Australian Open Tennis Tournament Will Be Virtually Hosted At Metaverse Decentraland

The Australian Open will be held in the Decentraland metaverse (tothemooncurrency)

JAKARTA – One of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world, Astralia Open (AO) is reported to be holding a virtual tournament this year. The championship will reportedly be held on the Decentraland metaverse, one of today's leading virtual reality platforms.

In addition, fans will also be able to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFT) which are linked directly to live match data. The entry of the Australian Open into the metaverse realm was driven by soaring cases of Omicron in the land of Kangaroos.

Therefore, the organizers decided to provide wider access for tennis fans from around the world to watch the match live in a virtual world. Apart from watching tennis matches, fans will also be able to observe the main Rod Laver Arena stadium, and explore the restaurants there.

"With the next wave of technology, global tennis fans will have the opportunity to be part of the Australian Open 2022 in a way that has never been seen before," said Craig Tiley, Australian Open Tournament Director.

According to Cryptopotato, the organization will release a collection of 6,776 NFTs, called “Art Ball NFTs.” Each collectible will correspond to the winning shot from all matches from the 2022 championship. Owners will also receive an airdrop with points snippets, virtual wearables, and other benefits in the future.

Connected NFT owners can claim and acquire physical tennis balls from matches used in play in custom handcrafted boxes. Furthermore, the NFT will be tracked by the same technology used to score match points in the game.

“Art Ball NFTs” will go on sale on January 10, while the AO Decentraland show will air on January 17, the same day the physical tournament begins.

With the entry of the prestigious Australian Open tennis tournament into the metaverse world, Decentraland was followed by a smartphone company, namely Samsung, which opened its virtual store there. The virtual world is increasingly loved by various world companies, including Adidas which penetrated the metaverse of The Sandbox, Nike entered the metaverse of Roblox. In addition, the metaverse has also begun to be of interest to the global community. Previously, singer Justin Bieber has also held the first virtual concert in the metaverse.