As the World Cup in Qatar draws to a close, a report from Web3 Studios revealed some exciting information about the sports metaverse industry, which it claims is “at a tipping point”. It indicated the potential for the industry to reach $80 billion in size by 2030.

The report included contributors from Animoca Brands, FaceIt, ConsenSys, The Football Company, Apex Capital, Upland, LootMogal, and other key players in the space.

The World Cup was well represented by web3 projects and brands, as shown in the following image.

The document stated that “the sports metaverse space can generate more than $80 billion by 2030.” However, subsequent challenges are being addressed and are critical to the success of the infant industry.

“- A drastic and vertiginous evolution in the pattern of consumption
– An increasingly demanding fan base and more difficult to engage
– A technological landscape that is impossible to keep up with”

Sports metaverses are described as “a new layer of human interaction,” according to Web3 Studios, which creates virtual experiences and new access points to sports.

With sports teams and celebrities arguably having a more direct impact on people’s daily lives than politicians, it’s hard to ignore the power of the underlying global sports industry. The sports community has been one of the first to adopt “new elements like NFTs and
web3 applications” in an attempt to reach the “holy grail” of optimal fan engagement.

The image below shows the landscape of web3-enabled sports products, services and communities.

Addressing the need for virtual experiences within a heavily physically focused industry like sports, the report identified the “binary” reception of web3 by sports fans. While fans often love or hate innovations like NFTs, Web3 Studios equates reception with understanding the technology. Also, he sees the future of collectibles as digital rather than physical.

“In an increasingly digitized world, even our beloved physical collectibles and sports experiences will eventually go digital, at least to some degree.”

Web3 Studios identified the rise of esports as a core driver and precedent for the future evolution of digital sports. Games like Dota2 have brought mind-blowing prize pools, while League of Legends and Fortnite have drawn hundreds of millions of players into esports.

However, none of these games have any form of web3 integration and live firmly in the world of web 2.0. However, games from the world of web2.0 esports may have led the groundwork for what’s to come in web3.

According to the report, “proactive engagement” will drive the next stage of sports consumption, a prediction that apparently puts web3 in the driver’s seat in terms of technological readiness.

Historically, sports have been at the heart of live events, with games played in front of live audiences in stadiums around the world. Going back to ancient Greece and the first Olympic Games in 776 BC, live sporting events have been around for millennia.

As technology has evolved, first radio, then television, and now the Internet has opened up these live events to the world. The composition of the sports consumption pattern of Generation Z is very different from that of the Baby Boomer generation. For example, “Gen Z fans, for example, have a much higher level of
willingness to pay for sports content.

An example of the increasing investment of web3 companies in traditional sports can be seen via the graph below, which shows the extraordinary growth in sports sponsorships of crypto projects.

Critically, a shift from “passive to active fan engagement” may be the ultimate catalyst for web3 to make its mark on global sports. Current web3 integrations in the sports industry exemplify Web3’s ability to deliver this enhanced engagement. Experiences include using web3 to store memories of significant moments, trading cards, games, fan items, fan tokens, and esports.

Ralf Reichert, President of the ESL FACEIT Group, commented:

“NFT and web3 are interesting technologies to improve fan performance
monetization while the Metaverse is already there, called
Videogames. A consistent combination with a clear fan value will
a big difference for community building and esports.”

Read the full report on the Web3 Studios website.