HSBC has partnered with the Sandbox to bring rugby sevens to the metaverse. The bank, which is the official sponsor of the World Rugby 7s series, will build a virtual stadium in the Sandbox to deliver the sporting experience. The stadium is expected to be operational on October 24, just in time for the Hong Kong 7s.
🏉 @HSBC_Sport will be staging a virtual stadium in #TheSandbox from 24 October!
Don’t miss your chance to participate in action-packed challenges, engaging mini games and educational quizzes. 🎫 As well as your chance to win tickets to the Hong Kong #Rugby7s!#HK7s pic.twitter.com/iMt9ByccXq
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) September 28, 2022
HSBC to bring rugby to the metaverse
HSBC bank will create a series of rugby-related experiences that will offer fans a virtual introduction to the game and all its thrills.
The aim is to deliver a unique and immersive rugby 7s experience over the coming weeks.
The companies will introduce an “immersive gaming experience” called The Hong Kong Sevens in honor of the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2022 championship, which will be held in Hong Kong from November 4-6.
It will be a series of missions that will immerse players in the world of rugby.
Luanne Lim, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Hong Kong, said:
“At HSBC, we see great potential to create innovative experiences through emerging technologies for our customers and the communities we serve. We also believe in the unifying power of sports and have been a proud sponsor of the Hong Kong Sevens for decades. Our groundbreaking first foray into The Sandbox remarkably ties together these themes, utilising the gaming, entertainment and educational aspects of emerging technologies to elevate our support towards rugby. Through the metaverse, we are delighted to bring rugby to our communities within the pitch and beyond.”
People who participate in HSBC’s rugby experiences at the Sandbox will also be entered into a draw to win tickets to the Hong Kong event.
HSBC is offering six immersive experiences as part of this program. All of the experiences will take place in HSBC’s virtual stadium at the Sandbox.
They will run from October 24 to November 14.
HSBC and the metaverse
This latest HSBC rugby sevens experience reflects the bank’s growing commitment to exploring the metaverse. HSBC, in fact, became one of the few global multinational banks to enter the metaverse earlier this year. The move was announced in March 2022.
The bank wanted to use its presence in the metaverse to engage in esports, eSports and gaming. Based on recent developments, it appears that HSBC is indeed making this vision a reality. However, it is a bit surprising to see a bank entering the metaverse to create esports and sports experiences.
Other banks in the metaverse
Some banks saw the opportunity to offer financial services on the web3.
In February, JP Morgan, the largest U.S. bank, became the first global multinational bank to enter the metaverse.
The bank established a presence in Decentraland dubbed the Onyx Lounge. It intends to use the lounge to offer Ethereum-based financial services.
Other banks already in the metaverse include Spanish giants Santander and BBVA, and cryptocurrency-based bank Syngnum, among others.
Sports in the sandbox
HSBC’s rugby experience on the Sandbox will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the coming weeks. But sports experiences on the platform are not new.
In recent months, the Sandbox metaverse has explored a number of partnerships designed to make these experiences more accessible to its community.
Socios.com, a cryptocurrency company that releases fan tokens for various soccer clubs around the world, is working to create unique sports experiences on the Sandbox.
Socios has so far purchased 576 plots in the Sandbox, where it plans to build virtual sports and entertainment neighborhoods.
These neighborhoods are being built in partnership with leading soccer clubs such as Barcelona, PSG and Juventus. Partners wants to offer soccer fans an immersive way to interact with their favorite clubs.
In addition, The Sandbox recently announced a partnership with Big Fan, a sports and eSports brand that wants to bring sports fans into the metaverse and digital collectibles.
All of these deals highlight the growing applications of metaverse technology in esports, especially for fans.
Sports in the metaverse
The sports industry has embraced web3 and the metaverse in a big way. And it’s not hard to see why. The metaverse offers new opportunities for fans around the world to consume sports in a more exciting way.
For example, there are already plans to stream the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, or some aspect of it, in the metaverse. This will give fans around the world the opportunity to witness this soccer event as if they were in the stadiums.
In addition, in June this year, the Serie match between AC Milan and Fiorentina was broadcast in the metaverse via Nemesis. This was the first soccer match in the metaverse on the web3.
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