The top English Premier League football club Manchester City has announced their entry into the Metaverse by initiating the project where they are planning to build the Etihad stadium in the Metaverse itself. The plan behind this project is to create an opportunity for Manchester City fans to be part of the live and recorded matches from all over the world.
The club has partnered with Sony to build the stadium replica in the virtual space. The virtual stadium will also be the Premier League Champions central hub in Metaverse. The Etihad Stadium is the home ground for the English top football team Manchester City. On February 18, the team announced that they had signed a three-year contract with Sony, which will enable the virtual reality specialists to use skeletal-tracking technology and image analysis from the Sony subsidiary Hawk-eye.
The team has high expectations from the replica stadium in the virtual space, and they hope that the fans will enjoy the benefits from this virtual reality stadium. The covid restrictions are still hampering the travel options in England, and this project will bring fans a more immersive experience in the Metaverse setting, and it will also relieve the thirst of the fans who are dying to watch the games from the home stadium.
With this proposed project, the club is right now tearing down the barrier for the fans who want to experience the live and recorded matches by starting the construction of the virtual stadium in the Metaverse. The Chief Marketing Officer of the City Football Group, Nuria Tarre, has stated there they have agreed and initiated this project because of multiple reasons, including giving the fans the opportunity to be part of the live matches, the fans can also fill the stadium as much as possible because the seats are unlimited, fans from all over the world can watch the matches because the whole process is completely virtual.
Hawk-Eye is a subsidiary company of Sony which has been dedicated to enhancing the visualisation of sports games and live matches for officials and viewers. The company was established in 2001 and was initially committed to enhancing the visualisation of cricket games before expanding into other sports.
With the help of specialised replay technology, it helps the game officials to make appropriate decisions and in-game judgements in live matches. The visual application of Hawk-Eye will also help in recreating the dimensions of the Manchester City home ground, Etihad Stadium, in the virtual platform. This Metaverse project will give Manchester City the opportunity to give their worldwide fans access to the stadium and the team. According to the ECHO, the Liverpool news agency has hinted that Premier League club Liverpool may also enter the Web3 and Metaverse following Manchester United and Manchester to boost their revenue.
Earlier this month, the most celebrated Premier League club, Manchester United, announced their arrival in the Web3 ecosystem with a partnership with Tezos (XTZ). Tezos is Manchester United’s news official training kit and crypto partner, as well as they may help in developing the digital merchandise of the club in the virtual space.
