Tennis Australia has recently partnered with Decentraland, which is actually an open source 3D virtual world platform. They will organise the first official tennis grand slam in the Metaverse.
In Decentraland, users purchase virtual pieces of land as NFTs on the site using the MANA cryptocurrency.
The important places in Melbourne Park, including the Rod Laver Arena and Grand Slam Park, will be available for the Australian Open, which begins on January 17 and continues for a fortnight.
Exclusive content for virtual visitors will feature behind-the-scenes footage from over 300 cameras located around Melbourne Park, including the exclusive player arrivals area and the practice village.
In addition to live footage and AO radio, it will show historical footage from tennis matches dating back to the 1970s, as well as virtual meet-ups with tennis stars like Mark Philippoussis, with additional players still to be announced.
Ridley Plummer, Tennis Australia NFT & Metaverse Project Manager, stated in a virtual welcoming message on Decentraland that he believes the AO will become the “world’s most accessible and inclusive sports and entertainment event.”
