Major League Soccer joins LaLiga, the NBA, and League of Legends as part of GreenPark’s Web3-powered social gaming network.
With an increasing number of athletes, teams, and sporting organizations lacing up their virtual cleats and crashing the gates of the metaverse, Major League Soccer wasn’t about to stay on the sidelines in the days leading up to its 2022 regular season kickoff. The MLS and the MLS Players Association (MLSPA) have inked a multi-year deal with social gaming developer GreenPark Sports to take the league and its fans into new virtual worlds, the parties announced Thursday.
Welcome to the MLS Metaverse. Or “Metaverse League Soccer,” if you prefer.
At the beginning of the upcoming season, MLS fans will have the opportunity to join GreenPark’s battleground and compete in competitions. Within the world, users can create custom avatars that will have official team gear, join fan parties and live fan engagement events, earn rewards, and win gear and other prizes.
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Boardroom contacted the MLS for comment about the deal, but a representative was not immediately made available as of this writing.
OneTeam Partners, the group player licensing partner of the MLSPA, facilitated the digital partnership on behalf of the labor union.
“MLS is excited to partner with GreenPark to bring new cutting-edge digital experiences to life for MLS fans around the Globe,” says Chris Schlosser, SVP of Emerging Ventures for MLS, in an official release. “We have set up our Emerging Ventures group to help great young companies easily partner with MLS, our Clubs, and Properties. GreenPark has a fantastic founding team and we are proud to work closely with them in their quest to build the future of fandom.”
Notably, the emerging MLS metaverse isn’t GreenPark’s first rodeo with a major sports or esports organization. In March 2021, the company also agreed to a similar multi-year partnership with the NBA and NBPA focused around live events, prediction battles, dance battles, and exclusive prizes. Additional partners include LaLiga and the League of Legends Championship Series.
“GreenPark continues to build and evolve the go-to virtual world for fans, one that celebrates, measures, and rewards FANERGY and will drive newfound engagement and value for leagues,” says Tony Grillo, Chief Strategy Officer of GreenPark Sports. “With our new partnerships with MLS and the MLSPA, soccer fans can play and compete in a variety of social experiences augmented by live data. Fans can band together to prove their fandom and collect exclusive prizes on GreenPark’s mobile app. We are committed to building a one-stop rewarded fan experience and a multi-sport virtual community, and having MLS and its players join our roster accelerates this mission.”
Fans can join GreenPark’s Early Access phase on iOS via the App Store and on Android via Google Play. The full version of the platform will go live later in 2022.
