The partnership between Decentraland and the organizer of the Australian Open Tennis Australia has become the trending conversation in the metaverse and of course, social media platforms. The AO is not only the first of its kind; it is also the first-ever tennis grand slam to ever be hosted in the metaverse.
The Australian Open has incorporated significant components of the historic live sports event into the metaverse. The event, which started on January 17 and is expected to run until January 30, 2022, is currently being hosted in the expansive AO Decentraland metaverse.
The event platform features virtual recreations of the iconic Australia Open venues in Melbourne Park. This allows virtual visitors to explore the Grand Slam Oval, the New Beach Club, and the Rod Laver Arena, all within the Decentraland metaverse.
"AO Decentraland is just the first step in a long-term play for Tennis Australia…" @RidleyPlummer @AustralianOpen @decentraland @Runitwild
👌@NFTevening https://t.co/Xf7zUNNWmD
— AOmetaverse (@AOmetaverse) January 24, 2022
Highlights of the AO Decentraland Tennis Grand Slam Event
While talking about the project, the NFT and Project Manager for the Australian Open, Ridley Plummer, mentioned that the inspiration behind the AO was the drive to challenge the norm. According to him, the AO is experimental and exciting, and the goal of the team is to continue to push boundaries to boost the metaverse.
Suffice to mention that this is the first major sports event that Decentraland would be hosting on its platform. It is also of import to mention that the expansive metaverse for the Australian Open and Decentraland was put together within three months.
This event has been anticipated by the virtual gaming world. It is not surprising therefore to note that the collection of 6,776 AO Art Ball NFTs released by Tennis Australia on January 13 was sold out within three minutes.
More about the AO Art Ball NFTs
The AO Art Ball NFTs are designed in such a way that each ball matches up with a specific location on a tennis court. These locations are referred to as plots in the metaverse.
In the tournament, the Australian Open logs the position of each match point and updates the NFTs’ metadata to reflect the specific NFTs that represent the match-winning locations.
The team at AO Decentraland has emphasized that the Australian Open is just a first step towards a long-term project of Tennis Australia. The team promises that more innovations would be introduced to give the metaverse more value and prominence in the NFT world.
