Sebastian Sinclair

The Australian Open (AO) has sidestepped the promotion of a previous blockchain metaverse project in favor of this year’s sporting event tied to a non-crypto virtual platform known as Roblox.



Dubbed AO Adventure, the online game allows users to explore the virtual world of the Australian Open Park, modeled after the real-life version in the city of Melbourne.&nbsp;



They’re even throwing in a chance to meet Australian tennis superstar Nick Kyrgios, where users will be greeted by a digital avatar dubbed “humanoid Nick.”&nbsp;



The catch for crypto enthusiasts: Roblox’s platform is notably absent of any blockchain or Web3 connection. Roblox is an online platform allowing users to create their own games for others to participate in.&nbsp;



Last year, the platform <a href="https://devforum.roblox.com/t/notice-review-of-recent-off-platform-behavior/1555041" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">took a stance</a> against <a href="https://playtoearn.net/news/roblox-is-looking-into-nft-and-web3-integrations-after-q3-earnings-miss" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rumors</a> it would issue its own non-fungible token (NFT) built on a blockchain or that it would push for Web3 development. According to its updated <a href="https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203313410-Roblox-Community-Standards" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">community standards</a>, developers who are not part of a Roblox partnership program are barred from using off-platform services or products to sell on-platform items for money. That would prevent users from engaging with NFTs that would later be sold in online marketplaces.



&#8220;To be honest, the Australian Open&#8217;s decision to build in Roblox, instead of exclusively in Decentraland, will likely result in a better user experience for their community,&#8221; Simon Kertonegoro, CEO of MyMetaverse told Blockworks. “It&#8217;s just a shame that Roblox has banned the use of NFTs in their platform.”



Decentraland’s platform <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/australian-open-metaverse-art-ball-nfts-ace-first-week-as-tournament-rolls-on">was tapped as last year’s medium of choice</a> for the tournament. Designed by Web3 art studio Run It Wild, the platform clocked a peak of 5,000 unique visitors per day — or so Blockworks was told at the time.



<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/mana">Decentraland</a> will continue to co-host the virtual event alongside the more heavily promoted Roblox platform and will run from Jan. 16 through to Jan. 29, local time.



The push for Roblox ahead of other metaverses built around blockchain tech, as seen with the implementation of humanoid Nick, is a conscious decision for a “multiverse play,” a Run It Wild spokesperson told Blockworks.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Serving up fresh ArtBalls</h3>



Last year’s Australian Open also featured 6776 collectible NFT “ArtBalls” linked to winning or live shots of a particular match and uploaded to the blockchain. At the time, the balls clocked roughly $3.9 million in trading volume over a bi-weekly period.



Glancing across the sales page at NFT marketplace OpenSea, data show the floor price for last year’s art balls has fallen to around 0.09 ETH ($127). That’s considerably less than the floor price — seen Jan. 13, 2022 — of around 0.3 ETH or $997 at the time.



The hope is that this year’s event can capture some of the fervor surrounding last year’s trading activity with a launch of a further 2454, newly minted, NFT ArtBalls.



But in comparison to last year’s climate, interest in crypto, blockchain and Web3 has dropped considerably, motivating the event’s organizers to hunt for alternatives.



Roblox, which houses some <a href="https://backlinko.com/roblox-users" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">43 million daily</a> active users, has been eyed as the better fit for this year&#8217;s Open due to its ability to attract younger users to the sport. The AO game on Roblox has been live for roughly 9 hours, at the time of writing, with around <a href="https://www.roblox.com/games/11268121492/AO-Adventure" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2,500 daily unique visitors</a>.



“With more than 80% of users on the platform aged 25-and-under, it’s also a great platform for us to connect with younger fans,” Ridley Plummer, senior manager of Metaverse, NFT&#8217;s, Web3 and Cryptocurrency at Tennis Australia said in a statement.



Game on.



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Australia

Australian Open 2023 Takes Swing at Roblox Metaverse

<div id="highlights-block_61ede39079eec" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The metaverse experiment is attracting roughly 4,000 to 5,000 unique visitors per day, according to data by Run It Wild</li>
 <li>The figures also reported a peak active visitor attendance of around 28,286 at the Grand Slam Oval Screens</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The Australian Open (AO)&#8217;s metaverse, hosted on Decentraland, is serving up users an experience that could see it become one of the most successful Decentraland projects to date, according to the latest figures.



Data provided on Sunday by Run It Wild, the company tapped by the AO to design the virtual ballpark, show the metaverse experiment is attracting roughly 4,000 to 5,000 unique visitors per day. Web3 advisory firm Rarer Things also helped with the implementation.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="300" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-15942" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=150 150w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=257 257w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=261 261w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=219 219w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Rod-Laver-Arena-in-AO-Decentraland-1536x1536-1-300x300.jpeg?w=50 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Rod Laver Arena in Decentraland. Source: AO</figcaption></figure></div>



AO&#8217;s metaverse features a virtual recreation of Melbourne Park in Victora, Australia, including the Grand Slam Park and Rod Laver Arena, among others.



With nine days of the AO&#8217;s Decentraland project left to run, Run It Wild said the virtual experiment is expected to be one of the highest attended events to have taken place in Decentraland, beating the Metaverse Festival in October.



The figures also reported a peak active visitor attendance of around 28,286 at the Grand Slam Oval Screens showing the Practice Village.&nbsp;The company said that out of 150 countries, the largest audience came from the US (20%) followed by Australia (15%).



Australia&#8217;s most popular breakfast news entertainment program, &#8220;The Today Show,&#8221; featured a segment showcasing the AO&#8217;s metaverse, calling it &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/TheTodayShow/status/1484661825723641856?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">one step ahead of the curve</a>.&#8221; 



The showcase by prominent local media is a major win for Run It Wild and Decentraland given the popularity of those types of programs and their capacity to draw in new users experimenting with the metaverse for the first time.



Though not all are satisfied with the current iteration, with some calling the AO&#8217;s metaverse experience, &#8220;<a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2022/01/australian-open-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">clunky</a>&#8220;.



&#8220;It wasn’t&nbsp;not&nbsp;fun to walk around and explore what has been done with this world, but I’m a bit strung up on what it all is actually for,&#8221; said Australian Gizmodo tech writer Zachariah Kelly on Jan. 17.



Given it&#8217;s the first time an Australian sporting organization has decided to leverage an event inside the metaverse, the experience has ample room to grow.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Tennis ball NFTs</h3>



Meanwhile, the non-fungible (NFTs) &#8220;<a href="https://ao.artball.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Art Ball</a>&#8221; tokens are actively bouncing from peer-to-peer on secondary <a href="https://opensea.io/collection/ao-art-ball?tab=activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">marketplace OpenSea</a>. The AO&#8217;s 6,776 minted balls are now in the hands of around 4,300 unique owners while activity for the resale of the art balls over the last two weeks clocked around 1604 ETH (US$3.9 million) in trading value.



The <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/australian-open-serves-up-nfts-linked-to-live-matches/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Art Balls</a> are a digital collectible, designed by local and international artists and are linked to live data such as match points, secured on the blockchain. Each one of the NFT&#8217;s metadata is connected to a plot of each AO tennis court surface and allows buyers to purchase a select moment during the tournament as well as of those of bygone eras. 



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><a href="https://twitter.com/AOmetaverse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOmetaverse</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFTCommunity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFTCommunity</a> nice job.&mdash; Cryptonit (@CemUney_BI) <a href="https://twitter.com/CemUney_BI/status/1484768719322685443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



While it has caused a stir among local media and domestic users, the functionality has left some feeling as though both the metaverse and the digital collectibles could achieve more.



&#8220;Australian Open&#8217;s adoption of NFTs and the metaverse is amazing for visibility but its actual execution has left a lot to be desired,&#8221; said Simon Kertonegoro, CEO of MyMetaverse. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;I&#8217;m looking forward to a future where the NFTs you receive from these events are actually usable in video games and the metaverse experience of viewing sports is more like 3D multi-directional viewing where the viewer can move his or her avatar around the court and watch the game from whatever angle he or she desires.&#8221;</blockquote>



The tournament is into its eighth day of games and will run until Jan. 30 with the Women&#8217;s Doubles Final and Men’s Singles Final. A Town Hall AMA by Run It Wild is scheduled for Jan. 26 at 6:00 pm ET where the community will get an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on their experience, according to the metaverse firm.



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Australian Open Metaverse, ‘Art Ball’ NFTs Ace First Week as Tournament Rolls On

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61d73db6ee07b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“We want to connect fans at a league level, team level and player level and build out an ecosystem that’s not just a single product, but a series of products,” Lawin said</li>
 <li>Candy plans to add dynamic statistics to its digital icon trading cards, so that users can see new stats like home runs, hits and bases stolen, updated in real time</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Candy Digital’s NFT business hit a grand slam in 2021 thanks to an official partnership with Major League Baseball, CEO Scott Lawin told Blockworks in an exclusive interview.



Looking ahead, the company wants to tie fans to their favorite sports even further through the digital world.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="271" height="300" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/candy-digital-CEO-271x300.jpeg" alt="Candy Digital CEO Scott Lawin" class="wp-image-13602" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/candy-digital-CEO-271x300.jpeg?w=271 271w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/candy-digital-CEO-271x300.jpeg?w=232 232w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/candy-digital-CEO-271x300.jpeg?w=236 236w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/candy-digital-CEO-271x300.jpeg?w=198 198w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/candy-digital-CEO-271x300.jpeg?w=72 72w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/candy-digital-CEO-271x300.jpeg?w=463 463w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px" /><figcaption>Candy Digital CEO Scott Lawin. Source: Candy Digital</figcaption></figure></div>



“We really see the NFTs we’re designing as objects that aren’t just digital collectibles sitting in the digital wallet but are things that are actually engaging [and] tie you back to the game and the team that you love,” Lawin said.&nbsp;



Last year, Candy’s marketplace grew from zero to 80,000 customers, created over 750 unique non-fungible token designs across seven product lines and released over 200,000 unique digital assets, he said.&nbsp;



The company also closed a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211021005313/en/Candy-Digital-Secures-100-Million-Investment-in-Series-A-Round-Values-Company-At-1.5bn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$100 million Series A</a> round in October 2021, which valued it at $1.5 billion. The round was co-led by Insight Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 with additional investors, including current and retired athletes from MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL as well as NFL’s Peyton Manning.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Candy makes new strides&nbsp;</h3>



Candy Digital was <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/vaynerchuck-novogratz-partner-with-fanatics-for-new-nft-company-candy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">founded</a> in 2020 by Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, Galaxy Digital CEO <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/novogratz-galaxy-digital-starts-nft-collection-with-cryptopunk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mike Novogratz</a> and investor and entrepreneur, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gary-vaynerchuk-how-he-bought-59-cryptopunks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gary Vaynerchuk</a>. <a href="https://www.fanatics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fanatics</a> is a majority owner of Candy.&nbsp;



When Candy partnered with the MLB, it wasn’t about licensing its intellectual property or a cash grab in a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/defiance-co-founder-nfts-will-be-bigger-than-the-internet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hot NFT market</a>, but an exciting opportunity to connect fans differently, Lawin noted. “We want to connect fans at a league level, team level and player level and build out an ecosystem that’s not just a single product, but a series of products,” Lawin added.&nbsp;



The company launched its MLB partnership at the end of June 2021 and launched its platform in October. Since then, it introduced four products: trading cards, video-based products, a commemorative trophy product for the World Series and NFT-based digital apparel.



On Jan. 15, it is launching its secondary <a href="https://blog.candy.com/blogposts/candy-marketplace-launches-jan-15" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">marketplace</a> where users can trade NFTs and list previously purchased digital assets.&nbsp;



Going forward, Candy plans to add dynamic statistics to its digital icon trading cards, so that users can see new stats like home runs, hits and bases stolen, updated in real-time. Other organizations like the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/australian-open-serves-up-nfts-linked-to-live-matches/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Australian Open</a> also are launching a similar product with NFTs and metadata linked to real-time updates to reflect match outcomes.&nbsp;



The company is also eyeing additional sports partnerships as well as considering expansion into new sectors like art, entertainment and music, even though “sports is the core of Candy’s DNA,” Lawin said.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Expanding beyond the crypto-native fans&nbsp;</h3>



Candy’s core customer base has been crypto-native so far. However, a handful of collectors are simply sports fans exploring new ways to connect with their favorite MLB teams and sports.



For non-crypto natives, accessing digital marketplaces hasn’t always been smooth, <meta charset="utf-8">Lawin noted. Candy stands out from other NFT marketplaces because its customers can buy NFTs with US dollars instead of cryptocurrency.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“What’s holding people back is setting up a digital wallet, funding an account with Ethereum, Bitcoin or your token of choice. That process is still not a really transparent, easy or quick process for a lot of folks,” Lawin said. “But we try to break down that entire process of traditional crypto on-ramps and turn it upside down to make it easy for folks to come into the space and purchase crypto assets.&#8221;</blockquote>



Candy’s customers view NFTs as a new way to express their passion, collect and build their identity as a fan, Lawin said. “We’re very bullish on the potential to continue to grow that marketplace with folks who are coming to the crypto community for the first time,” he commented.&nbsp;



The site has users ranging from 12-year-olds to 70-year-olds. “We have Candy collectors in their 60s who have been baseball collectors for their whole lives and are coming into this space because they see it as interesting and engaging,” he added.&nbsp;



In general, the sports industry has meshed deep into the crypto space during 2021 in effort to bring mainstream audiences into the digital world. FTX became the <a href="https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-ftx-cryptocurrency-partnership" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">official cryptocurrency exchange</a> brand for the MLB, Crypto.com closed a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-com-cmo-on-how-company-went-from-app-to-global-brand/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$700 million deal</a> to name the area for the Los Angeles Lakers and the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/houston-rockets-partner-with-nydig-through-bitcoin-paid-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Houston Rockets</a> partnered with Bitcoin-focused NYDIG, to name a few.



“There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity to build out partnerships in the sports space,” Lawin said. “Offering everyday folks value, utility and engagement is how this space will get much bigger and will enhance people’s connection to things they already love.”&nbsp;



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Australian Open

Candy Digital Hits Home Run with MLB NFTs, Plans to Recruit New Fans in 2022

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_61d621fc6a0ac" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The NFTs will be minted on Ethereum</li>
 <li>The Australian Open plans to stream a virtual tennis tournament in Decentraland</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The Australian Open (AO) appears likely to have to make do without world no. 1 Novak Djokovic after the tennis star was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-australia-visa.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">refused entry</a> into the country due to COVID restrictions on Wednesday. But the winning shots of those who do compete later this month will be featured in a collection of 6,776 &#8220;Art Balls&#8221; NFTs as a part of an initiative to “be the first grand slam to enter the metaverse.”



Tournament director Craig Tiley described the non-fungible token (NFT) collection as &#8220;an opportunity to be part of the 2022 Australian Open in a way never before available.”



“The AO has always been seen as one of the most innovative sporting events in the world and this project is just another example of our team pushing the boundaries to provide our fans with better access and engagement with the AO,” Tiley said in a statement.&nbsp;



The <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFTs</a>, a digital collectible that verifies ownership on the blockchain, will be linked to live tournament data, according to the AO.



Each NFT’s metadata will be linked to a plot of a tennis court surface in the real-life tournament. If the winning shot from a match in the AO lands on that plot, the NFT metadata will be updated in real-time to reflect the match’s outcomes, according to marketing materials sent to Blockworks.



The AO will also stream the tournament in the 3D virtual reality platform <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/why-investors-are-paying-millions-for-virtual-land-in-the-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Decentraland</a> beginning on Jan. 17. Users will be able to explore a digital replica of the AO.



“We want the AO to be the world’s most accessible and inclusive sports and entertainment event, and with the unique challenges fans have faced getting to Melbourne we’ve fast-tracked our launch into the Metaverse,” Ridley Plummer, a project manager at Tennis Australia, said in a statement.&nbsp;



The Art Balls NFT collection goes on sale Jan. 13. The AO begins on Jan. 17.



This story was updated on Jan. 6, 2022, at 2:45 AM ET.



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