Warner Bros.
Discovery Warner Bros Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is partnering with Infinite Reality to create new immersive digital experiences for sports fans powered by Web 3.0 and metaverse technologies.
The deal sees Infinite Reality become the exclusive metaverse partner for Discovery Sports Events, a stable of managed properties that includes the FIM Speedway Grand Prix and the WTCR , FIA World Touring Car Cup.
The relationship is WBD Sports’ first to focus on the European market, with the two parties set to preview a metaverse experience during the UCI Track Champions League in December.
WBD Sports hopes the digital experiences will engage fans and build audiences for its operated events, as well as provide new commercial opportunities for partners and advertisers. “Warner Bros Discovery Sports’ partnership with Infinite Reality outlines how we plan to embrace the latest innovations and opportunities to deepen the connections between our audiences, owned series and brand partners to discover possibilities for new growth areas around different sports properties,” said François Ribeiro, head of Discovery Sports Events. “We are excited by the potential to engage new audiences around live sport in different ways, extending the experience beyond the live environment and into even more places where people are interacting and spending time. “Over the coming years, by breaking new ground in metaverse experiences around live sports events we will empower fans to engage with sport in new and exciting ways.
We see the preview during the UCI Track Champions League as an outstanding opportunity to open new avenues for storytelling and fan engagement, providing key learnings as we look to extend our partnership to other assets of Discovery Sports Events’ portfolio.” WBD Sports was formed by the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery earlier this year, comprising Turner Sports in the US and Eurosport in Europe.
Last month, it completed a transaction to create a joint-venture that combines the assets of both BT Sport and Eurosport into a single entity.