Football in the metaverse: Is Serie A trial sign of things to come in sports broadcasting?

There has been a lot of drama and excitement for those in attendance at San Siro this season.

What about those watching in the metaverse?

On 1 May, football fans in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region had the opportunity to enjoy a world first when Milan's league game against Fiorentina was broadcast in this virtual world - an innovation yet to be attempted by any of Europe.

Metaverse is a popular word in the virtual world.

The founder of Facebook has called it an embodied internet where you are in the experience, not just looking at it.

In the metaverse, you will be able to do almost anything you can imagine - get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create. Think about how many things you have today that could be holograms in the future. Your TV, your perfect work set-up with multiple monitors, and more.

Why not watch a game there?

As they try to expand the appeal of the league, those running it have hope.

Ten thousand fans in the Mena region were given the chance to access the virtual room on the metaverse with features such as a chat to interact with other users, a quiz to play and a TV screen to watch the game.

More than 7,000 fans watched the Milan-Fiorentina game on TV.

He entered the metaverse at home using a connected device, and then moved himself around using a touch screen.

In the virtual room he entered, there was a virtual TV screen that he could use to watch the game on a standard TV.

He could use these two areas of the virtual world to pick out general or match-related statistics.

These buttons can be used to chat with people and make comments.

I could watch the game, run around and read the statistics with my computer.

I am a software developer and it was easy for me to access the game. I entered the metaverse with my phone after I downloaded an application and used a link on social media. The connection was stable. It was annoying that I could not switch to full screen or zoom in.

The Italian football league is reaching out to Generation Z, a young audience who want to interact with their peers as they watch a game. They can do all of that without leaving their digital world.

With most of the game's big names playing in England or Spain, a step in a different direction was perhaps inevitable.

After a pilot project to understand the potential of this new way of broadcasting the game, the goal is to generate revenue.

It could have an effect on broadcasters. The trial in the Mena region was possible because there is no official television station there. Sky and DAZN have the rights to show matches in Italy. The rights to broadcast games on the metaverse might be sold by Serie A when contracts come up for renewal.

The league is trying to update. Two years ago, it began with the launch of eSerie A. The first sponsorship programme between a football league and a cryptocurrencies platform was signed by Serie A in May last year.

The International Broadcasting Centre opened in Milan last October. All Italian top-flight games are produced, edited, sent to broadcasters and commentated on in Italian, Arabic and English. There are five virtual advertising feeds created for each game, which can be seen on local LED boards in different countries around the world. There are different commercials for the game in the US and Italy.

Is this attitude paving the way for revolutionary broadcasting? It seems that Serie A believes so. You can wear virtual reality glasses and be transported to San Siro or any other stadium in the future, taking the experience to another level.

The frontier of technological innovation is extremely important for a modern league such as Serie A, and that is why we chose to broadcast a football match in the metaverse.

Would he watch a game again?

All in all it was a pleasant experience, but if I had to pay a fee to watch a game on a computer or TV, I would, because the small screen size was an issue. I am a fan of Inter, so I am focused when they play. Minor games would run there, but not the big ones.

For a transitional time, opinions are still divided.

It is difficult to forecast how things will develop, as what we see in football is just a reflection of bigger social changes.

It is worth remembering that a pay-TV model was controversial and unlikely to succeed. Streaming games on the internet used to be like a technological fantasy. The metaverse came with the second and third screens. It is all possible.