Tennis Australia has announced that it has partnered with Decentraland (MANA) to host the “Australian Open” (AO), which has the honor of being the first official tennis “grand slam” in Metaverse.
The Australian Open, one of the 4 most important tournaments of the tennis season, together with the French Open (Roland Garros), Wimbledon and the US Open, will be organized for the 110th time this year on 17-30 January. Virtual recreation of key areas will be open during the tournament, which will kick off in Melbourne at 03:00 CEST, including Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park and Grand Slam Park.
The event, which will feature more than 300 cameras active around Melbourne Park, is planned to feature exclusive content for virtual visitors, including a special player arrival area, practice village and behind-the-scenes footage.
Ridley Plummer, Project Manager for Tennis Australia NFT and Metaverse, said in a virtual welcome speech at Decentraland that he hopes AO will be “the world’s most accessible and inclusive sport and entertainment event”, taking into account the difficulties tennis fans will have in reaching Melbourne, and reflecting on these challenges. He stated that they entered the world of Metaverse in order to overcome it. Adding that this initiative is an important step to provide global access to the event in question, Plummer also stated that an important step will be achieved in the fight against COVID-19.
As it is known, many tournaments have been postponed until now due to the epidemic, some of them experienced economic bottlenecks with limited audience. Plummer said that AO plans to continue its cooperation with Decentraland in the future, given the pandemic.