Key Takeaways
- Australian Open, one of the 4 Grand Slams of the sport, has officially launced on the Metaverse
- Decentraland, one of the leading Metaverse virtual platforms, hosts the launch
- The tournament has also issued 6776 NFT tennis balls representative of a plot on the actual tennis court
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com)- Tennis Australia has partnered with Decentraland to launch the iconic Australian Open tennis championship on the Metaverse.
The major Grand Slam tournament kicked off in Melbourne today. According to the latest partnership, Decentraland is co-hosting the event in virtual reality. The first of the four Grand Slam tournaments in the tennis world is one of the biggest events featured on the Metaverse.
“It was a natural progression to move further into the metaverse and NFTs and progress our development in Web 3.0 space,”
Forkast quoted Ridley Plummer, Tennis Australia Metaverse and NFT project manager, saying.
According to Plummer, Covid-19 travel restrictions have been one of the main reasons the Australian Open has taken a plunge in the Metaverse. Thanks to the collaboration with Decentraland, the Grand Slam event is now more accessible to the masses.
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Behind the Australian Open Metaverse and NFT launch
The Australian Open on the Metaverse includes the main arenas of the tournament, including the Tennis Courts of the venue Melbourne Park.
The virtual location also has a dedicated shop for AO merchandise and a playground where users can complete puzzles to gain rewards. For example, one such puzzle includes finding ten hidden rackets for unique prizes. In addition, users of Decenterland can visit the Australian Open Metaverse venue during the duration of the tournament.
Australian Open had announced its Metaverse plan last week. However, unlike other NFT projects, the AO Metaverse comes with unmatched benefits.
The organizers of the Grand Slam have released 6776 Art Ball NFTs. In collaboration with Chainlink, they combine real-time match and ball-tracking data with the NFTs. Each NFT ball represents a 19 x 19 cm plot of the tennis court. The real-time locations on the court surface, where the winning shots hit, will automatically be reflected on the Metaverse data.
The owner of the NFT linked to the location of the winning point will receive the real tennis ball used during the match, along with a handcrafted display case and a certificate of authenticity.
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Metaverse Entry is more than just about money
By rough estimates, the Australian Open will earn $2 million from the sale of the Tennis Ball NFTs. However, according to Ridley Plummer, the expansion into the Metaverse is not about making money at all.
“Ultimately, we want to become the most accessible sports and entertainment event in the world. Whether that’s collecting a piece of the event through an NFT, or attending the event in Decentraland, we want someone from New York or Paris to be able to join in the event, in a similar way they could join in if they were in Melbourne.”
he says.
Meanwhile, MANA, the native token of Decentraland, is down 6%. It currently trades for $2.92, according to data on CoinMarketCap.
After the successful entry of the Australia Open, we may see the other three Grand Slams of tennis, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, join the Metaverse. In any case, one thing is clear-the Metaverse is already here.
