Understanding how the metaverse will influence the sports industry and the future of fan engagement isn’t entirely straightforward. Every property has its own vision for how immersive experiences will change the way sports interact with fans inside and outside the live event, and thus the way a sports organization monetizes its digital assets and sponsorship activations.
However, for now at least, the metaverse isn’t thought of as a technology or destination that one individual company or industry is going to take control over. It is expected that the metaverse, like the internet, for example, will be another enabler for brands to engage consumers and vice versa, and an opportunity for sports properties to customize virtual experiences.
According to Nicolas Marullo, President and Chief Executive of Cinco, the Toronto-based brand experience and sponsorship activation agency, it is going to take between “eight to 10 years before we arrive at a consolidation of what the metaverse is”. He says that the average age of the metaverse consumer is 12 years old, and that they are buying digital products “for their avatars” – the user’s digital identity.
Marullo was speaking at the second edition of the Football Innovation Forum (FIF), powered by World Football Summit (WFS) in collaboration with N3XT Sports, held in Sevilla last week, and advises that sports clubs, leagues, and federations first discover why their fans want an immersive experience before evaluating what the metaverse will mean to their organization.
“The first thing people need to realize is that we need to digitize all of their assets,” he continued. “By doing this, everything will become 3D and you will be able to use those assets to create virtual worlds where people can go, or to use those virtual worlds in other metaverses.
“The second thing is to try different things. We are seeing behaviors changing a lot, so by trying new things, we are going to know how people behave and we are going to pick up on the way they want to interact with us.
“The third part is monetization, which is hugely important. We need to see new sponsorship assets for partners. All those digital assets are also going to be worth something in the metaverse, which will be important in the future.”
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION KEY TO METAVERSE ADOPTION
Speaking alongside Marullo, Jorge Paradela, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for Sevilla FC, and Ramon Alarcón, Business General Director for Real Betis FC, discussed the opportunities the metaverse is offering their respective LaLiga football clubs. According to Paradela, the metaverse represents “a revolution in sports marketing” and he expresses the importance for Sevilla FC to build a robust customer management relationship (CRM) database in order to maximize Sevilla FC’s value-generation via the metaverse.
“For us, it’s all about generating engagement and generating income,” he explained. “We’ve hired experts in CRM and user-experience. The next thing, I’d say, is we’re all looking forward to the imminent launch of our fan token before the beginning of next season and I would like to say it will be a launch like no other. We want our key partners and sponsors to get connected with the Sevilla society at large and we also want to be – hand in hand with Socios.com – a catalyst for the creation and acceleration of startups here in Sevilla.”
Despite its potential, the biggest hurdle sports organizations face when entering the metaverse market is their ability to ingest and leverage fan data, according to Marullo, who says that, as direct-to-consumer (D2C) technologies continue to enhance immersive experiences that fans crave nowadays, more consumers will nevertheless want to own their own data-based digital assets, including for example the purchase of non-fungible tokens (NFT).
Citing the “decentralization of the metaverse”, whereby an individual person or organization is able to take ownership of a particular experience or asset via the blockchain, Marullo says that an organization’s ability to segment fan data could carry less significance in the metaverse than the importance of providing a “quality experience” that the fan wants to return to.
“So, we’re going to have to find ways to use the data we have because it’s going to be harder to get data from people,” he continued. “We have to go back to the quality of the experience that we provide [via] the decentralized metaverse that we create and will allow people to say, ‘I had a great experience, here’s my name, call me back’. The new generation is looking to us to make great experiences for them and the experiences they want aren’t the experiences of the past.”
“Do we have to build only one stadium in the metaverse? Or do we have to build 10 Real Betis stadiums in the metaverse? Will the metaverse be more open? Or will it be more closed? We don’t know. What we do know is that the metaverse is going to be very important, so we need to enter the market as soon as possible.“
SPONSORS OF THE FUTURE WANT CUSTOMIZATION
In a similar vein, while Alarcón says that the metaverse will undoubtedly be “very important” for Real Betis FC, he is excited by the opportunities it will present the organization to personalize the fan experience post-match, including the role interactive, virtual experiences via the metaverse will offer the customization of sponsor and partner activations.
However, he said that he is also curious about what the landscape will look like and what the best step forward will be for clubs looking to update their operations so as to be able to monetize immersive fan experiences. He says that Real Betis FC will first “move with LaLiga”, the Spanish football club competition organizer, which recently signed a 30-month deal with Korean global sports metaverse platform TVM to build interactive fan experiences. “Once we arrive there, then we will try to do our own strategy,” Alarcón added.
“In my opinion, the metaverse has always existed,” Alarcón continued. “The big thing that changed with Web 2.0 [and the dawn of social media] is the conversation where everybody understood that people really want to build communities, to build conversations, and to have a new identity in a new world. A new world where people are going to be interacting. As a football club, we have to be there but, for me, there are also some doubts in the metaverse.
“For example, do we have to build only one stadium in the metaverse? Or do we have to build 10 Real Betis stadiums in the metaverse? Will the metaverse be more open? Or will it be more closed? We don’t know. What we do know is that the metaverse is going to be very important, so we need to enter the market as soon as possible.”
Speaking to the other potential revenue opportunities the metaverse could present Sevilla FC, Paradela added: “We live in really exciting times. If we talk about revenue streams, the monetization of the database is a key element to that and is something we will continue to do. Social media is a key growth engine for that database.
“We then try to cover all the basics, including the use of ad servers on our website, the monetization of our social media channels, and the production and development of branded premium content, which is something we need to double down on. Content will be king, no matter what – so that’s something we need to continue to do.”
“We live in really exciting times. If we talk about revenue streams, the monetization of the database is a key element to that and is something we will continue to do. Social media is a key growth engine for that database.”
‘CONTENT IS STILL KING BUT CONTEXT WILL BE QUEEN’
“We’ve heard for many years that content will be king,” Cinco’s Marullo continued. “However, in Web 3.0 [and the immersive fan experience], context will be queen. That’s super important: to bring people [into the metaverse] with context.
“However, in Web 3.0 [and the immersive fan experience], context will be queen. That’s super important: to bring people [into the metaverse] with context.”
“Fans get so much information and moves so fast via social media. If we’re able to bring people in with a context, it will allow people to consume that information through storytelling and offer a richer conversation and a better relationship with sponsors. Sponsorship is about changing perception and changing behavior.”
In order for the metaverse to reach its potential, Marullo says that sports organizations and their partners “have to take risks”. Having worked closely with the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic organizing committees, he says major sporting events are already pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the metaverse, adding: “The leaders of the future will be the risk-takers of today.”
As sport’s digital landscape evolves, N3XT Sports is supporting clubs, leagues, federations, and major events organizers to digitize their existing infrastructure. This helps them to capitalize on future fan engagement and customer monetization opportunities that data-driven technologies offer the industry. In order to take that first step, our team of experts can help your organization develop and implement a unique digital roadmap for future digital expansion.
To find out more about what N3XT Sports can offer your organization’s digital transformation, please fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.