Image Obtained from freepik.

es and draw by Maria Rueda

 INDEX

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................. 3
2. JUSTIFICATION OF THE RESEARCH....................................................... 4
3. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................... 5
4. WHAT IS METAVERSE................................................................................9
5. LAYERS OF METAVERSE............................................................................13
5.1. INFRASTRUCTURE....................................................................................14
5.2 HUMAN INTERFACE.................................................................................16
5.3 DECENTRALIZATION................................................................................20
5.4 SPATIAL COMPUTING..............................................................................22
5.5 CREATOR ECONOMY...............................................................................24
5.6 DISCOVERY...............................................................................................25
5.7 EXPERIENCE.............................................................................................27
5.8 EXAMPLES OF METAVERSE MARKET MAP LAYERS...........................27
6. METAVERSE MEGATRENDS......................................................................34
6.1 VIRTUAL MAINSTREAMING.....................................................................35
6.3 MACHINE INTELLIGENCE........................................................................35
6.4 RISE OF CYBERNETICS............................................................................36
6.5 CHALLENGES BY OPEN SYSTEMS..........................................................37
6.6 BLOCKCHAIN ADOPTION........................................................................37
6.7 WALLED GARDEN ECOSYSTEMS...........................................................37
6.8 ACCELERATING DISTRIBUTED NETWORKS.........................................38
6.9 SIMULATING REALITY..............................................................................38
7. CURRENT METAVERSES............................................................................39
7.1 DECENTRALAND........................................................................................41
7.2 HORIZON....................................................................................................42
7.3 SANDBOX...................................................................................................43
7.4 ZEPETO.......................................................................................................44
8. STUDY CASES..............................................................................................45
8.1 MICROSOFT HOLOLENS...........................................................................47
8.2 FORTNITE...................................................................................................49
8.3 MANCHESTER CITY- METAVERSE.........................................................51
8.4 NBA- METAVERSE................................................................................... 53
8.5 SUPER BOWL LVI- METAVERSE.............................................................55
8.6 COCA COLA- METAVERSE CAN..............................................................57
9. SUGGESTIONS TO REAL MADRID.............................................................46
10. SPORTS MARKET VISION.........................................................................59
11. CONCLUSION...............................................................................................75
12. REFERENCES..............................................................................................77
13. EXTRA DOCUMENTS AND INTERVIEW........................................................85

02
Executive

Summary
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

RESEARCH

The objective of this research is to show how sports

organizations can build a complete metaverse from
scratch, improving and increasing revenue in the
experience, fan engagement, sponsorship, and
broadcasting fields. In order to achieve this, it is
necessary to analyze how a metaverse works and how
to build it, its tendencies, the stakeholders, the market,
and what is being done by the organizations now.

To give this research a more concrete and useful impression, its

main goal will be to conduct a thorough investigation into the
layers that comprise a metaverse and how they can be applied in a
sports organization. Currently, no sports brand has an immersive
world, but there are already some sports brands experimenting
and preparing for this new era of technology.

The structure that will follow is a result of deep research into the
metaverse and how to build one. Then, to complete the study, an
analysis of megatrends is conducted. Thereafter, sports study
cases from the sports market are considered as a benchmarking
analysis to understand how the market thinks and what they are
doing. A selection of specialists from the sports industry will also be
interviewed. Lastly, develop a value proposition that will illustrate
the right approach to achieving the goals this project has
established.

The methodology will follow exploratory and descriptive research.

To achieve this, it is necessary to use qualitative methods such as
interviews with experts. Complement this with a very detailed
benchmarking of the study cases.

The idea is to correlate the most profitable areas of sport as an

experience, fan engagement, sponsorship, and broadcasting with
the metaverse. It should be a new, powerful and rentable market.
The goal of this project is to present a variety of suggestions that
could improve customer satisfaction and contribute to the owner
company's financial success.
03
 At its conclusion, this project will present a solution that evaluates factors including
improving the experience, increasing and maintaining a strong relationship with
sponsors, and expanding fan engagement. All of this is covered in a proposal that
will increase profits and provide value to sports companies in the metaverse.

Justification
of the Research
We chose to develop this research because we believe that
the metaverse will be the new era of entertainment in sports.
Our background is in social media, branding, and design, so we
think metaverse is a theme that involves all of these areas.
Besides, that is a great opportunity to understand the future of
the sports industry and its consumers, how much money is
involved and be ahead of the conversations about it. Our first
contact with a smart glass in GSIC class was very disruptive
and fun for us. Being an intern at Real Madrid sparked our
desire to think about brand presence in the immersive
environment.

After 6 months, we were able to identify several opportunities,

and we stayed more attentive to new technological trends in
the market. Adding to that, we started to pay more attention to
the e-sport industry and its clients. For us, the most fascinating
thing is the connection between the real and virtual worlds,
which allows us to tell stories to new audiences.

04
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
It is interesting to consider that Hitler utilized the Olympic
Games' broadcast in 1936 to project a positive image to the
world, or that, in the middle of the 1940s, television sales were
significantly influenced by the matches broadcast. Two cameras
were all it took to start a new era between sports fans and their
teams, cutting down on travel time to get to the games and
allowing for more family time.

The videotape revolutionized the audience's relationship with

the team and the way the market operates. For instance,
coaches could view rival teams' games and plays by their own
athletes to analyze strategy and performance. The number of
cameras in stadiums has increased; presently, we have more
than 22 different perspectives and high-definition cameras to
record the game or only to follow a player in particular. This has
made the games more fascinating for spectators and more
useful for technical committees to study.

The development of broadcasting technologies like replay,

freeze, and slow motion helped to improve transmissions by
enabling commentators and content producers to evaluate
games and highlight the best moments, tell stories, and show
emotions, for example. The sale of exclusive content captured
by these cameras is a significant source of additional income for
the rights holders. It is significant to note that the stadium
experience has improved with the advent of big screens. Sofi
Stadium, for instance, boasts the largest screen in a stadium in
the world, which promotes fan engagement and sponsorship
content.

It is crucial to remember that the stadium experience has

improved with the advent of big screens. Sofi Stadium, for
instance, boasts the largest screen in a stadium in the world, on
which it broadcasts replays and plays more closely during
matches and at halftime, promoting fan engagement and
sponsorship content. Wearable sensors, which can operate as
GPS or data storage to enable the creation of reports such as
heat maps, distances traveled, or passes made, are also
gadgets that have increased sports entertainment attention. It
not only stimulates curiosity from fans but also provides useful
information for the coaching staff and the commentator.

06
GEN Z
relationship with sport has not been keeping pace with
the forerunners. Only 52% of them consider themselves
sports fans, and 79% admit that they do not watch live
games. While their parents could easily sit through a 3-
hour commercialized game, the younger generation is less
willing to. They are satisfied to see only the matches' best
moments.

Since the COVID-19 Global Pandemic began in 2020, there has

been an exponential growth in the virtual events industry,
creating a shift in how people experience entertainment. From
digital to virtual theater, from live performances to virtual
concerts on Fortnite and Roblox, the concept of delivering an
experience to users is expanding and thriving within the virtual
reality industry.

As the world makes its way out of the pandemic, the interest in
this new form of experiencing life as a virtual playground has
people leaning towards the Metaverse, the next big deal in the
world of technology. By 2024, it's expected to be worth around
$800 billion dollars. Although the Metaverse is currently a
hypothetical concept, there are indications that it could
represent a significant business opportunity for investors,
corporations, and innovators. The creation of virtual 3D worlds
through social networks, combining the physical and digital
worlds, is the chosen objective of individuals interested in the
Metaverse concept.

The Metaverse is being referred to as the next major step for

social media, the internet, and the entertainment industry, giving
its leaders the opportunity to benefit from new varieties of
revenue sources. There are reports of growth predictions based
on current Metaverse statistics and data that show that it is
currently sitting at the $47 billion dollar mark, thanks to the
surge of interest in 2020 when the pandemic started. Moreover,
there are reports that show that the Metaverse is currently worth
even more: $500 billion dollars, according to Bloomberg, and in
the near future could reach $1 trillion in annual revenue,
according to a report by Grayscal, overachieving the initial
predictions of $800 billion dollars by 2024. Aiming higher, the
highly respected JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are throwing
figures around of $11-$12 trillion dollars.

07
This is due to early predictions of where the Metaverse is
heading. As an example, there have been sections of virtual
land being sold for more than $2 million dollars. This explains
why there is such a buzz around the idea of the Metaverse and
the reason for this research project.

Through consumer-facing, interactive, and immersive virtual

platforms like video games, AR and VR experiences, and social
media, users can connect with the "metaverse." The Social
Gaming Industry is setting the stage for the convergence of
online and offline experiences, providing TV brands and assets
with a tremendous opportunity to expand their online presence
and connect with new, engaged audiences. The "metaverse
experiences" and the fashion industry are being led by Fortnite
and Roblox, and brands are starting to take notice. Gucci, a
Fashion Industry giant has developed a pair of virtual sneakers
that one could try out by using AR filters on Instagram, as well
as on Decentraland (a 3D VR platform), and on Roblox.

This research will be focused on understanding how to build a

metaverse, its predictions for the sports industry, and how
sports organizations have invested millions, even billions of
dollars in getting into the Metaverse such as Manchester City,
NFL, NBA and much more. The metaverse is a possibility of
creating a new world from scratch, connecting real and virtual
life, bringing people and brands together with a new immersive
experience. Additionally, this research will be substantiated
through interviews with Marc Torras, COO of Shirtum, and
Javier Sobrino, Managing Partner at Aser Ventures.

08
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
 This can be evidenced to the extent that we
Digitization has become the trend of the
use an avatar to represent ourselves
century. It has revolutionized efficiency in
virtually in a world we live and coexist in, by
the fields of business, education,
means of its codes. The metaverse is, then,
entertainment, sports, or any other area
a technology that is constituted in
that can be connected with the internet
cyberspace and "materializes" through the
over the past few decades. These industries
creation of 3D Virtual Digital Worlds, in
were boosted to their best performances by which different spaces for living and
the enhancement of their digital systems coexisting are represented in 3D, providing
and online storage, the shift of their data the emergence of contemporary "parallel
processing facilities to remote data centers, worlds'' or "third places."
and cloud platforms. The high performance
of these services has caused the consumer Nowadays, we perceive and live the
experience to have another perspective, constitution of new types of "parallel
making them more discerning, causing worlds", formed not by atoms but by bits
service providers to seek constant (the smallest element of information), which
improvement in their products. Currently, in in a continuity make pixels appear ("they are
the scope of innovation, consumers are points that together form an image"),
increasingly seeking emerging according to Negroponte (1995, p. 20). This
technological products that achieve good shows that the constitution of these "worlds"
results and high definition, such as Virtual is of another nature, a virtual digital nature
that has as its "place" cyberspace,
Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and
providing the emergence of what Levy
Artificial Intelligence (AI), in a freer,
(1999) understands as cyberculture in a
decentralized environment. Thus, the
society that, according to Castells (1999),
Metaverse emerges as the solution that can
can be called Network Society. These
unite all these technologies.
"worlds", with more contemporary
[...] a virtual world, in the broad sense, is a characteristics, "materialize" on the Internet
universe of possible, calculable from a digital through hypertext, instant messengers
model. When interacting with the virtual world, (WhatsApp, Skype), Virtual Learning
users simultaneously explore and update it. Environments (VLE), virtual communities of
When interactions can enrich or modify the relationships (Instagram, Snapchat,
model, the virtual world becomes a vector of Facebook, Tik Tok), virtual digital
intelligence and collective creation. (LEVY, communities of learning and practice,
1999, p. 75) blogs, photologs, MMORPGs (Massive
Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) and
As incredible as it may seem, the word RPGs (Massive Online Role-Playing Games -,
"metaverse" appeared for the first time in a among others. The construction of these
science fiction book "Snow Crash," "worlds" provokes the emergence of their
published in 1992 by cyberpunk writer Neal own languages, representations through
Stephenson. According to the author, the symbols, experiences, and exchanges.
metaverse has true character as well as
real public and private utility, as it is an Anyone with a VR/AR device such as a
extension of real space of the physical headset, phone, computer, or glasses can
world within a virtual space on the internet. access this immersive, virtual world.
In his book, Stephenson describes some Consumers materialize and connect in this
issues concerning the execution spaces, environment through avatars, which have
issues that start to become more relevant the same rights as in the real world in the
as these issues become major and virtual one, such as making transactions,
fundamental in people's lives. like shopping, and interactions, like playing 10
with other avatars.
The future of the metaverse, according to Building the
Metaverse author Jon Radoff, will be driven by creators and
based on decentralization. Whether this future materializes,
one that will deliver the greatest diversity of experiences
commanded by producers who make a career out of it, or one
defined by the next round of regulators and rent-takers,
depends on investments and decisions taken now. As a result,
the value chain, which comprises seven levels and covers
everything from infrastructure to the experience itself, must be
taken into account in order to develop a metaverse world
successfully and efficiently.

The infrastructure is the cradle of the metaverse. It represents

the innermost layer, such as cables, internet speed, and
storage. This is the basis for any metaverse; without it, none of
the other layers are possible. The human interface is what
connects the real world with the virtual world, meaning how
people interact with smartphones, smart glasses, and other
smart connected devices. The Decentralization zone works
with freedom, enabling more transparency and trust for the
consumer. The middle layer is occupied by Spatial Computing,
which shows how our bodies are integrated with the virtual
world. The Creator Economy shows us the eras of it. The
penultimate layer is the discovery layer that reveals how
platforms impact us. And finally, the most attractive layer, the
Experience.

The infrastructure is the cradle of the metaverse. It represents

the innermost layer, such as cables, internet speed, and
storage. This is the basis for any metaverse; without it, none of
the other layers are possible. The human interface is what
connects the real world with the virtual world, meaning how
people interact with smartphones, smart glasses, and other
smart connected devices. The Decentralization zone works
with freedom, enabling more transparency and trust for the
consumer. The middle layer is occupied by Spatial Computing,
which shows how our bodies are integrated with the virtual
world. The Creator Economy shows us the eras of it. The
penultimate layer is the discovery layer that reveals how
platforms impact us. And finally, the most attractive layer, the
Experience.

11
Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-
map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696

Jon
Radoff
Building the

Metaverse

12
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
Infrastructure
For any company seeking to build a Therefore, the spread of the Metaverse will
metaverse, it is necessary to start with the depend on 6G. Wearable Sensors,
infrastructure, the basis of all layers, which Computer Systems Controls, Internet of
contains the technology that enables and Things (IoT), Cloud Systems, Multi-sensory
connects our gadgets to the real world and Mapping, and Virtual Reality require the 6G
provides content. The improvement of the network to be efficient and are essential for
old and the emergence of new technologies, the construction and consumption of the
such as 5G, 6G, cloud systems, GPUs, metaverse. To make this possible, 5G will
among others, have a fundamental function have to adapt to receive technologies like
inside this layer, they are the ones that Terahertz (THz), 3 Dimensional (3D)
make the metaverse work. Since the advent networks, Quantum Communications,
of the Internet in 1980, we have been Holographic beamforming, Backscatter
Communication, and Intelligent Reflective
experiencing an enhancement of the digital
Surface (IRS). For the reason that it is a
and virtual worlds every decade. The
totally immersive world, the precision of
promise nowadays is that 5G networks will
these wearable sensors and equipment is
drastically improve bandwidth as well as
fundamental for man-machine integration.
decrease network contention and delay. In
It is important to note that the union of all
contrast, 6G will significantly increase
the technologies mentioned above brings a
speeds.
series of advantages for the 6G connection
and, consequently, for future users, such as
In terms of digitalization and advanced
high speed, high performance, more data
communication, 5G networks are emerging
storage, and less energy consumption. ​
as the basis for industrial change. It has Intelligent wearables, implants, driverless
pledged to deliver dependable services at vehicles, virtual reality gadgets, sensors,
incredibly fast speeds. Thanks to 5G, fixed and 3D mapping are some of the devices of
and mobile broadband services will be the Metaverse that have the ability to
available anywhere, at any time. In terms of handle enormous volumes of data and very
data throughput, connectivity, and latency, high data rate connectivity and will depend
previous generation wireless networks on 6G wireless networks to work properly.
faced a few difficulties.

The 5G networks are emerging as the

foundation for industrial development in
terms of digitization and improved
communication. It has promised to offer
trustworthy services at breakneck speeds
with almost no latency. Thanks to 5G, fixed
and mobile broadband services will always Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-
map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696
be accessible. Previous generation wireless
networks have a few issues with data
throughput, connection, and delay. The 5G
connection will be one of the challenges of
the Metaverse as it is not yet strong enough
to handle all that this immersive world can
offer.
14
A type of computing known as "cloud computing" makes
resources scalable dynamically and regularly virtualized
and distributed as services over the Internet. Big Data
Mining technology, often known as BDMT, has been
developed as a platform for viewing and sharing. This data
also includes multi-dimensional information that has been
intentionally introduced to prevent privacy infringement,
which presents a significant challenge for data mining in the
big data sharing process. Cloud computing is a potent
technique for merging massive data exchange and
information visualization. Networks can readily access data
and demand thanks to the pay-per-use nature of cloud
storage. These services can be quickly and easily offered by
utilizing the configurable computing resources shared pool,
which includes networks, servers, storage, applications, and
operations. It also requires little administration work or
interaction with service providers and offers quick and on-
demand network access. With little administrative work and
contact with service providers, these services can be simply
spread.

These technologies are enabling unleashed functionality,

via high performance mini chips, such as Micro Electro-
Mechanical Systems (MEMS), in need of the next generation
of mobile devices, smart glasses, hardware, and wearables.
These chips are progressively more potent, with long-lasting
batteries and compact with thinner hardware, the
semiconductors are falling imminently to 3nm processes
and beyond. As we can see in the figure below, mobile or
MEMS devices are still getting faster and denser.

Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696

Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-
map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696

15
 The cheaper ones are based on Kinect

Human Interface
technology, do not require much effort to
use, and are more inaccurate and slower
than the more robust ones based on optical
Our bodies are being invaded by computer
tracking technology, which require more
technologies that cyborgize us. Mobile
effort from users to configure, such as
phones are no longer considered just
external devices, and are more accurate
phones; they have evolved into
and faster.
smartphones. It is a powerful computer that
is highly portable, always connected, and
Humans can visualize, manipulate, and
also has a phone application pre-installed
interact with computers using virtual reality.
on it. With further shrinking, the appropriate
The computer's ability to generate visual,
sensors, embedded Artificial Intelligence
aural, or other sensory outputs of a virtual
(AI) technology, and low-latency connection
world for the user is referred to as the
to potent edge computing systems, it will be
visualization component. A database view, a
able to take in an increasing number of
scientific simulation, or a CAD (Computer-
metaverse apps and experiences. One of
Aided Design) model may all be this
the most important technologies in this
universe. The user can engage in direct
process is VR (virtual reality).
world interaction and object manipulation.
Other methods, such as straightforward
The structure of a VR system is usually
animation scripts or physical simulations,
driven by a tracking system (input) and a
may be used to animate some
display system (output). This means that the
environments. It can be assumed that
system maps the user, allowing the user to
interaction with the virtual environment, at
visualize their actions and movements
least with control over the viewpoint in close
mirrored in real time in the virtual world. One
to real time, is a crucial test for "virtual
of the biggest challenges The goal of this
reality." Some people claim that the phrase
technology is to make the consumer have
"virtual reality" is an oxymoron and object to
"perfect" control over their bodies with
its use. Synthetic environments,
immediate reflection in the stimulation of all
cyberspace, artificial reality, simulator
their senses. However, currently, the
technology, and other words have also been
accuracy of VR devices is still limited by the
used. The most prevalent and alluring is VR,
lack of precision of the tracking system and
which has been widely broadcast by the
the perception that is conditioned by the
media.
limits of the output devices.

A good example of the human interface is

For example, if our feet are not tracked,
the Oculus Quest, which is simply a gadget
then our movements will have no effect on
that converts a smartphone into a VR
the VR simulation. Another illustration is
device, offering users a feel of where the
precision and delay. In VR, these two factors
future is heading. On May 21, 2019,
are controlled by the tracking system.
Facebook Inc.'s Oculus division launched
However, in real-life interactions, these
this virtual reality headset, the Oculus
factors are constrained by the
Quest, a standalone wireless device that
biomechanical limitations of our bodies.
can run Android-based software and
games.
There are several systems that perform this
motion tracking and vary according to
consumer needs and budget

16
In a few years, smart glasses will be able to The core of a VR system is typically
do everything a smartphone can do, along determined by the tracking system (input)
with AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual and the display system (output). The display
Reality) applications, so in a few years, system enables the user to perceive the
Quest 2 should look like the mobile phone of current state of the virtual environment,
decades ago. enabling them to adapt their actions to
reflect the state of the VR simulation. The
According to Bideau (2010), there are three tracking system can capture the user's
steps that are typically involved in movements, which are fed to the VR
integrating VR technology into athletic simulation in order to account for the user's
performance enhancement. Recording the actions. Meanwhile, in the current world, we
actions of athletes in a specific sport is the are accustomed to having "perfect" control
first step. These actions not only help the over our bodies, immediate and predictable
virtual actors move but also give us a behavior from the activities we engage in,
chance to compare how the topic moves in and stimulation of all our senses. In
both realistic and immersive scenarios. contrast, in VR, the accuracy of actions is
Modern video recording technology allows a constrained by the accuracy of the tracking
single, lightweight camera to be easily system, and our perception is constrained
mounted on a participant to capture an by the limits of the output devices.
entire 360° area. The second step is to make
a 360° movie that can be viewed on any For example, if our feet are not tracked,
virtual human interface so they can respond then our movements will have no effect on
to specific movements, such as players the VR simulation. Another illustration is
dodging or kicking a ball. precision and delay. In VR, these two factors
are controlled by the tracking system.
The presentation of the virtual environment However, in real-life interactions, these
is the third step in the integration of VR. A factors are constrained by the
trainer or observer chooses the place to biomechanical limitations of our bodies.
place the participant and which tasks he
should perform, controlling the VR research has been successfully
presentation. Motion capture and implemented in a variety of sports codes to
computational power are technologies that date, with studies in most sports such as
work together to increase the effectiveness football, F1, tennis, baseball, basketball,
of this step. rowing, athletics, and handball.

17
Because the actions are similar in both real and virtual venues,

the research helps to develop better tactical and physical

strategies, such as helping to prevent accidents and improving

performance. Another advantage is the ability to influence

virtual world data and perspective adaptation due to the

tracking system. The ability of VR to maintain experimental

control while accurately manipulating all other parameters of

the experience makes athletes improve their performance on

the track by introducing effects that are difficult to recreate in

real training situations.

According to Watson (2011), VR has been used in sports

research to present accurate, carefully regulated, and refined

visual information to assess corresponding behavioral

responses in various sports contexts. These technologies can

assist athletes and coaches in skill acquisition or performance

analysis, for example. As a result, users can now see things from

a new, relevant and realistic perspective thanks to recent

advances in VR technology (Kulpa et al., 2013).

Another advantage is the ability to influence virtual world data

and perspective adaptation due to the tracking system. The

ability of VR to maintain experimental control while accurately

manipulating all other parameters of the experience makes

athletes improve their performance on the track by introducing

effects that are difficult to recreate in real training situations.

According to Groot (2011), sports simulation training helps

athletes develop skills that they can use in competition by

increasing performance in skill execution and decreasing error

rates. Another factor that impacts athletes' lives, according to

Erickson (2016), is the little or no chance of harm compared to

typical sports training. Simulations can be tailored to specific

scenarios, such as parts taken from game films, and can

produce quantitative data regarding performance. Athletes can

practice these cognitive skills anywhere without restrictions on

field size, time or number of athletes by playing video recordings

or building virtual simulations. Finally, it is worth mentioning that

by using 360° recordings of the real environment, athletes could

visually familiarize themselves with a competitive scenario

before arriving at the venue.

Beyond smart glasses, a developing sector is exploring fresh

approaches to integrate us with machines, such as 3D-printed

wearables and miniaturized biosensors. In order to help monitor

health and/or give clinically useful data for care, wearable

sensors, as the name implies, are incorporated into wearable

items directly into the body. In other words, they measure

everything from heart rate to step count, connected to the

human body. 18
However, medical-grade gadgets are frequently coupled to form an Inertial
required for situations like detecting Measurement Unit (IMU). The name Magneto
diseases, evaluating the effectiveness of Inertial Measurement Unit (MIMU) is
new medications, or monitoring the frequently used in this context because a
performance of professional athletes. In 3D magnetometer is frequently also
addition to being 3D-printed specifically for present. It can assess sensor tilt with
each wearer and being based on their body respect to gravity under quasi-static
scans, the new gadgets also use wireless conditions and detect linear acceleration in
power transfer and small amounts of energy a specific direction. Additionally, it is
storage to enable continuous operation. possible to measure various acceleration
patterns based on the movement when an
In the sports sector, wearable sensors give athlete moves. As a result, examining the
accelerometer signal's attributes can help,
coaches, trainers, and doctors a way to
for instance, in determining the type of
track physiologic and movement
movement, examining its characteristics, or
characteristics in real-time while athletes
spotting pathological changes to the
are practicing and competing. Wearable
movement pattern.
technologies have become more widely
used in sports over the past few decades as
Equally important, the bipolar
a result of their adoption to assess various
configurations are the most popular for use
aspects of an athlete's activity as well as
with surface EMG sensors, which record
investigate the relationship between the
electrical muscle activity at the skin location
athlete's body and the sports equipment.
over the muscular belly. During an observed
For example, inertial sensors can estimate a motor task, the accumulation of successive
number of important kinematic and kinetic action potentials is recorded and post-
parameters, while pedometers, GPS, or processed to either reduce noise or
position data recorders can monitor various normalize the signal for inter-and intra-
aspects of movement in space. Also, subject comparison. Through signal
different kinds of force sensors can monitor rectification and integration or the
the force output produced by an athlete's computation of peak amplitude, the EMG
motion during a sporting gesture. The most signal gives information to assess muscle
popular wearable sensors in sports effort and to detect certain muscle
biomechanics are the ones with activation patterns and synergies, which
biomechanics, which include portable are determined by temporal events (i.e., the
metabolic meters, wireless onset and offset of muscle activation). EMG
electromyography (EMG) devices, and heart analysis is frequently used in sports
rate sensors. This happens because they applications to measure the amplitude of
allow for the measurement and tracking of muscular activation or to identify the onset
physiological parameters under a variety of and offset of EMG activity; in other
diverse circumstances. instances, frequency analysis enables the
calculation of muscle fatigue. Today, the
Typically, the inertial sensors used in sports development of wearable, portable, and
applications are based on Micro Electro commercially available wireless EMG
Mechanical System (MEMS) technology, equipment promotes the study of how the
which makes it possible to create wearable central nervous system directs and controls
movement. In order to use them both
gadgets that are compact, lightweight, and
indoors and outdoors, surface EMG sensors
reasonably priced. These MEMS sensors are
are actually being incorporated into athletic
gyroscopes and accelerometers with one,
apparel.
two, or three sensing axes that are 19
Decentralization
Social networks, if they consist of individuals linked by a shared
interest, can be set up in one of two ways: centralized or
decentralized. Since the network is centralized, all data must
pass through the center node before it can be distributed to the
other nodes. This is the traditional broadcasting model, in which
the broadcast source has a monopoly on the control and
dissemination of information. The decentralized network
functions as a series of interconnected centralized networks
where various nodes consolidate and disseminate information.
This makes it a network with multiple centers, and most of the
hierarchical organizations we are familiar with (churches,
governments, businesses, etc.) operate according to this model.
Departments, which are the network's centers and connect to
other departments, are in charge of controlling and
disseminating information.

Image from blockchain intelligence on apr.13.2021 hhttps://blockchainintelligence.es/infografia-redes-distribuidas-frente-

a-redes-descentralizadas-y-centralizadas/

So when possibilities are maximized, systems are operated and

developed by creators who have full ownership over their own
data and results, and trial and growth increase sharply. The
Domain Name System (DNS), which converts individual IP
addresses to names and ensures the user does not have to type
a number each time it is needed, is the most basic example of
decentralization. These integration technologies help drive the
market by creating an increasingly scalable environment for
exploring online monetisation, which can range from
ecommerce to Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Decentralization is greatly assisted by blockchain technology,

which is a new system that stores value-transition information
quickly, securely, and most importantly, transparently. The
blockchain is transparent as it documents and bundles all
transactions into blocks, which are updated every ten minutes.

20
This area of innovation is known as Web3,
which frees financial assets from
centralized control and custody. The Web3
concept, which is also founded on the
principle of decentralization, manages to
strike a compromise between the best
aspects of the previous two eras of the
internet. Gavin Wood invented the term in
2014. The goal behind Web3 is to combine
decentralization, made possible by Image from Fabric Venture on dec.31.2019 https://medium.com/fabric-ventures/what-is-web-
3-0-why-it-matters-934eb07f3d2b

blockchain, and further empower user-

developed content. Web1.0's basis was We'll witness a flood of innovation
information sharing, and Web 2.0's surrounding decentralized markets and
emphasis was on the significance of user- apps for game assets as a result of the
generated material. A blockchain-based, introduction of NFTs and blockchains
tokenized, and decentralized internet is designed for the kind of microtransactions
what is meant by "Web3.0." As a result, needed by games and metaverse
users can exchange completely verifiable experiences. An NFT is a type of blockchain-
based digital certificate that establishes the
information in a network's public record
uniqueness and exclusivity of digital assets.
known as a ledger, much like it was done
NFTs, which stand for "Non-fungible Token,"
with Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency. The
have gained attention after this kind of
shared data could not be modified or
asset was purchased online for millions of
controlled by a malicious entity because
dollars.
any browsable modification would be
logged into the technology.
Non Fungible Tokens is the abbreviation for
this term. A fungible good is one that can be
Additionally, there would be no restrictions
eaten or traded for something else with a
on access to the new internet and no need
similar value. One of the best examples of a
for passwords, negating the need for an ISP fungible asset is money. A 20 euro note can
or any comparable service. The "sites" of the easily be exchanged for two 10 euro notes,
new technology would similarly do away there will be no change to the sum. On the
with account setup and personal other hand, non-fungible products are those
identification in this situation, enabling that cannot be duplicated or swapped
people to communicate directly and because they contain unique qualities.
anonymously. For instance, internet users Imagine, for example, a piece of art like
might purchase "part ownership" in the form Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night. Even
of tokens to fund the properties and though it is technically possible to create a
accessible sites, ensuring influence over the photographic replica of something and print
projects' direction and preventing their it, the original object will always be more
centralization. Through the application of valuable due to its history, design, and other
artificial intelligence, these operations factors.
would be carried out natively, doing away
with the use of banks and other financial
institutions and becoming "free of
confidence" in a "third party."

21
In other words, an NFT attached to any digital item-an image,
photo, video, music, message, social network posting, etc.-
makes that item unique to the world, creating scarcity around
the item and allowing a market to take hold, involving investors
and collectors interested in spending real money on the
acquisition of digital works and assets.
We can see in the figure below some examples of the main
sports market players, their blockchain type, the game, the
price and the marketplace they work. All of them are available
now and offer the purchase of NFTs.

The Metaverse is the Internet's new era, enabling producers to

offer interactive, immersive experiences built around interests.
Incorporating and linking immersive content; informing,
escaping, telling stories; having “third place” community life,
social interaction, creative expression; collaborating, learning,
training; being a venue for activities.

Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-map-of-the-

metaverse-8ae0cde89696

Spatial Computing
According to Simon Greenwold, a researcher at the MIT Media
Lab's Aesthetics and Computation group, a hybrid real-virtual
computation called "spatial computing" is proposed that will
break down the boundaries between the actual and ideal
worlds. Whenever feasible, the machine in space and the
machine in space should be integrated into one another. This
can sometimes be accomplished by incorporating space into
the computer or by incorporating computation into actual
objects. Most of the time, this entails developing systems that
transcend the limitations imposed by the screen and keyboard
without being bogged down with interfaces or weak
simulation.

22
 With the help of spatial computing, which has grown into a sizable subcategory
of technology, we can now interact with and enter 3D spaces, adding knowledge
and experience to the physical world. The enabling hardware layer, which is
described in more detail under the Human Interface section below, is separated
from the spatial computing software by Jon Radoff. These key components of
software are as follows:

3D engines display geometry and animation, which

create an atmosphere for converting geometry into

visuals on the screen and provide a graphic pipeline for

the development of 3D environments. Unity and Unreal

are companies that provide this kind of service.

Mapping and interpreting the inside and outside worlds

—worlds: Geospatial mapping connects real-time

applications to the world; it is like data and traffic.

Niantic Planet-Scale AR and Cesium are companies

that provide health and fitness services.

Data integration from devices (Internet of Things) and

biometrics from people (for identification purposes as

well as quantified self applications in health and fitness)

Next-generation user interfaces to support concurrent

information streams and analysis

As we saw above, in order to enable powerful apps at low latency without taxing
our devices too much, "far edge" computing will bring the cloud closer to our
homes and even into our cars. Computing power will start to behave less like a
datacenter and more like a utility on a grid (similar to energy).

23
 the number of people working in teams
Creator Economy explodes. To meet needs, building from
scratch typically takes too long and costs
The metaverse's experiences are not only
too much, and workflow becomes more
growing more immersive, social, and real-
complicated. After the market is minimally
time, but also its creators are multiplying at
consolidated, the creators of this stage
an exponential rate. Nowadays, content
already have a bigger market because the
creators are celebrities, making large
details and the number of fans are also
amounts of money. Another important thing
higher. Usually, at this stage, developers are
to mention is that consumers create and
responsible for keeping consumers
consume content. All the technology that
interested and showing the improvement of
creators use every day to design the
the platforms, products, or content.
enjoyable experiences that consumers have
is contained in this layer. When discussing
In the Creator Era, coders prefer to
conventional features like blog comments or
contribute their skills to a project's
video uploads in the past, the term "user-
distinctive features rather than become
produced content" was used. Today,
bottlenecks for designers and creators, an
content is not just created by people; it also
enormous and exponential increase in the
results from their interactions and
number of creators characterized this time
contributes to the content of dialogues in
period. At this stage, the creators are
their communities. Whether in the
responsible for reaching more people and
metaverse, games, online development, or
fortifying the image.
e-commerce, previous creator economies
grew according to predictable patterns:
In the sphere of infrastructure, at present,
no one needs to know a single line of code
to establish a Shopify e-commerce website.
Wix and Squarespace both allow for the
creation and maintenance of websites.
Without ever touching the lower-level
rendering APIs, 3D graphics experiences
may be created within game engines like
Unity and Unreal using visual interfaces
within their studio settings.
Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market- The metaverse will increasingly feature
map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696
social, live, and dynamic experiences. To
Pioneer Era: Since there are no tools date, centrally controlled platforms like
available to the initial users of a given Roblox, Rec Room, and Manticore have
technology, they must build everything from served as the focal points for creator-driven
scratch. This is the betting phase, where experiences in the metaverse. These
only people extremely interested in the platforms offer a comprehensive set of
subject will pay attention and devote time to integrated tooling, discovery, social
it. The influencers here are smaller, more networking, and monetization features that
niche and considered trend setters. They have given an unprecedented number of
are responsible for presenting the content people the ability to create experiences for
in more detail to the audience. other people. The goal of building an
efficient metaverse is to give independent
Engineering Era: Following the early producers the same tools, but in a
achievements in a creative industry, decentralized and open way. 24
Discovery

The discovery layer is about the push and pull that

introduces people to new experiences. This huge ecosystem
is one of the most profitable in the world for numerous
companies, including some of the biggest, such as
Facebook, Google, and Unity. The majority of discovery
systems can be broadly divided into two categories:
inbound, which is when the user is looking for information
about an activity, like live presence, content targeted to the
community, friends experiencing the apps, app shops,
curation through lists of featured apps in the shops,
tastemakers, and influencers; and outbound, which is
nothing more than marketing that has not been requested
by the person, even if they have opted in, such as display
advertising and spam, which can be delivered through
applications such as email, LinkedIn, Discord, and
notifications.

First of all, compared to most marketing strategies,

community-driven content is a much more cost-effective
way to get discovered. Whether for good or bad, consumers
are responsible for the buzz. They are the ones who will
spread the good news if they really care about the ideas or
activities they are participating in, or the bad news if the
experience is bad.

The ability to share, trade, and exchange content will make

it more valuable as a marketing tool in more metaverse
contexts. The NFTs are already a reality and support more
direct creator-community participation by helping to
decentralize exchanges and finances. The use of marketing
content as a substitute for application marketplaces is the
way to discovery emerge.

Real-time presence features are one type of community

surface. This is about what people are actually doing right
now, as opposed to concentrating on what people enjoy.
This is especially important in a metaverse because
communicating with friends through shared experiences will
be so valuable.

25
Similar to how we are dematerializing the physical world,
the metaverse is digitizing social systems. In contrast to
earlier stages of the Internet, which were characterized by
social media "stickiness" around a few monolithic providers
may be shifting power toward social groups and enabling
them to move frictionlessly between collective experiences.
Clubs form in the Clubhouse and organize events in the Rec
Room; guilds switch between video games; and a group of
pals switch between Roblox experiences. This is how the
content-community complex has an impact on marketing.

The metaverse's experiences are not only growing more

immersive, social, and real-time, but also its creators are
multiplying at an exponential rate. Nowadays, content
creators are celebrities, making large amounts of money.
Another important thing to mention is that consumers create
and consume content. All the technology that creators use
every day to design the enjoyable experiences that
consumers have is contained in this layer. When discussing
conventional features like blog comments or video uploads
in the past, the term "user-produced content" was used.
Today, content is not just created by people; it also results
from their interactions and contributes to the content of
dialogues in their communities. Whether in the metaverse,
games, online development, or e-commerce, previous
creator economies grew according to predictable patterns.

Real-time presence recognition that takes into account the

wide range of activities taking place in the metaverse is one
of the best opportunities for creators to be discovered. We
will gradually move from asynchronous "social networking"
to real-time "social activity" once Discord's presence-
detection Software Development Kit (SDK) gets adopted
more widely and is more readily visible. The route will be
paved by experiences that equip local leaders with the
means to start initiatives that people truly want to
participate in.

26
Experience
The metaverse is initially thought of as a fin ways to adapt and reflect gamification
virtual 3D environment that surrounds our in order to have a share in this fast-growing
daily lives. Moreover, and o n a deeper level, innovative economic dynamic.
it's theorized as the imminent
dematerialization of a given physical space, As a result of this dynamic, immersive
distance, and objects, not to be reduced to virtual universe, the content-community
just 3D or 2D, or even necessarily graphical. complex is an intrinsic characteristic of the
It is consistent, however, with 3D on video Metaverse experiences that are connected
games in gaming consoles such as Fortnite, to live events. Thus, users are now
Beat Saber on VR headsets, and Roblox on simultaneously content creators, amplifiers,
laptops, Clubhouse on mobile phones, Alexa and curators, as opposed to just being
in homes, Zoom in virtual workplaces, and content consumers. For the past decades,
Peloton in in-house gyms. online platforms' commonplace features,
such as blogs. Nowadays, content isn't just
The changes in user experience that were created by people but is the result of their
once multisensorial can become online interactions. Therefore, a virtual
extrasensorial, immersive, and inclusive. As ecosystem of events, content, and social
an example, within a video game, the user interaction results, and it is sustained by
can become a rock star, a Jedi, a Formula 1 content creation. In the near future, the
driver, or an infinite number of possibilities. meaning of "immersion experience" will be
Games are a pathway forward, with a linked to how social immersion fosters
variety of applications for day-to-day life social engagement and drives content,
and entertainment. For instance, usually outscaling immersion within a graphical
there are front row seats available for space or a virtual world.
purchase for a live concert, but in a virtual
concert it can create an individual virtual
environment so every user has the greatest
seat in the house.
Properties of the
Metaverse Experience
Games are focusing on developing ways to
include more live entertainment-inspired The ability to provide an immersive
events, pointing towards, and not exclusive experience distinguishes the Metaverse
to, immersive theater and music concerts from other virtual worlds. According to Jon
that have been made popular on platforms Radoff, author of Building the Metaverse,
such as Fortnite, Roblox, and Rec Room. the metaverse experience offers four
These types of social entertainment can act essential properties, which are: being highly
as a bridge for the integration of sports and relevant to the activities; being in an
online communities. Meanwhile, immersive world with the person present;
conventional sectors such as tourism, created by growing creators; and arising
education, and live entertainment have to and linking emergent content.

27
As we break down Radoff's essential It is important to fully understand how
properties, we can better understand the metaverse layers function. This is why the
goal of this chapter would be to analyze
metaverse. Relevance to Activities is the three important metaverse stakeholders like
mainstreaming of immersive experiences, Unity, Epic Games, and Roblox and in which
meaning the actions of users don’t simply of these layers they’re the strongest and
why.
browse through pages and apps but
engage in activities with others within
places. Being creator-driven is understood Unity
as the tools that enable users to create their
Unity is a cross-game engine platform
own activities, as well as generating a created by Unity Technologies and
creator economy that allows users to add developed in 2005 as a Mac OS X game
engine, but since then it has been changing
content to activities, enabling non-technical
and now it's intended to support almost all
users to shape the metaverse. types of platforms such as desktop, mobile,
consoles, and virtual reality. The platform
It is also important to mention the high has become the world’s leading platform in
the creation and operation of RT3D (Real
capacity of embedding and linking Time 3D technology) content, that is,
emerging content that will be the new trend software which is fully interactive and
in innovation. The Metaverse is able to allows creators to render any kind of
environment in a really fast way. RT3D is
interconnect and link internet elements in
really important in creating immersive and
an immersive way for innovation. interactive experiences because it gives the
user the access to be part of a really look-
alike environment and to have control of the
elements of it.(Unity, s.f.)
Examples of Metaverse

Market Map Layers In terms of numbers, Unity has a really big

impact in the industry, managing to have 5
billion downloads per month built on their
platform.
28
% of the top 1,000 mobile games are made with Unity. They
have 3.9 billion monthly active users who consume content
or operate it, and they have 190 plus countries where they
have people creating apps with the platform.

When talking about the metaverse, the CEO of the

company, John Riccitiello, sees it as : “ The word metaverse
is plural. We don’t think that one company will represent the
metaverse... We believe there are going to be hundreds of
thousands of destinations in the "metaverse”.(Strickland,
2021) Their vision is very clear through the number of
platforms that they have that are working on metaverse,
such as: AltSpaceVR, Microsoft Mesh, Sinespace
Breakroom, Spatial, Horizon, The Sandbox, Rec Room, VR
Chat, and Decentraland. Also, the company is incentivizing
new creators to join the movement and create new
metaverses with them by developing a new educational
online program called “Road To Metaverse” where they do
talks and workshops about what it is and how to enter it.

Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696

This image represents the layers of the metaverse and in

what aspects of it Unity is strongest. In orange, those are
the aspects that dominate the most. Those are : Ad
Networks, Design Tools, Asset Markets, and 3D Engines for
VR/AR/XR. As mentioned before, due to their amazing RT3D
software, 3D development is the most important core
business for them because of the large support of plug-ins
and assets. Also, on the Discovery layer, they’re very strong
as a consequence of the Unity Adds network, which is now
considered one of the big three ad networks along with
Google and Facebook, and is giving them a large quantity of
revenue.

29
Epic Games
Epic Games was founded in 1991 by Tim Sweeney and their
headquarters are in Cary, North Carolina. Today, the
interactive and entertainment company is one of the
leaders in this industry, providing 3D engine technology
(Games, n.d.). It has more than 40 offices worldwide and is
the owner of one of the world’s biggest games, "Fortnite,”
which has over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend
connections. They also have created metaverse
experiences around the game, like concerts and new
launches of some of the world’s most important companies
in the metaverse. Additionally, they also develop “ Unreal
Engine," which is, according to Unrealengine.com, “the
world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation
tool.” Thanks to this, this creation tool powers the games
created by them and others, and it has also been used by
other industries such as manufacturing, architecture,
simulation, film, and TV.(Engine, n.d.)

Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696

The image above represents the layers of the metaverse and

in what aspects of it Epic Games is strongest in orange are
the aspects they dominate the most, that are in the
Experience layer :Games, Esports, Theater. In the Discovery
layer: social, curation, rating, stores, In the creation economy:
Design Tools, Asset Markets, and in Spatial Computing : 3D
engines, VR/AR/XR. All these aspects that they dominate in
the metaverse layers are a result of their three main core
social businesses, which are the Unreal Engine, Epic Online
Services, and Epic Game Stores, which allow them to provide
the metaverse world an end-to-end ecosystem.

30
Roblox
Roblox was founded in 2004 by David Baszuki and Erik Cassel
as an online platform and storefront where users can go to
play games, all games in the community are made by their own
users thanks to all the tools they have access to in the game
platform. In 2020, over half of kids in the U.S.A. that are under
16 years old were actively playing games on Roblox (Diaz,
2021). They have over 29.1 million developers, creating 11.1
million experiences as a result of games not coexisting in the
same world, as it happens in Fortnite, but each one being a
whole different experience . And customers playing on the
platform have accumulated 95.1 billion hours. In addition, they
have started trying new experiences such as concerts, such as
the one they did with Lil Nax that reached 33 million people
connected online.(Roblox, n.d.)

As for the economical numbers, Roblox has an accumulative

earnings of developers valued at $1.0 billion dollars since
2018. In terms of the company, in the first quarter of 2022, they
grew their revenue by 39% more or less to over $537.1 million
dollars. The net cash flow of the company was over $156.4
million. They paid $250 million in 2020 to the game developers
as part of their business plan. Also, the platform has its own
currency called Robux that users can later on exchange for
real money or use in the games to get some features.(Notaney,
2022).

With respect to the metaverse, David Bazsuki, one of the

Roblox creators, says : “We’re actually in the middle of it right
now."(Major, 2022) There are over 200 million roughly monthly
people on the roadblocks platform every month. They do a lot
of things. They have an identity; they have an avatar. They do
stuff together. Sometimes, when they can’t be together in
person, they’ll go to a birthday party together or graduate from
high school together." This shows how the company is
experiencing the beginning of the metaverse with the
creations their users make that allow people to try and do the
activities of daily life but online.(CURRY, 2022)

31
 Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021 https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/market-map-of-the-metaverse-8ae0cde89696

The image above represents the layers of the metaverse and

the aspects of it. Roblox is strongest in orange in the aspects
they dominate the most, which are in the Experience layer,
Social and Theater, and in Discovery: Ad networks, Social
Curation, Ratings, and Stores. In the creator economy Design
tools and asset markets are the dominant spatial computing
3D engines. e aspects that they dominate in the metaverse
layers are a result of their business model. They split revenue
between creators and owners. They have an advertising
platform where people can promote games in the ecosystem,
by having their own 3D engine integrated into the platform
with a marketplace for creators to use, and by having a lot of
tools and technologies that help in the discovery layer and
become essential for creators in their process.

32
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
 As the metaverse gains more and more popularity and important companies turns
the focus on it like meta, Coca Cola , Nike , sports entities and much more, the
focus of the future of it and how would it be, star to become a main topic in the
discussion of what’s coming next and how is it gonna happen. In this process,
where everyone starts to talk about a certain object, is where trends and
megatrends are created. In this section are some of the biggest megatrends that
are gaining more popularity in the metaverse world, such as virtual mainstreaming,
the rise of cybernetics , blockchain adoption, and much more, as seen in the image
below. (Radoff, Medium, 2021)

9 Megatrends Shaping the Metaverse

Virtual Mainstreaming Low-code Platform Machine Intelligence

Challenges by Open
Rise of Cybernetics

Systems

Blockchain Adoption Walled Garden Ecosystems

Accelerating Distributed
Simulating Reality

Networks

Graphic from Jon Radoff on May 19, 2021 link:https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/9-megatrends-shaping-the-metaverse-93b91c159375

34
Virtual Mainstreaming and no-code application platforms (LCAP)
offer higher-level abstractions, such as
The first trend is virtual mainstreaming. It visual scaffolding and drag-and-drop
consists of the basis of real life and digital tooling. As a result, the most obvious
life and how more and more people believe advantage of this trend is that some of the
that the virtual world is just as real as the work that programmers formerly conducted
real one. However, in the real world, may now be done by non-programmers.
relationships and organizations run on trust. However, this doesn't adequately convey
It provides the framework for how the significance or the reasons behind
businesses develop within regulated business adoption of these platforms. The
environments, how our money market extensive automation that takes place
continues to run, and how we measure the beneath the visible layer of LCAP, including
strength of our connections. Each of these the automation of workflow, distribution,
technologies is scalable because of trust. safety, climbing, and integration with
The scalability of the metaverse and the numerous data endpoints, accounts for a
industries that support it will also expand as significant portion of its "magic." The
confidence continues to grow in the "virtual" majority of the time spent developing
world, including with online friends, virtual Internet apps is frequently consumed by this
goods and cryptocurrency assets, smart complexity and scale. As well, some of the
contracts, and live online experiences. consequences will be a significant decrease
(Radoff, Medium, 2021) in the amount of labor necessary to
construct apps, in addition to a change in
However, there is frequently a countertrend who executes the work. According to
to any significant trend; as people respect Gartner's predictions, by 2023, more than
the virtual world more, this will give those half of big companies will use LCAPs to run
looking to take advantage of it more at least some of their infrastructure. In
confidence. Unfortunately, cybercrime is addition, a large majority of these designers
part of this virtual ecosystem too, and the are also adopting serverless architecture.
felonies related to it are also coming in more (Radoff, Medium, 2021)
ways, such as phishing scams to steal your
accounts, numerous internet scams, On the other hand, you have an expanding
ransomware assaults, and virus distribution. number of creator tools that make it simple
As a consequence of the widespread to script complicated behaviors, produce
perception that virtual connections and metaverse content, and engage in
property are genuine, things like online commerce. Contrary to conventional
bullying, abuse, cheating in games, and opinion, these items don't really cater to
infidelity in relationships will all become small businesses as much as they do to
more destructive. With increasing enterprises. Although "business" technology
investments from businesses aiming to is typically difficult to scale down to
combat crime and abuse, these behaviors individuals, there are several instances
will increase as more value is placed on where this was possible and the personal
them.(Radoff, Medium, 2021) solution ended up being the most
convenient one for the enterprise. That
Low-code Platform includes pretty much everything that Adobe
The second trend is low-code platforms and has ever produced. Nowadays, everything
is about how, in place of manually coding from small enterprises to some of the
procedures, logic, and applications, low- biggest brands in the world is powered by
code no-code or low-code platforms like Shopify 35
These machines will progressively These platforms are being used by
understand our voice commands, gestures, platforms like Unity Data-Oriented
and biometric data. Additionally, brain Technology Stack (DOTS) to produce small,
interfaces might possibly make it possible effective binaries that function at the level
for machines to comprehend our intentions the metaverse will require (in particular,
more quickly than we can. Project Tiny at Unity). Because they enable
widespread collaboration amongst software
The result of that is that the metaverse engineering projects, open systems are also
won't just be a place we enter. We'll be a social phenomenon. The Open Source
surrounded by the metaverse at all times. movement, which is effectively a
permissionless social network of software
Moreover, there is a social shift occurring as engineers, can be compared to Reed's Law,
a result of wearable and mobile technology which foresaw the exponential value of
convergence. It will change how our homes, programs like Slack or WhatsApp.(Radoff,
jobs, communities, and public Medium, 2021)
transportation are organized. It will alter the
way you make friends, place food orders,
travel, and work together on projects.
(Radoff, Medium, 2021)

Challenges by Open

Systems
The fifth megatrend is the challenges of the
open system. A system is considered to be
Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/9-

open if all of its components and protocols megatrends-shaping-the-metaverse-93b91c159375

adhere to industry standards and are

independent of any one vendor. Wasm and equivalent open source
(OxfordLanguages, n.d.) The initial vision for platforms could increase the possible
the Internet was of a widely dispersed, number of contributors and produce more
decentralized network of applications and value than all of the permissioned platforms
computers that could communicate with combined. Linux and the PC are examples
one another. Despite the fact that several of systems without permission that should
very large platforms that serve as prosper in the future. In addition, individuals
gatekeepers and tollbooths dominate the may reclaim control over their own data
internet. Nowadays, new innovations in through the use of technologies like
technology and open standards can adjust decentralized digital identification systems
the metaverse's future. and zero-knowledge proofs. Due to the lack
of requirement for trust, this may encourage
Fast, secure, and sandboxed binary users to provide Internet applications
applications for the open web are promised access to more of their personal
by WebAssembly (Wasm). Graphical and information. If we can set programs and
immersive experiences that can be supplied data free to do so, network effects might
outside of application stores will benefit increase exponentially. (Radoff, Medium,
from WebGL and WebXR. 2021)

36
Blockchain Adoption The value of the network rises with the
number of nodes that can participate in it,
The sixth megatrend is blockchain adoption. and Reed's Law states that this value rises
What blockchain does is enable even further if groups coalesce around
decentralized authority, a record of history particular activities. Moreover, the
and provenance, and demonstrable scarcity contribution to value is exponential. More
of assets, as well as trustless data transfers. people, more applications, and more
A blockchain can support permissionless building blocks for those applications all
participation or decentralized autonomous equate to more smart contracts and
organization governance when it is decentralized applications. Since you can
decentralized. Furthermore, blockchains, a place your trust in the blockchain system
distributed ledger technology, can itself rather than a single authority,
accomplish for assets and data what Open blockchains are referred to as "trustless"
Source and the Open Internet have done for systems. Yet blockchains' social scalability
software and applications. Besides, one of is a result of the long tail dispersion of all
the main uses of blockchains is this bureaucracy. (Anwar, 2018)
programmability. Although not all
blockchains are inherently programmable, Decentralized loans, decentralized finance,
Ethereum and other "smart contract" chains and decentralized asset exchanges have all
rely heavily on it. been made possible by network effects,
which cleared the way for on-chain data
One of the main goals of blockchain is to get feeds that may be utilized as conditions in
rid of the intermediary, so that the process smart contracts. The rise of non-fungible
becomes cheaper and easier. One of the assets may serve as the foundation for
newest concepts that came with Blockchain virtual products in a new generation of
is Smart Contracts, an easier way that games, avatar customizations, and
would save a lot of time in the business metaverse experiences.
process and that was first introduced by
lawyer Nick Szabo in 1994. The next graphic
gives a better explanation of how this Walled Garden

contract works and how it can help improve Ecosystems

the process. (Anwar, 2018)
The seventh megatrend The Walled Garden
Ecosystem is called like this because it is a
megatrend that gets benefits from the other
megatrends in the metaverse. Not every
world or program will be accessible. In some
cases, a platform or application should have
characteristics like integration, curation,
control, and permission. Without the
combination of these qualities, Roblox
would never have gained popularity.
Ironically, the open systems that challenge
walled gardens also help them. Many clients
might feel safer with them because they use
the same open-source technology and
blockchains as everyone else for the reason
37
Image from Jon Radoff on apr.13.2021https://medium.com/building-the-metaverse/9-

megatrends-shaping-the-metaverse-93b91c159375 that there is no issue with walled gardens.

People should find it simple to design their
own walled gardens and allow other
Simulating Reality
creators to join, contribute, change, and
Finally, the ninth megatrend is simulated
interact in accordance with the guidelines
reality. For many years, a set of tricks
they've established. (Radoff, Medium, 2021)
known as shader programming was the
primary method used by practically all
How each walled garden will be found is a
games using 3D graphics to generate real-
concern when there are more and more of
time visuals. Ray tracing simulates how
them. There are hierarchical discovery
images appear depending on how photons
platforms like Roblox that are powered by
bounce between and across various
search and popularity and act as a
materials using the laws of light physics.
"YouTube for games." This will continue
Ray tracing requires a significant increase
because individuals enjoy curating and
in processing power but produces graphics
developers enjoy having access to large
that are far more beautiful and realistic,
audiences. However, solutions for portable
which is why it is utilized for pre-rendered
social networks, portable avatars, and
content like movies.
interoperability are in the works. If
successful, this might connect many walled
However, real-time raytracing is coming. It
gardens, utilizing open platforms, and offer
is just one illustration of the way our
up new possibilities for curation and
machines will simulate reality. All of these
discovery. (Radoff, Medium, 2021)
simulations and AI engines connected to a

Accelerating
framework that is open and interoperable
will allow logic and prediction to mimic a
Distributed Networks world of digital people, objects,
environments, and devices.
The eighth megatrend is Accelerating
Distributed Networks. Mobile networking Additionally, an increasingly growing
speeds, concurrency, and delay will all number of feeds from the physical world will
increase dramatically with 5G networks. provide data. This includes geolocation
And 6G will further improve these measures data, traffic data, oracles that provide
by another 10–100X, thus 5G is not the end financial data to smart contracts, digital
of the line. Within a decade, we should twins of physical things equipped to
experience 10 Gbps speeds with 1 ms disclose all of their features, and real-time
latency. data about people and processes.
Moreover, instead of just having an Internet
Although the accelerated speeds are of Things, we'll have an Internet of
required to enable the metaverse, some of Everything that is combined with real-time
the most intriguing applications come from visualization, AI, and predictive analytics.
the network effects that happen when all of (Radoff, Medium, 2021)
the network's users can share real-time
data. (Radoff, Medium, 2021)

38
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
When talking about the metaverse, it may seem like something
futuristic , but as read before in this research, this is something
that is already happening and that has really big brand names
behind it working for the better development of it. Some of these
brands are Animoca , Meta, and TVM. Animoca was founded in
2014 by Yat Siu and David Kim and is a company that delivers
blockchain games, normal games, and other digital world
products like NFTs and Nowadays Metaverse. Some of their
most popular games are The Sandbox, Crazy Defense Heroes,
and Crazy Kings. They have acquired 21 organizations and have
more than 340 investments. At the beginning of the year, they
got a $5 billion dollar valuation to keep on working in the
metaverse. Animoca is one of the biggest companies in this
digital world. That is why they collaborate with brands such as
WWE, Moto GP, Bayern Munchen, Disney, Formula E and much
more(Animoca Brands, 2022) (Siu, 2022). On the other hand,
there’s Meta. The company, known as the Facebook Company,
at the end of the year 2021, announced the rebranding more
focused on their new goals and expectations, taking into
account the first one that would be metaverse. Since then, they
have been creating the “world’s fastest computer” to make
every task in the metaverse more agile and for it to support the
large amount of data. In this creation and in their beginnings in
the metaverse, they are spending $10 million dollars. Although
their metaverse is not ready, they are using their VR company,
Horizon, as a metaverse, bringing immersive experiences to
users and testing the monetization program they’ll have. In the
meantime, they are also searching for a way to connect their
social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Whatsapp
into this digital world. For instance, they created a way that
people could share their NFTs on their Instagram account
without losing any of their properties (Meta, n.d.)(Chauhan,
2022). Lastly is triverse maker TVM, a Korean-founded
metaverse company that is taking major steps by being the first
one into the sports metaverse. As a result of a global alliance
with LaLiga that at first would last 2,5 years but can be
extended. In the agreement announcement, the director of TVM,
Josh Kim, says, "The reward system will revolve around NFTs, as
blockchain technology and NFTs go hand in hand." So, naturally,
we will have our own trading platform for NFTs. Users will join as
fans of a particular sports property, and will have to devote time
and energy to building their fan city.

At some point, they will be able to see and compare how their
fan city has performed compared to other club cities. giving a
brief idea that fans will be able to create and show their football
passion in these fan cities.
40
In addition, they have created an NFT called TVER that would
be the governance currency that is now valued at 10 USDT (also
known as Tether), which is a stablecoin that has a value that
mirrors the U.S dollar and can be earned by playing in this sports
metaverse(TVM, n.d.)(CoinTelegraph, 2022) (LaLiga, 2022) .

All these companies and much more are the ones that would
make metaverse for companies and specially for sport entities
as we imagine today fizable in a nearby future by making all of
these investments and alliances between big brands in the next
points there are some example of current metaverses , how they
work, and how is their behavior in the market.

Decentraland
Decentraland is an Ethereum-based program that aims to
encourage a global network of users to govern a shared virtual
environment. The company was founded in 2015 by Esteban
Ordano and Ariel Meilich, but the technology was able to start in
2017.(Decentraland, n.d.) The same year, the Decentraland
company held an ICO ( Initial Coin Offering) where they
managed to raise 86,206 ether, more or less $26 million dollars
at the time. They raised this amount of money to help the
company create their future operations. From the token supply,
the Decentraland foundation stayed with 20% to develop and
maintain the platform and the webpage. Before it was officially
launched, they created a decentralized autonomous
organization (DAO) so that users could have management and
control of the project. However, over time, the platform has
evolved in the creation of peer-to-peer communication, in-app
payments, and interactive apps.(Academy, n.d.)(Decentraland,
n.d.)

The Decentraland world functions on two different types of

tokens: MANA and LAND. MANA is the main token of the
platform; it works as a governance token or cryptocurrency that
allows users to purchase and sell LAND and virtual goods. This
token is made with the ERC-20 Ethereum standard, which allows
the exchange between users to be way faster than others.
Though the number of existences of this token would be limited
to 2.194.460.527, so that the price of it would be more valuable.
On the other hand, is the LAND token, which is a Non-Fungible
Token or (NFT) that follows the ERC-721 standard and responds
to the smart contract characteristics, such as defining the
ownership of the land parcels, because each token represents
Image from Luke Leitch on mac.29.2022

the properties of those land parcels. In addition to this, https://www.vogue.com/article/metaverse-fashion-week-decentralan

Decentraland manages a marketplace that lets players manage

their tokens and exchange them. 41
All these transactions take place in Ethereum wallets and are
later validated by the Ethereum network and logged on the
blockchain. (Kraken, n.d.)(Academy, n.d.)

Lastly, it’s important to understand how the Decentraland

metaverse is created, and for this it is important to know its
architecture. The platform has 3 main layers: the consensus
layer, the content layer, and the Real-Time Interaction Layer.
The Consensus Layer is the one where all operations inside the
game are tracked. When a player creates something new on the
platform, this layer works to create the responsible blockchain
for this new item. The second layer is the Content Layer, which
manages the storing of information that would be used to create
new elements in the virtual world, this layer can be divided into
three small pieces. The first one, called Content Files, works with
studio audio and visuals, the second one, Script Flies, helps
define the behavior and place of the content; and lastly, an
Interaction Definition that works as a peer-to-peer with
interactions such as voice chat , messaging, and more.
Furthermore, the last layer, the Real Time Interaction one, allows
real-time interaction inside Decentraland. (Ordano, Meilich,
Jardi, & Araoz)

Horizon
Horizon worlds and Horizon Venues opened in North America in
December of 2021 as part of Meta's (Before Facebook company)
metaverse vision. Before the platform, Horizon Worlds was
launched, it was part of a private beta for users and testers to
try the world-building tools. From its opening until February of
2022, the platform gained 300,000 users. Considering that it is
relatively new, it is hard to tell if the growth is rapid or not. But
even if they are new, the Meta company has announced that
10,000 new separated worlds have been built and the private
Facebook group for developers and creators has now surpassed
20,00 members. (Heath, 2022)

As Meta is in the process of making Horizon rentable for

creators, as they said, “The metaverse, by its nature of not being
limited by physical space, will bring a new level of creativity and
open new opportunities for the next generation of creators and
businesses to pursue their passions and create livelihoods."
"Creators and entrepreneurs will have more freedom to find a
business model that works for them.” (Entrepreneur Staff ,
2022)Along with this, they also announced a $10 million dollar
Image from Ian Kane on mar.23.2022

fund to support and encourage them. https://dappradar.com/blog/top-10-best-metaverse-virtual-worlds-

with-land-nfts

42
At the beginning, just a few creators over 18 years old from the
U.S.A and Canada would be the beneficiaries of this process,
where they would be able to sell their own made creations and
have access to some limited versions of the universe. Even
though Horizon is not making money for Meta right now, as said
before, which is important in their metaverse process, in the
near future, the platform will receive a percentage of every
creator transaction made out there. Lastly, and sadly, the
Horizon metaverse has received a lot of complaints since it
opened, with a lot of complaints about children under 18 in the
platform, and virtual sexual assault, which is something that the
company would need to work on with more security. At the same
time, they left the Horizon experience accessible for everyone
with a Facebook account.(Barr, 2022)

Sandbox
The sandbox is a software platform that, like Decentraland, is
run on Ethereum and that works as a non-centralized virtual
gaming space. It was created in 2011 by Pixoul and was a
mobile gaming platform. In 2018, the co-founders, Arthur Madrid
and Sebastian Borget, decided to give a 360° to the game and
start investing in the creation of a 3D metaverse using
blockchain. In addition the importance and value that The
Sandbox have gained , had a big infleuntiation in the $93 million
dollars investment they received from SoftBank the big
Japanese company.(The Sandbox, n.d.)

The Sandbox is a game that, as you play, gains money and

combines 3D metaverse with blockchain, Defi, and NFTs. Still,
how does it work? The platform works with 3 types of tokens. The
first one, LAND, is the same NFT Decentraland works with, and
the other two are SAND and the ASSET. The SAND token is a
governance token and is in charge of facilitating transactions
that take part in the everyday life of the game, including buying
LAND, making other game purchases, and interacting with other
consumers.

The governance part of it that holds a decentralized

autonomous organization gives the person holding it the power
to improve the platform and vote in important decisions. On the
other half ASSET tokens, which are non-tangible tokens (NFTs),
are in charge of all the in-game experiences and how to provide
a unique experience for each consumer. Their use can vary from
populating the LAND token or accessing clothing and equipment Image from Tom Farren on dec.23.2021

https://es.cointelegraph.com/news/pwc-hong-kong-purchases-

for the online avatar. (Kraken, n.d.)(Moskov, 2022) land-plot-in-the-sandbox

43
Moreover, in the systematic part of the platform, the game
software in Ethereum uses the blockchain to manage ownership
of LAND and ASSETS. On the other hand, the process of the
creation of a virtual experience allows creators the chance to
use important tools. The first one is Voxel editor, which gives
users the chance to create small 3D designs that include flora ,
fauna, avatars, and avatar needs. The second tool is the Game
Maker, this tool lets creators develop 3D games on the piece of
LAND they own, using also ASSETS that they can either create
or buy in the marketplace. Finally the Sandbox marketplace is a
place where users have to register as ERC1155 assets, which is
a type of ASSET (the one they’re willing to share or sell) on the
ethereum blockchain and then the transaction can take place.
(Binance, 2021)

Zepeto
Zepeto is a well-known Asian metaverse that started in 2018 in
South Korea and was made by an important company in Korea
named Never, Zepeto. It started as a selfie app, and now
customers are given the chance to create a customized avatar
of themselves the way they want to. As well, the company has a
monthly user base of 20 million in the number of months of 2022.
In addition, Zepeto metaverse has revealed that 90% of their
users are from outside Korea , 80% are teenagers between the
ages of 13 to 24 years old, and 70% of their users are females.
(DPG, 2022) (Zepeto, n.d.)

The large amount of teenage population that the Zepeto

Metaverse is obtaining is very much influenced by the alliances
and experiences they have provided in their app, such as the
collaboration with K-pop group Blackpink for making their Ice-
cream music video that got over 120 million views on youtube,
Selena Gomez's special meet and greet with fans; and
collaboration with super famous fashion brands like, Gucci,
Christian Dior, Nike , NARS, and much more to create special
virtual views and 3D products for users to try them on virtually.

As one of the gen z that use Zepeto sayed “ I don't have enough
money to buy a Gucci IRL, but I very well can afford to buy Gucci
for my Zepeto, as it literally just cost a few cents'' For teenagers,
this kind of experience also gives them the opportunity to
experience something they wouldn't be able to do in real life.
More because Zepetos money ZEMs is not only available to be
bought with real money, but users can access it by watching Image from Zepeto Wiki on jun.12.2020

https://zepeto.fandom.com/wiki/Blackpink

videos, participating in the metaverse , playing games,

designing and selling avatar clothing. (TrashyMuse, n.d.)
44
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
 What is happening in the Metaverse right now? How are

brands' first steps into this new digital world? The study

cases below would give a complete idea of how the

metaverse is working nowadays and some opportunities in

terms of experience and fan experiences, broadcasting

and sponsorship.

8.1 Experience and fans

experience Study cases

This first chapter is where most of the sports metaverse

experiences will take place, so it's important to understand the

devices that would bring fans closer to these experiences and

which sports entities are already trying and experiencing

metaverses.

46
 Microsoft HoloLens

Image from Microsoft on jun.22.2022 https://www.microsoft.com/es-es/hololens/mixed-reality-partners

Overview: Goals or Problems:

Hololens are Microsoft's special holographic Microsoft's goals with Hololens are to
lenses, they allow you to interact with a world simplify operations in companies , bring
created through the lenses by being able to knowledge closer to anyone at any moment,
move , touch, and scale holograms as if they and increase companies' productivity and
were real objects, Connect with other people wealth.
in real time and work on an special project or
solve a problem, share photos , videos, and Solutions:
other multimedia with other Hololens users. To achieve its goals, the Hololens comes
In addition, the lenses are protected by the with a variety of apps that allow the owner to
Microsoft cloud and technology, which allows fulfill the operation or gather the information
the customer to enter a safe environment they want to access.
while using them and to access new
technological improvements. The apps are:
CAE: An augmented reality app that allows
Quote: students to learn healthcare in a mixed
Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw told BI, reality.
"Microsoft HoloLens remains a critical part of
our plans for emerging categories like mixed GIGXR: an immersive learning platform , for
reality and the metaverse," (Jones, 2022) universities, schools, and companies for
medical and nursing students, that can learn
in a different and more interactive way than
2D and books. 47
 Microsoft HoloLens

Hevolus:This platform turns shopping into a Results & Benefits:

fun and unique experience. The augmented
store and the virtual reality shop Hevolus Manufacturing: 90 % increase in efficiency.
created won a Retail Week award in 2020 40 %Reduction in travel. (Mercedes-Benz is
due to the connections between consumers improving technician efficiency and lowering
and workers that are created via this its carbon footprint with remote assistance.)
platform.
Engineering & construction: $ 44 million in
Kognitiv Spark: is a virtual reality tool that estimated savings per year. a 14% decrease
allows remote workers to connect easily with in construction costs.
their teammates to solve problems
immediately. Healthcare: 30 %decrease in ward round
time. 20 minutes to train medical staff.
Medivis: This platform is authorized by FDA,
it allows surgeons to study and practice Education: 50 % better student scores. 83 %
techniques using holograms. reduction of training time.

PTC: It allows efficiency in information and Hololens is delivering 177 percent return on
workers' capacity in the moment and place investment (ROI) and a net present value
they'll need it the most. (NPV) of $7.6 million over three years with a
payback of 13 months.
Trimble: is a platform for designers,
architects, and everyone that takes part in Conclusion:
the development process of construction so The Microsoft Hololens is opening a new
that they can make decisions in real time. market of immersive experiences to make
operations and studies easier on a daily
basis. Moreover, the ROI and the increasing
advantages that the product is having in the
market and also being used by big
companies such as Audi , Airbus, and more.
This shows that in the future, this kind of
technology would increase the level of work
done by humans rather than replace it or
damage it.

48
 Super Bowl LVI-Metaverse

Image from SportsMedia on feb 10.2022https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/nfl-roblox-metaverse-video-game-super-bowl/

Overview:
Goals or Problem:
The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sports
The problem the Super Bowl had this year
events in the world, created by the NFL as
was the TV ratings with 92 million people
the final match between the best team in the
watching it on February 13th of 2022, it was
national league and the best in the American
the lowest view of the event since 2006.
league. It takes place every year in January
and marks the end of the season of
Solutions:
American football. The event is famous
The solution the NFL came up with to
because of the big half-time shows they put
combat the lack of views in the last super
on with the most important singers and
bowl was to create different activities and
bands in the music industry.
spaces inside the metaverse to get to the
younger generations. Some of the activities
Quote: “We are excited about the
are:
various explorations we’ve conducted
in this space and their early results,”
- Super bowl LVI -Replica:
the spokesperson said. “These early
tests, along with our work in Roblox,
NFL has made a partnership with Roblox to
have helped us learn quickly and
create NFL TYCOON, which is the first step
develop our strategy for partnerships,
of the league into the metaverse , where fans
designs, and prospective categories to
can learn about the NFL , create a team ,
execute our objectives of delivering
manage it , create a stadium, and even buy
innovation and fan engagement. “
virtual NFL gear.
(Graham, 2022) 49
 Super Bowl LVI-Metaverse
- Miller Lite-metaverse bar in Decentraland: Conclusion:
After analyzing the NFL Super Bowl case , it
In this virtual space, people could play bills, is important to take 3 things into account:
cards, and take virtual selfies. Also they the metaverse platform, the way the brands
provide a different experience of the half approach the digital world, and the sponsors.
time show and created a super bowl When talking about the platform it is
commercial just for the metaverse. important to choose a well developed and
(Contagious, 2022) experienced one, as seen in this case NFL
and Miller Lite had a perfect experience
- Foo Fighters-Metaverse concert in Horizon: while the Foo Fighter concert made with
Horizon crashed cause the platform was not
In the meta metaverse during the halftime ready to receive the big amount of people
show foo fighters made a presentation that that wanted to join the concert. The second
was also live streamed by facebook, one of thing is the way brands approach entering
meta social media. into the metaverse. As Sofia Colucci from
Miller Lite said, their success on their
metaverse bar on Super Bowl day was
Results & Benefits:
The NFL Tycoon has received over 2.5 keeping a dual strategy with one foot in the
million unique users since it was launched digital world and the other on the physical
in February of this year. one. Lastly, the third thing is the sponsors. As
One of the NFL's main partners, New Era seen in the case, when the sports entity
Caps, made special cap editions for their decides to have a new communication
metaverse. space, it opens opportunities for sponsors to
At the Foo Fighters concert,about 13,000 also connect with younger generations, just
couldn't get in because the Horizon site like New Era Caps with the NFL. Moreover, it
crashed. opened spaces for new sponsorships, as it
Miller lite: accoconcertrding to DDB the happened in the Super Bowl, where
agency in charge of the idea of the Anheuser-Busch prohibited any other
metaverse bar, the collection they made commercials for beers during the event,
of lite NFT wearables, was redeemed in 3 making Miller Lite owners a pressure to find
hours. (Contagious, 2022) another solution that ended up in the
successful metaverse bar and commercial.

50
 Manchester City- Metaverse

Image from Brian Newar on fev.22.2022 https://es.cointelegraph.com/news/manchester-city-to-build-etihad-stadium-in-the-metaverse

Overview: Go Goals or Problem:

Manchester City is one of the biggest football The goal is to enhance the fan experience
clubs in the world, valued at 1.015 million euros. and find a new form of revenue.
Located in Manchester, England, the club has
over 141 years of history in which they have won Solutions:
a lot of titles, including the National League this Manchester City created a 3-year
year. Since 2008, the club has been owned by partnership with Soni Group to be the first
Abu Dhabi United Group Investment, allowing English club in the metaverse using the
them to reach a higher economic level. Their hawk-eye technology. It is meant to be
stadium, the Etihad Stadium, constructed in created as a virtual replica of their stadium
2002, has a capacity for over 55,000 spectators and a space for doing different online
and is used not only for sport but also for other activities. Also, with the same system, they’re
events like concerts and business events. creating the player metaverse image where
people can interact with them.
Quote:
"The idea of having a Metaverse is that you can Results & Benefits:
recreate a game, you can watch the game live, The development of the Manchester city
you're part of the action in a different way metaverse is still in the making, due to the
through different angles and you can fill the lack of a very developed system. Nuria Tarre
stadium as much as you want because it's City Football Group’s chief marketing and
unlimited, it's completely virtual."- Nuria Tarre, fan The city's engagement officer, says the
City Football Group’s chief marketing and fan fourth principal benefit the city metaverse
engagement officer, (Muhammad, 2022) would have. 51
Manchester City- Metaverse
The first one she says is selling individual
broadcast rights. Since the Premier League
sells groupal broadcasting rights, the club
doesn't win as much as they have to. The other
one is to bring fans closer to this City
metaverse, allowing the fans that have never
and maybe can’t travel to England experience
the Etihad Stadium. Also, Nuria Tarre says that
one of the principal benefits they see in the city
group is that this metaverse stadium won't have
a maximum number of spectators, so literally
everyone can enjoy the match. And the last one
is that fans would be able to watch the matches
from every single angle , something that in the
physical world is not possible. This would allow
them to enjoy more and watch the match as a
new experience.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, even though Manchester City's
metaverse has a long way to go in terms of the
technological advantages to have it develop
how they'll like it to, they’re making first valuable
steps that not many clubs are willing to take in
this moment of technology where there are a lot
of uncertain things.

52
 NBA- Metaverse

Image from Meta Quest on jun.02.2022 https://www.facebook.com/MetaQuestVR/videos/nba-lane-in-horizon-worlds/5162308977195833/

Overview: Quote:
The United States national basketball league, “I think as a general matter the direction the
also known as the NBA, was created in 1949 by world is going in terms of technology, and
the merger of the American Basketball certainly not just in sports, is more
Association and the National Basketball interactive and personalized experiences,”
League. It is one of the most important sports in he said. “There are unique opportunities
the U.S.A and, globally, is the best basketball around sports given the principally live
competition. Part of their importance in North nature of the viewership to do a lot more
American society is due to the numerous social when it comes to creating these direct-to-
impact programs they have in the most consumer relationships. Fans can hone in on
vulnerable places of the country. In terms of the what specific aspect is most interesting to
economy, most teams in the league are worth them. In some cases, it may be following a
more than $1.3 billion dollars, and the three particular player, or they may be more
most important have a value of around $4 interested in the data around the game. And
billion dollars. In the stadiums, they have around that data may be for general interest, it may
20,000 average attendance in the 82 games be related to fantasy, and of course, it’s
they play on regular seasons. In addition the related to sports betting.” NBA
league is constantly searching and renewing Commissioner - Adam Silver (Bona, 2022)
their broadcasting strategies taking into
account the new consumers needs, this is why Goals or Problems:
they are trying new communication and Connect younger generations to the NBA
interaction spaces such as the metaverse.
53
 NBA- Metaverse

Solutions: Results & Benefits:

NBA created with Horizon a metaverse to With the NFTs collection that the NBA
engaged fans and celebrate this 75th made named The Association they selled
anniversary they create a basketball lane where 16 million with a revenue of $885 million
customer could make different activities such dollars.
as: Inside the Horizon metaverse is needed
Free Throw Shootout: a game where friends the oculus glasses to access the
could compete by sinking balls into moving metaverse features.
hoops. Give fans access to watch the NBA finals
Low-Gravity Dunk Contest: this contest had with a view as they were on the pitch.
as a purpose to make the costumer fly and High audiences that enjoy the match day
make incredible dunks experience from far away.
Enjoy the Big Screen: This was a screen in a
court where customers could watch
highlights on big TVs and other activities
that occurred during the games. Conclusion:
Selfie Time in the NBA Trophy Room: This
last activity was about allowing fans to take In conclusion the NBA has created a very
photos with the Larry O’Brien trophy and organized and innovative first metaverse
share them with friends. experience. Having into account their new
(CBS/NBA, 2021) and usual consumer needs. They know new
generations are not used to traditional tv
content, so they created a way that their new
customers can enjoy the sport and create
strong personal connections with the brand
giving them by free special V.I.P experiences
while for the same V.I.P in the stadium you’ll
had to spent a lot of money for one match.

54
 8.2 Broadcasting Study case

This second chapter would be one of the main revenues of the

sport entities in the metaverse as it is in the physical world, and

also a way to attract the fans into this digital world, so it's

important to understand how Fortnite is doing with their recent

concerts in terms of attendance and streaming .

Fortnite - (Marshmello, Travis Scott and

Ariana Grande)

Image from Fortnite Team on agu.09.2021 https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/es-ES/news/fortnite-presents-the-rift-tour-featuring-ariana-grande

Overview:
Fortnite is a video game developed by Epic Games in 2017 gaining more and more
popularity each year, this video game is one of the most played games in the world. Since a
few years ago the creators decided for it not to be just a video game but a world full of
experiences for its users that's why they have created different events , launchings and
experiences that can make them the first or the most well developed version of a metaverse
nowadays.

55
 Fortnite - (Marshmello, Travis Scott and

Ariana Grande)

Quote: Results & Benefits:

“Digital concerts and virtual live events are Marshmello: 10.7 million people attended the
bridging the gap between gaming and music.” - concert.
VRJAM a platform creating a metaverse just for Travis Scott: 12.3 million people attended
concerts (VrJam, n.d.) the concert.
Ariana Grande: 27.7 million unique users and
12.3 million concurrent access players
Goals or Problem: The benefits of events like this is that they´re
Fortnite's goal is to be a world of experiences , reachable by a large amount of the
they want to be beyond a video game. population, also they can be a white canva
for imagination as artists can create the
Solutions: scenario they want to play from cero and
Some of the biggest events made in this their avatar.
platform, which aims to create a new way of
consuming entertainment, are concerts. The Conclusion:
ones that had a bigger impact on the platform With all the events and creations that the
and among consumers were Marshmello, Travis game and platform Fornite is creating inside,
Scott, and Ariana Grande, with her event being they are the closest option or approach of
the biggest one on the platform as it was a 3- metaverse at this time, more and more
day event that had engagement with different people want to join these online experiences
areas of the game and offered different types of with their favorite artists. Also fortine is a
online experiences . metaverse example of something that can be
reachable for all internet users with a not so
high price.

56
 8.3 Sponsorship Study Case

Finally, this third chapter would probably be the main revenue

stream of any sport entities in the metaverse as it is also in the

physical world, therefore it's important to understand how

brands that usually do sport sponsorship like Coca-Cola is

handling and what it is proposing for its brand in the metaverse.

Coca Cola- Metaverse Can

Image from iProUp on apr.11.2022 https://www.iproup.com/economia-digital/30607-coca-cola-lanza-su-nueva-gaseosa-para-gamers-con-sabor-a-pixel

Overview:
Coca-Cola is an American company, created in 1892, and one of the biggest beverage companies in
the world, having a presence in almost 200 countries and producing more or less 2,800 products. Their
famous brands and cans are so ICONIC that they have become a love brand in the consumer's mind ,
being present in almost every home. They have created this brand awareness and positioning through
the use of multi-sensorial marketing , social marketing campaigns , happiness slogan and campaign
and sponsorship in the most important musical and sports events, such as the FIFA World Cup.
Nowadays they have a new platform and brand branch called Coca Cola Creations, this branch is in
charge of creating new opportunities for the brand to keep positioning as the best and most important
even on younger generations, they create new flavors, limited editions, special merchandising and
much more. They are the ones in charge of this Coca-Cola Byte metaverse ( Fortnite Edition). 57
 Coca Cola- Metaverse Can

Quote: , a new flavor that Coca Cola describes as

“For our second expression from Coca-Cola “transcending the digital and physical
Creations, we wanted to create an innovative worlds." After its success in the metaverse,
taste inspired by the playfulness of pixels, the beverage was sold in the real world's
rooted in the experiences that gaming makes supermarkets.
possible, said Oana Vlad, Senior Director,
Global Strategy, The Coca-Cola Company. “Just Results & Benefits:
as pixels power digital connection, Coca-Cola The beverage brand created on their
Zero Sugar Byte brings people together to website a package for this metaverse
share moments of Real Magic.”(The Coca-Cola creation that costs $14.77 dollars and
Company, 2022) includes 2 cans and AR access to a game.
They also created special merchandising for
Goals or Problem: this new creation. It has been on the market
Connect the brand with generation Z since May of 2022 and hasn’t been sold out,
even though the brand said they had made
Solutions: limited quantities. After this special
To be able to connect with Gen Z and other metaverse flavor, another one was created
younger generations, the brand created a called Starlight.
special edition of its iconic can of zero-sugar
beverage. In order to enter into the digital world Conclusion:
and change the image of the brand for newest Coca-Cola is doing a great job trying to stay
generations, they did a total re-brand of their connected with younger generations and
can change their logo into a pixel one and new technologies through their NFTs
change their famous red and black can colors collectives and its two newest metaverse
for a violet color representing the metaverse creations, helping the company to also have
and new technologies. The can was first a brand position in the virtual world. The only
created in Fortnite Metaverse, where thing that the brand is having problems with
consumers could play a special game, get into is the taste of these new flavors in the real
the island Coca Cola created specially for this world, which is why they haven't sold as
drink, and try their new flavor of the beverage much as was stipulated at first.

58
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
After all the research of what is metaverse, how it is divided,
how it works and analyzing the study cases in the chapter
before it is important to know and state well the vision and
needs of the sport market in this digital world. After COVID-19,
the world entered into a transition decade following the non-
admission of fans into the stadiums , which made the sports
entities start thinking of ways to keep fans connected. As a
result of all of this, new ways of consumption were created. In
addition, during the past few years, sports live broadcasting
has been getting lower due to younger generations' having
more dynamic ways to consume TV and videos, such as
Netflix, Youtube , Twitch, among others. So there's a need for
sports entities to connect to younger generations and make
them feel the passion for sports.

There are four main things that any sport stakeholder has to
take into account when analyzing the market vision in the
metaverse.

Globalization

As Marco from Shirtum sayed in the interview that was made

with him “That people are interested in accessing it because it
is an extension of the experiences they can have in real life,
right? So we see that sport is becoming more and more global
and yet it is still limited to physical events and then many
people feel a bit displaced around all this. Well, because a
Real Madrid fan from Colombia may never be able to visit the
Bernabeu, but in the metaverse you can offer this expanded
experience in a digital environment in which the fan also feels
like an owner and you make all this entertaining and an
experience of recurring participation.”(Torras, 2022)
this is important because even though mass media and
communications channels where and in a lot of countries are
still the main factor the sports became globalize and the
reason why most of european football fans are not in europe
but all over the world is when it’s necessary to offer this fans
that probably would never be in their favorite team stadium ,
the chance to live the experience of being a club fan as if they
were in the same city their team is at. (Giulianotti & Robertson,
2004)

Broadcasting:

Regarding broadcasting LaLiga Tech made a Study with

Nielsen in 15 Americas continent countries and 9 europeans
ones with the purpose of understanding Gen Z and their sport
consumption.
60
 They found out that people from 16-34 years old followed
more sports than older generations, but when consuming it
50% are more used to playing video games while watching the
matches (Miller, 2022). Therefore it is necessary to change the
way these generation z fans consume the sport and is one of
the pillars of the metaverse that for example as mention in the
study cases the NBA is using nowadays with Horizon, in North
american territories and with the used of Oculus Quest 2, aslo
to access to this streaming the fan must have League Pass
that is a television sport service that the NBA owns.In addition
the Serie A did a month ago a metaverse life broadcasting of
Millan match against Florentina where they offer in their twitter
account 10,000 free NFTs just for watching the match in the
metaverse (Prat, 2022)(Buller-Russ, 2022).

Sponsorship

Concerning Sponsorship the biggest revenue asset for sport

entities and what are the new opportunities in the market with
the metaverse entering in the sports market place in the
interview with Javier Sobrino he sayed:“Well, it is an
opportunity for certain brands that want to relate in a different
way, what entities have to be clear about, is that until there is
not enough critical mass in the metaverse. Sponsorship
opportunities will be more limited, when there are more people
registered or participating in the ecosystem, the environment,
then obviously sponsorship opportunities will exist, but more
than sponsorship opportunities, see them more as
opportunities for strategic partnerships between sports
entities and companies”(Sobrino, 2022)
. While the sports entities start getting into the digital
ecosystem such as blockchain, NFTs and Metaverse there are
companies that see a huge opportunity to invest and partner
with them. As mentioned in the Study cases when the NFL
created their TYCOON one of their main partners decided to
join them in the metaverse and create a special collection of
wearables that was a success Furthermore there's a company
called Dapper Labs created in 2018 that works on Blockchain,
NFTs and creating games, This company is partnershipping
with big sport entities like NBA, LaLiga and NFL.With the NBA
they created special NFTs Called NBA Top Shop that have
been a total success having more than 20 million marketplace
transactions, $1 billion dollars in money transactions and more
than 1 million users. (Hackl, 2021)(Browne, 2022)(Glaveski, s.f.)

61
this is important because even though mass media and
communications channels where and in a lot of countries are
still the main factor the sports became globalize and the
reason why most of european football fans are not in europe
but all over the world is when it’s necessary to offer this fans
that probably would never be in their favorite team stadium ,
the chance to live the experience of being a club fan as if they
were in the same city their team is at. (Giulianotti & Robertson,
2004)

Venue & Fan Experience:

The sports market place where the metaverse would have a

bigger chance to impact is in the fan experience, after
analyzing all the study cases there's a big evidence that what
is being developed in the sports metaverse is all around
enhancing fan experiences.But how exactly is that the
metaverse would enhance this fans experiences? According to
what Marc Torras COO of shirtum sayed in the interview“Let's
say that it eliminates a little bit the intermediary that there was
right now because if you want to feel or play with something of
Real Madrid for example remotely, you have to buy a video
game that is promoted by someone other than the club and
uses the players, it is a way of being linked to the club, but it is
with an intermediary and without you being the owner of what
you are using.” (Torras, 2022) This means that the sports
entities would have a direct relation with their fans, meaning
that they can control the experiences and the way they want
the fans to experience and connect with it and in that way
creating stronger connections. After eliminating this
intermediary it is important to choose how fan experiences is
gonna work, in the interview made for this research with Javier
Sobrino - Managing partner at Aser Venture he says “I don't
think on match day, I think it's about offering new assets, new
content, and new communication channels. From the point of
view of the match I think there is still a lot to develop because
at the end of the day it is probably there’s a type of content
that certain groups want to see as it is, so I see more potential
for a possible "metaverse" for other content and on other
occasions, rather than specifically in sport, in purely match
content.”Although as seen in the study cases match day
experience and broadcasting for the NBA is actually working
very good and fans are being part of it every time more,
helping the Genz connect with the sports and not lose time in
the phone or computer while watching a game is also .
(Sobrino, 2022)

62
While the sports entities start getting into the digital
ecosystem such as blockchain, NFTs and Metaverse there are
companies that see a huge opportunity to invest and partner
with them. As mentioned in the Study cases when the NFL
created their TYCOON one of their main partners decided to
join them in the metaverse and create a special collection of
wearables that was a success Furthermore there's a company
called Dapper Labs created in 2018 that works on Blockchain,
NFTs and creating games, This company is partnershipping
with big sport entities like NBA, LaLiga and NFL.With the NBA
they created special NFTs Called NBA Top Shop that have
been a total success having more than 20 million marketplace
transactions, $1 billion dollars in money transactions and more
than 1 million users. (Hackl, 2021)(Browne, 2022)(Glaveski, s.f.)

63
Sponsorship Study Case

Suggestions to Real Madrid

Marketing Metaverse

Entrance Plan
The next 6 suggestions are a proposition made to Real Madrid to
enter into the metaverse, taking into account all the research
previously conducted and the interviews with two important
businessmen in this field. Although this was made for Real Madrid, it
is important that the next 6 steps are followed by any club or other
sports entity that would like to consider and be part of the
Metaverse, to enhance fan engagement and add other valuable
channels to their revenue streams.

66
 1-Structure

experience for all their fans and

The first thing the club should do and
members. Additionally, the second
take into account when evaluating
most important part of this first step to
the idea of having a space in the
take into account is the type of fans
metaverse is to research who the
and members that a club like Real
most important assets are in the
Madrid manages to decide if the
market and what they are doing right
metaverse experience should be an
now in the creation or development
open one or a more private and
of the metaverse or metaverses they
exclusive one. Given that Real Madrid
manage. This research should
is the club with the biggest fan base in
include knowledge of which of these
the world and that (put percentage) of
or the whole metaverse marketplace
fans are only in Spain, and on the
mentioned before in the research
other hand, building a V.I.P high-level
Real Madrid wants to get into in the
new stadium means that the club
virtual world, taking into account
should go with a dual strategy. A free
what products are created in them.
one that allows fans who live far away
Based on the research for the club, it
and may never visit the Santiago
is better to find a platform or
Bernabeu to enjoy a virtual experience
companies like Unity, TVM, Animoca,
that taps into their most Madridista
Roblox, and Epic Games because
emotions and brings them closer to
their strategies are the most
the club than they have ever been. In
complete in the digital world, taking
addition, since the club also has very
into account NFTs ,other tokens,
high-class followers and board
avatars, wallets, experiences,
members, they should provide a
graphics, and revenues for users and
unique V.I.P experience in this space
creators , so in this way they can
that can provide them a new channel
provide a 360° metaverse ecosystem
of revenue.

66
 2-Branding
Branding is also important to
Just as in the real world, it is establish the rules and parameters
indispensable for sports entities to within the virtual world, which will
respect the same brand values and have the same values but a little more
guidelines. The second step for decentralized with more freedom. Real
organizations to enter the Metaverso Madrid values, which are to be a
with consistency and effectiveness is leader, strong, respected, mythic,
to stick to their branding. As we serious, unique, attractive, great,
revealed previously, it is important admired, legendary, challenging, and
for companies to connect the real elegant, can be easily transferred to
world with the virtual one in a way the metaverse in the form of design
that provides an immersive and rules.
experience that has a link to the
stories that have already been told The execution of this step can result
and has an emotional connection in a good transition and adaptation of
with them. This can change the way fans to the platform, as well as
that fans migrate to the metaverse. strengthen their bonds and sense of
belonging. With this transition done
In this way, it is important to mention and well executed, the value and size
that to help Real Madrid get into the of the brand will get even bigger, and
metaverse, it needs to execute the it is undeniable to say that the
VR integration steps, which are: relationship with sponsors and new
action register, 360° movie to be able sources of income will be increased.
to be seen virtually, and integration So, by applying branding, Real Madrid
perfectly. This requires a good will be able to: empower the values
strategy partner to help with represented by the brand; increase
infrastructure and human interface, global development; give higher
taking into consideration Real coherence, consistency, and
Madrid branding to create this world. effectiveness in its applications; avoid
We believe that the execution of a dispersion and the weakness of the
brand book renewal, such as brand; facilitate brand management
adapting the logo to the 3D and produce scale economies in the
environment, is indispensable to marketing and communication areas;
adapting the brand to this new, and maximize the return on
expanded market. investment of the brand.

67
3-Experience
In this challenge to bring more people to the virtual world, the step
that has the most power to seduce the public is the experience.
Immersive experiences allow the consumer to experience extra-
sensory delights. Moreover, through technologies like VR or AI, users
can enjoy these immersive activities personified as they want. This
way, the user feels more comfortable within the platform, and this
makes more people likely to migrate to the metaverse and have a
higher level of extra-sensory satisfaction delights. It is important to
note that these avatars can be easily monetised. Real Madrid can
offer users a free version of the avatar, to be accessible to everyone,
and if the user wants to personalize it more, he can buy accessories,
which in games are called skins.

The experiences can be for the fans, providing a virtual space for
interaction, a game, an immersive movie, virtual live matches or a
collection of NTFs, for example; for employees, creating an immersive
space to work and interact with more data, facilitating their activities,
reducing costs in the office and increasing their satisfaction; Athletes
create a space for improvement of skills and interaction; and
coaching, creating a space to improve training, strategies, and store
data.

68
 3-Experience
Providing access to secondary
As we mentioned before, to
engagement through lives and
ensure sports entities execute this
on-demand is essential. The cross
step with mastery, it is necessary
between platforms is already a
to take into account the four
reality, such as Travis Scott's
properties of experience, which
successful Fortnite concert that
are: being highly relevant to the
has been viewed 189 million times
activities; being in an immersive
on YouTube, generating a very
world with the person present;
high monetisation for the singer's
created by growing creators; and
channel that broadcasts the
arising and linking emergent
concert. Real Madrid's social
content.
media is the strongest in the
market, which already gives Real
Taking into account what was
Madrid an advantage over its
mentioned above, we believe that
competitors at this stage.
Real Madrid should create an
Leveraging networks like
avatar plan that includes a
YouTube to make lives of the
product strategy that now needs
events happening in the
to include avatar consumers
metaverse will bring monetization
buying products. As the
to the channel, bring fans closer
metaverse grows, the number of
and create the desire to be there.
users follows, and they will
become as fundamental as in the
Last but not least, it is crucial for
physical environment. That's why
Real Madrid to invest in innovative
we suggest developing this plan
virtual releases. Football matches
with companies like Teespring, an
have been entertainment for
industry leader.
decades. This has made players
into celebrities, signing million-
Another important point to
dollar contracts and helping the
explore is engagement outside
broadcasting industry become
the platform. We believe that the
increasingly accessible and
main challenge for an
professional, bringing fans closer
organization to build a world in
to the team. Entertainment has
the metaverse is accessibility. Not
allowed brands to tell their story,
every Real Madrid audience has a
make the audience fall in love
headset or smartphone, let alone
with them and, consequently,
a VR device such as a smartglass,
make them more susceptible to
so it is indispensable to develop
buying products and services
an efficient content strategy.
from them.

69
3-Experience

Therefore, nothing could be fairer than transferring all that experience

to the immersive world. Currently, Real Madrid does not have any kind of
involvement with the fans at the time of the match, only those who own
the television rights to the game, the metaverse allows this kind of
contact, for example. Thus, we believe that Real Madrid needs to focus
on building innovative virtual experiences around their stories with the
aim of generating income from promotional activities, branded content,
and ads.

It's interesting for organizations like Real Madrid to invest in immersive

experiences, such as tours, games, events and matches, because it is
the most profitable category in the metaverse. Here is where the
audience gets involved with the activity. This means that this is the
category where Real Madrid can make more fan retention happen,
interact more with them, and store data from them to further improve
this network.

70
 4- Licensing

The fourth suggestion the club This would give the club a more
should take into account when exclusive approach because they
evaluating the idea of having a are not using the crypto currency of
space in the metaverse is to create a metaverse that already exists,
an exclusive but specific licensing but they would have their own
program that would enhance the special Real Madrid coin. In terms
fan experience in the metaverse of NFTs, this is a really great way to
and also make Real Madrid's life open a new revenue opportunity for
easier by letting some of the the club because the non-fungible
complex things in the hands of the tokens are moving millions and
people that know more. For billions of dollars monthly and
example, Real Madrid could have a yearly. Among the examples, there
licensing partnership with Microsoft are Nike sneakers sold at $134,000
and the Hololens, so that when fans dollars (Williams, 2022), Coca-
want to buy glasses to enter into Cola's first NFT sold at $575,883
the club metaverse, they would dollars (The Coca-Cola Company,
access these glasses with a 2021), NBA top shot Derrick Rose's
personal touch of Real Madrid . layup at $1,000,000 dollars, and
Talking about the virtual spaces much more. When talking about the
such as stores, sports entities can revenue the club would have of this
have a licensing agreement with NFTs licensing it would work this
their main partner for them to way, first the company would pay
manage it, as for example, the Real the Real Madrid a money for their IP
Madrid x Adidas licensing rights ( Intellectual property rights)
agreements in physical world and after the secondaries sales of
stores. In addition, in terms of two the token the club can have up to
big metaverse universe assets such 70% of the sales and the company
as Crypto and NFTs , the club 30%. This is why, for Real Madrid, it
should allow an expert crypto is a really great opportunity to work
currency company to create the with NFTs and create from them
special Real Madrid currency that another revenue stream that would
would work only for the club's work 365 days a year.
metaverse.

71
 5-Sponsorship

The fifth suggestion the club should Lastly, as Javier Sobrino said in
take into account in the metaverse the interview, “ Sponsorship
is the sponsorship opportunities. opportunities will be more limited
Opening a new business branch when there are more people
brings a bunch of new registered or participating in the
opportunities to sell for ecosystem, the environment, then
sponsorship, such as Naming obviously sponsorship
Rights and Adds. In the naming opportunities will exist, but more
rights, Real Madrid can sell events, than sponsorship opportunities, I
names or special spaces inside the see them more as opportunities for
Real Madrid metaverse power by a strategic partnerships between
partner with a special game or sports entities and companies.”
experience inside. Taking into Clubs like Real Madrid would have
account the ads in the metaverse, more opportunities to create
there's the example of Super Bowl special strategic partnerships that
2022, where as said in the study would help them develop in the
cases, Miller Lite broadcast their metaverse, like LaLiga is already
super bowl commercial in a bar doing with TVM and Greenpark.
they created by themselves in
Decentraland.

The ad was so successful that

people stayed 20 minutes in it
having conversations, and the
merchandise they created specially
for this event sold out and was
resold for 250 euros each. In
addition, in the case of regional
partnerships, Real Madrid would be
a great tool and market place for
the metaverse because they could
offer the partners more actives
and, with this, get more revenue.

72
 6-Broadcast
Another sector that generates a lot of money for the sports industry is broadcasting. As we
said before, the Z generation, despite considering themselves sports lovers, don't watch
live games like their parents did. That is why it is important that Real Madrid invests in
having a presence in platforms where the young audience is, to reach, conquer and be
present for this audience; maintaining what it has already been doing on the existing
platforms. This sector has to pay attention to the megatrends of the metaverse to take
advantage of new emerging technologies, such as virtual mainstream, machine
intelligence, reality simulation, open platforms, cybernetics, distributed networks, walled
gardens, low-code, and blockchain.
Another sector that generates a lot of money for the sports industry is broadcasting. As we
said before, the Z generation, despite considering themselves sports lovers, don't watch
live games like their parents did. That is why it is important that Real Madrid invests in
having a presence in platforms where the young audience is, to reach, conquer and be
present for this audience; maintaining what it has already been doing on the existing
platforms.

73
 In summary, Real Madrid, or any football team thinking of entering the
metaverse, has the challenge of bringing more people into the virtual world.
Enjoy more contact time with the audience, providing exclusive content. We
believe that the metaverse could be the right way forward for the sports
industry, because besides being a Blue Ocean, it is where the new generation is
at the moment, eager for new stories, experiences, and connections. If used in
the right way, the metaverse can be a rich new source of income in various fields
of the industry, such as experience, sponsorship, broadcasting, and fan
engagement.

74
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
In conclusion, the metaverse is more than a digital world, it is the composition of
many factors and layers that have as their purpose to entertain, create new
interaction possibilities, and foster closer human connections. As a result,
businesses and organizations will need to create and maintain virtual
representations of themselves in the Metaverse. The Sports Industry it's an
important player in this new digital world because of future business opportunities,
inside the Metaverse, provided by companies like Amazon, that is designing the
"Amazon Mall" and Disney that will build its own virtual theme parks.

The metaverse is a construction of layers and stakeholders such as Unity,

Animoca, Epic Games, TVM, Meta, and much more. Taking into account that most
sports companies have been established a hundred years ago and have been
evolving every time the market has pushed them to, as it happened with TV that
changed the way fans consume sports, or with social media that has changed the
way sports entities communicate with their fans, creating special content for their
consumption. Now, if they want to enter into the metaverse, they need to develop a
strong business plan and prepare themselves with steps to follow, so that they can
generate value and monetization from it and not just be part of it with no further
purpose.

Due to its potential to alter how we meet, conduct business, enjoy entertainment,
play games, earn money, trade on the market, and other activities, the Metaverse,
like all other kinds of technology, will have both good and harmful applications and
purposes. Even Metaverse cryptocurrency coins are already available for
purchase. The idea of the Metaverse as a whole has the potential to essentially
recreate global culture. Nevertheless, regardless of how individuals may feel it will
happen. We make an effort to treat it like any other technological advancement. It
has promise since it can be put to good use.

We'll have to wait and see how this turns out. You now have a better understanding
of the important Metaverse statistics for 2022, the Metaverse market size, what the
Metaverse is, how it will function, how it may be used, and the issues that surround
it.

76
Image Obtained from freepik.es and draw by Maria Rueda
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Marc Torras
COO- Shirtum

1) In which category of sport do you that it no longer has the same impact it
think the metaverse could have the used to have, and now people are looking
greatest impact? It could be fan for new ways to connect and the club can
engagement, sponsorship, revenue be present every day of the week with
and sports entities. these fans and not only when there is a
Marc- Well, I would say that everything match.
you have said or the last thing you have - So if we can first attract the fans in this
said follows the first thing, that is, if you metaverse, the rest will come as a
can make it a good platform for fan consequence.
engagement. People are interested in
accessing it because it is an extension of - 2) Do you think that the metaverse
the experiences they can have in real life, will be accessible to all fans of the
right? So we see that sport is becoming sport or do you think it will be
more and more global, yet it is still limited something more exclusive for some?
to physical events, and then many people
feel a bit displaced by all this. Well, Marc- I think so. If things are done right,
because a Real Madrid fan from Colombia they should be both. It should be accessible
may never be able to visit the Bernabeu, to everyone, because it is precisely the
but in the metaverse you can offer this point I was referring to before; it is a way to
expanded experience in a digital bring many people who otherwise are far
environment in which the fan also feels away, but it should also have the ability to
like an owner, and you make all this give more exclusive experiences for those
entertaining and an experience of who so wish and so can afford it because
recurring participation.There you will get we must not forget that they are also a
the revenue, you will get the sponsor and source of revenue for the club , or for the
you will also really get to give much more clubs or entities that want to exploit it and
value to the club, not only to the fan but they should adapt to the consumption
also to the club to get revenue from that capacity of the different categories of fans
and have an ecosystem of people who are and that is why I say that you should
much more involved in the day to day of somehow make sure that everyone is
the club, because that is also a great invited, that everyone can enjoy a part of it
advantage for the clubs, Right now, a club and then also those who want to enjoy
has the media in social networks that are something better like the stadium tickets
daily, but let's say that it has been a whole will have the option of having a more
decade since it happened, and let's say complete experience.
 - 4). How long do you think it will take
to bring all this to an end? When do
you see that the fans will be able to
experience this world of sport in the
metaverse?

-3) Unlike today, how do you think Marc- I think it will be something that will be
the metaverse can change fan developed throughout this decade, maybe
engagement? even more. It seems to me that now that
everything has changed so much every year
Marc- In a way that makes people feel that it is difficult to venture more than 7, 8,
more involved, right? Let's say that it 10 years, but I think it is something that is
eliminates a little bit the intermediary that being developed as I said with the
there was right now because if you want technology to end up being even an
to feel or play with something from Real immersive experience in augmented reality,
Madrid, for example, remotely, you have 3D, whatever, no? and also for example I
to buy a video game that is promoted by don't know if you have seen these Oculus
someone other than the club and uses the glasses that are very bulky and a bit
players. It is a way of being linked to the complicated, a system like this that is much
club, but it is through an intermediary and more friendly could help mass adoption, but
without you being the owner of what you I think that especially the entry through the
are using. In this way, if you tell them you NFTs will be much easier over the next 18-
have a digital asset that, for starters, is 24 months / year and a half two or so for
yours and you can do with it whatever you what I know is happening in the industry at
want, you can keep it, you can resell it in the level of technical integrations between
time, that already changes the paradigm. the largest digital platforms such as social
Secondly, with this, you can already enter networks and technology providers that
a world that is promoted by Real Madrid create digital wallets for example you with
and with digital experiences that can also your instagram account also a wallet with
have their side in real life, that are also which you can buy NFTs , and it will be
promoted directly by the club to eliminate much easier to enter you do not have to
that intermediary. I think the connection download a new application that is a wallet
will be much more powerful than it is now that has some seeds and that right now is
at the level of video games, so it will be to too unfriendly to the user, then downloading
create that digital parallel universe in that over the next year and a half or two I
which people can connect directly with think we can add many people to this world
the club, which has access to mini games, and from there that with a massive traffic
to a tour of the stadium without being and allow companies that are now
physically there, and this will be expanded developing metaverses because with much
according to the possibilities of more attention in the sector invest more in
technology, both in terms of recreating improving technology, improve experiences
our world in a digital space or even and as I said then make it more immersive
expanding it, and also in terms of every time and sea realistic or everyone will
accessing the NFTs that right now are a have their style, np? Whoever wants to
bit difficult for many people, and we know make it futuristic or more fantastic also, but
that over time it will change and pass above all give this connection to the fan
these barriers to entry for many fans. who is looking for it at any level.
 5) Do you think that the metaverse r many collectors that is very important,
could negatively influence any of the so we prepare in that way and also when
processes or factors of the sport? we talk to the owners of the brands, with
an intellectual property such as Real
Marc- Well there is always the doubt, isn't Madrid for example , We try to explain to
there? How much or how much them the importance of creating a system
importance we give to the digital world that is global in this sense, that the people
and the physical world, how much time we who create NFTs communicate with the
are now on the phones and not paying wallets, communicate with the
attention to our environment, our friends metaverses and are not proposals that
who are closer and so on, it may have a are added because for the fan it ends up
negative component of that I agree but it being a problem instead of finding a
is more the personal opinion of each one complete solution that facilitates the entry
and more a little philosophical than to the world that is already a little difficult
practical, perhaps for the club also ends and that makes it easier to use all the
up assuming a bit of cannibalism within potential that this can give, so we prepare
their business channels because if they ourselves in this way, On the one hand
enhance much the metaverse , maybe looking for a better partner, on the other
somehow lose some people who would hand to those who have to xploit their
have ended up going to the stadium, but brand and have the fans explaining the
they have such a good experience there importance of understanding it as a whole
that they do not want to go to the stadium and not as something to be had in parts.
finally, may be although I do not think it is
everyone, but in some cases there could 7) You work with several players and
be that cannibalism, but I tell you that clubs, how do you see the disposition
facing the more social impact is very of players and clubs to these new
much the opinion of each one, if it is technologies? Are they very open or
better or worse to spend much time in the how do you see it?
metaverse or in real life.
Marc- Well, it really depends on the club,
6) As shirtum is preparing what are there are clubs and players that are very
you doing for the metaverse? attentive to what is happening and when
we start talking to them they already have
Marc- We create NFTs that are mainly for a history of having been talking to several
collection and also serve to access companies that propose things within the
experiences, then a part of those ecosystem, eh they themselves have the
experiences that we want to be in the desire to offer fans always something
virtual realm, we want to amplify it by new, something improved and we are
entering the metaverse and looking for a finding this more and more. At the
partner to help us develop our vision of beginning of the year we started to work
what should be at a recreational level, at with partners, we have been developing
an experiential level, even at the level that for a longer time but we started to work
you as a fan can show your collection and hard with partners a year ago, there was
NFTs, that you have your little gallery much more ignorance,
where you can show it
 logically the news coming out of volume
that are beginning to generate this
industry of important partnerships in the
world of NFTs, Crypto and sports, so it is
becoming easier but it is true that at the
beginning it was a little more difficult, now
we find that the clubs begin to have
enough people inside that are prepared to
at least make decisions and understand
the implications of one decision and the
other, but well it is a process I tell you that
not everyone is there yet.

8) What advice would you give to a

club that wants to enter the
metaverse?

Marc- Well, very much in line with what I

said before, make sure that this
metaverse option is in line with the other
options you have chosen for the whole
Crypto area in terms of wallets, taking into
account the NFTs and others, because if
not what will be may end up being a silo
isolated from everything else and that
people go to a metaverse and not have a
connection with all the other areas and in
the end it subtracts and generates more
confusion and confusion and anger than
joy. When it should be generating
precisely engagement from the fans and
not rejection since they should think of it
as something global.
Javier Sobrino
Managing Partner - Aser Ventures

1) In which category of sport do you 3) In which part of the interaction with

think the metaverse could have the the fan do you think the change could
greatest impact? It could be fan be stronger?
engagement, sponsorship, revenue
and sports entities. - I don't think not on match day, I think it's
about offering new assets, new content,
- Well I think it should be part of the and new communication channels. From
digital strategy of sports entities and of the point of view of the match I think there
course from the point of view of fan is still a lot to develop because at the end
relations and so on is where I think it has of the day it is probably the type of content
all the potential. that certain groups want to see as it is, so I
see more potential for a possible
2) Why do you think the fan relations "metaverse" for other content and on other
part has the greatest impact? occasions, rather than specifically in sport,
in purely match content.
- Because it is a new way of relating,
because you can get data from the fans, 4) How long do you think it will take
you can create new content, you can for all this to happen? When do you
create new spaces in which to relate to think fans will be able to experience
the fans and it is good especially for this world of sport in the metaverse?
certain audiences, let's say younger, more
technological. I think it could make sense, - I think that more than for it to be
yes, what happens with this is that we available, which it already is to a certain
have to define well what metaverse extent. I think that what we have to
means and what are the features because measure is how long it will be profitable for
from the point of view people are talking sports entities, eh and I think that there is
too much about the metaverse right now still time, I think that sports entities should
without structuring well what it is, or not only focus on content in the metaverse
without defining well what it is, then for as we want to call it in the new digital
me it is still a digital space in which you space, but they should establish strategies
can interact with fans. for monetization of these new assets. As
long as that is not the case, there may be a
lot of metaverse but I do not know if it will
be sustainable, so this project still has a
few years left.
 7) Which sports entities will be the first
to enter the metaverse?
5) Do you think that for the
metaverse to be fully sustainable, - I don't really know, I think it will not depend
clubs have to create a strategic, on the type of stakeholder you are, but on the
financial plan around it? strategy. I don't think it's a question of
whether you are a league, a club or a
- No, I think they have to create a federation, but to what extent you are clear
strategic plan, a business plan, not a about what you want to do.
strategic plan. It is a business plan that
includes a budget in the digital world and 8) How do you see the part of
a part of the digital world will be the sponsorship and revenue in the
metaverse. But it is not something metaverse?
parallel, it is something that is part of the
part of the clubs' strategy, I think that as a - Well, it is an opportunity for certain brands
parallel world in the sense that it is not that want to relate in a different way, what
related to the strategy of each club, on entities have to be clear about, is that until
the contrary it should be a marte of the there is not enough critical mass in the
club's strategy, metaverse. Sponsorship opportunities will be
So everything within the club is aligned more limited, when there are more people
and connected, not a whole separate registered or participating in the ecosystem,
world? the environment, then obviously sponsorship
- Exactly opportunities will exist, but more than
sponsorship opportunities, I see them more as
6) Do you think that the metaverse opportunities for strategic partnerships
will be available to all sports fans or between sports entities and companies.
do you think it will be something
more exclusive for some? 9) Do you think that the athletes'
performance can also be integrated in
- I think it will be available, it will be the metaverse?
available because digital is essentially
democratic, which I don't think there will - I think it is more complicated, especially if it
be, not all fans will be interested. is credible, I think that still has some time left.