provide more comprehensive coverage and access to all the tournament’s events and including live and historic matches and press conferences.
Plummer further added, “We want the AO to be the world’s most accessible and inclusive sports and entertainment event, and with the unique challenges fans have faced getting to Melbourne, we’ve fast-tracked our launch into the Metaverse”.
Fans will have Access to more Features
AO Decentraland is scheduled to run “for the duration of the live tournaments”, stretching from January 17, 2022, to January 30, 2022.
AO will be providing fans with several additional benefits and features that will include player drop-ins from tennis legends like Mark Philippoussis and Todd Woodbridge, including behind-the-scenes footage from around 300 cameras from the home stadium of all live matches.
Other assumptions are that fans will be excited to see reverse feed incorporated “from the AO Decentraland piped on AO screens and courtside LEDs between gameplay, community meetups, and gamification to retrieve various NFTs and VR tennis games”, to quote Cryptopotato.
Australian Open has also announced it has sold out the 6,776 AO Art Ball NFTs that it had minted for viewers. AO sold it at a 0.067 ethereum (ETH) rate within a few minutes of the public sale going live.
