NFT's, the Metaverse and Tennis
Podcast #6 - A discussion with Ridley Plummer
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Educate people and brands about the potential for Web3 to deliver positive change.
Highlight the use cases that are likely to drive scale and adoption.
Spotlight the innovators who are leading and building in the space.
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Over the past 24 months just about every sport has started testing the waters of Web3 and the Metaverse. From NBA Top Shots, to Socios Fan Tokens, to Man City’s virtual stadium launch, and so many more. But one of the first and most successful big sporting events to step into the space and show us what’s made possible when you mix Metaverse, NFTs and live sports was the Australian Open.
To learn more about their approach and what made them so successful, I spoke with Ridley Plummer. Ridley has what I believe must be a dream job in that he is responsible for NFTs, Metaverse and Web3 for Tennis Australia. The Australian Open was in January this year meaning that he’s had time to consider the learnings that came out of that event and he was kind enough to share his thoughts.
This was honestly one of the most fun conversations. It got me excited both about the Australian Open 2023 (coming in January) and seeing live tennis … so what they are doing is definitely working. Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy listening and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
SPECIFIC TOPICS:
In our conversation, Ridley shares details into what sounded like an epic journey to concept, develop and launch NFTs simultaneously with their Decentraland activation for the Australian Open 2022.
Specifically we spoke about:
What they developed and launched in Decentraland
The idea and ambition behind the AO Artball NFT project
Thoughts on what makes a web3 and metaverse project successful
The role of storytelling in developing a project
The role of a virtual world as a complement to a live event – spoiler alert – it’s not just to recreate the same activities you can experience offline in the virtual space
The role of community and how the Web3 and the sports communities came together.
Other sports moving into the space
The opportunity for brands and the lessons that we can all take
And of course I tried to get him to spill on plans for 2023 …
LINKS TO THE PODCAST:
You can listen to the Podcast by following one of the below links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. Or you can search for Brand N3xt on your favorite streaming platform.
LINKS TO OTHER PROJECTS WE DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
AO Artball - https://ao.artball.io/
NBA Top Shop - https://nbatopshot.com/
The Otherside - https://otherside.xyz/
Nike - https://opensea.io/collection/rtfkt-nike-cryptokicks
Gucci - https://vault.gucci.com/en
CREDITS:
Host: Justin Peyton
Guest: Ridley Plummer
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