Birmingham City to join the Metaverse - what it will mean for fans

Birmingham City will be the first club from the English Football League to join the Metaverse.

The Championship club says the project, which is being led by the esports partner, Ultimo GG, will give fans the opportunity to collect digital real estate as NFTs (Non-fungible token), as well as experience virtual stadium tours and attend virtual events such as digital gigs for local bands and virtual reality replays of matches.

The Metaverse is an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment.

The term refers to a cyberspace parallel to physical reality where a community of people can interact in the form of avatars, which is possible through the merging of physical, augmented, and virtual reality.

Metaverse’s have appeared in slightly different smaller versions in the video game community. The popular game Fortnite has a community of 350 million players all playing within an online community.

How will the project work?

In December 2021, the club work began on scanning and mapping a digital recreation of St. Andrew’s Stadium.

Once complete, the club says Birmingham City’s own digital Metaverse will offer commercial opportunities for the club, engagement and entertainment opportunities for fans, as well as fundraising opportunities for the BCFC Community Trust and academy.

Some of the plans include:

• Digital Museum: An interactive experience, detailing the club’s history.
• Virtual Events: Q&As with club greats, digital gigs for local bands, virtual exhibitions for local artists and VR replays of classic matches
• Virtual Tours: Fans will be able to go behind the scenes at St. Andrew’s from wherever they are in the world, with multiple language options and the opportunity to provide stadium tours to fans with accessibility challenges.
• NFTs and Club Token: Fans can collect moments of Blues history and digital real estate as NFTs, as well as using an exclusive token which generates a tax to ‘support the club’s and its charitable endeavours’.
• Ticketing and Memberships: Fans from all over the world will be able to secure memberships and access to the club, from both a digital and physical perspective.

A fan consultation process will begin shortly, allowing Blues fans to have their say on how the project can be used “to benefit the club and its supporters.”

What’s been said about the project?

Ultimo GG’s CEO and Co-Founder, Tobias Gooden, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be guiding Birmingham City Football Club into the Metaverse.

“Web3 will bring a number of innovative opportunities to football clubs, and we will be able to help Birmingham City become one of the first sports clubs in the world to benefit from this new technology.”

This project underlines Birmingham City’s commitment to innovation, and we’re thrilled to be one of the front-runners and early adopters of Web3.” said James Corrigan, Commercial Sales Manager of Birmingham City.

“Ultimo GG has been an excellent partner for the Club since we announced our partnership last September, with over £10,000 of gaming tournament prizes won by Blues fans, the regular matchday activity at the Ultimo GG esports bar at St. Andrew’s and their charitable donations to our Community Trust and local hospital.”

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