Manchester City, an English football club, has teamed up with VR experts at Sony to construct the first-ever football stadium in the metaverse.
Using image analysis and skeletal-tracking technologies from Sony subsidiary Hawk-Eye, the stadium will serve as the hub of Manchester City in a virtual reality world.
Nuria Tarre, City Football’s Group chief of marketing and fan engagement officer, explained that the metaverse allows fans to watch games from different angles and fill the stadium as much as they want because it’s unlimited.
City officials envision a time when the club can fill a virtual Etihad Stadium several times over, enabling fans who couldn’t attend live matches to do so from anywhere in the world.
Sony’s teams have mapped Etihad Stadium digitally and are creating a reimagined stadium in virtual reality as part of the three-year deal with the club.
Furthermore, developers believe that the technology may transform the concept of broadcasting rights and enable fans not only to watch real games played in a virtual stadium but also to take part in them in the future.
