Manchester City to build Etihad Stadium in Metaverse

Premier League champions Manchester City FC and its new partner Sony have begun building a virtual replica of the Etihad Stadium, which will be the team's central hub in the metaverse.

The Etihad Stadium is currently home to England's top football team, Manchester City. The team announced on Feb. 18 that it had signed a three-year deal with Sony that will provide virtual reality experts using image analysis and bone-tracking technology from subsidiary Hawk-Eye.

Manchester City are developing the first football stadium in the metaverse
— CloutNews (@CloutNewsMedia) February 21, 2022
Manchester City want fans to enjoy all the benefits of a virtual stadium. While COVID-19 restrictions still hamper travel options for some, being able to watch games in an immersive metaverse may come as a relief to fans eager to experience the game environment again.

The team is starting to build a virtual Etihad Stadium by removing geographic barriers for fans who want to participate in live or recorded games. On February 18, City Football Group Chief Marketing Officer Nuria Tarre told Inews:

"We can imagine the whole point of having a metaverse is that you can recreate a game, you can watch it live, you can play in different ways from different angles, you can fill the stadium as you want because it's infinite Yes, it's completely virtual."
Sony's Hawk-Eye subsidiary has long worked to elevate sports for spectators and officials alike. It can help officials make real-time judgments in the game through professional playback technology. Its visualization application will be used to recreate the dimensions of the Etihad Stadium in the Metaverse.

Cointelegraph wrote on Jan. 23 that “enhanced interactivity and ownership of virtual items” are special assets for having a base in the metaverse. City may seize both opportunities to make teams and stadiums more accessible to fans around the world.

Manchester City's foray into Web3 and the Metaverse could be of interest to Liverpool FC. According to Liverpool news outlet ECHO, the Reds could follow Manchester City's lead in order to boost their revenue.

Rival Manchester United Football Club also announced on February 10 a new partnership with Tezos (XTZ) to enter the Web3 ecosystem. Tezos will be the team's official crypto and training suite partner and may help develop digital goods.