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In the Summer of 2023, MLB debuted its Virtual Ballpark — a browser-based metaverse campaign built by technology partners Improbable. It managed to incorporate MLB’s other Web3 partners like Candy Digital and Sorare, allowing baseball fans to win Sorare cards while in the virtual world and claim Candy Digital commemorative tickets. Visitors were also able to customise their avatars with their favourite team’s jersey and participate in trivia games.

The event featured a live stream on the ballpark’s video board, exclusive celebrity interviews, and the opportunity to participate in mini-games linked to real-time events at T-Mobile Park in Seattle — creating a new realm of sponsorship inventory for MLB.

One of the unique things about the way the Virtual Ballpark is set up is that it is concurrent for up to tens of thousands of fans - rather than siloed in a server-based setup - meaning that it recreates a real-life environment in the way that fans are used to.

The Virtual Ballpark came back in September 2024, and during the Detroit Tigers vs Tampa Bay Rays game - displayed the novel capability that many preach to be the holy grail in this space; interoperability. Bored Ape Yacht Club avatars were able to enter the Virtual Ballpark for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays vs. Detroit Tigers game, alongside baseball fans, to watch the players on the field recreated in this digital environment.

This may seem like something unimportant, but interoperability cross-chain is incredibly difficult - and this is the first example involving a rights holder of any kind.

The results:

The numbers may seem modest - but for where this technology is - it seems like a pretty good turnout for all involved.

Why is this interoperability event a big deal?

Because that buzzword - ‘interoperability’ - is fantastic in theory, but incredibly hard in practice.

This is due to three key reasons:

1) Technology
2) Visuals
3) Commercials & IP Management

Let’s break these down one at a time.

(1) From a technology standpoint, taking one file that is built for a specific technology stack (like a Bored Ape NFT on the Ethereum blockchain) and having it ‘work’ on another technology stack (Improbable’s Msquared) is incredibly difficult. Many in the crypto world will tell you that the future is ‘cross-chain’ but right now, it’s very difficult to do that even with compatible tech standards. Take Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks — they’re part of the same family and speak the same language, but it’s still difficult for these networks to interact. There’s a long way to go here, so while this doesn’t seem like a big deal to many - we are perhaps at the beginning of seeing what makes this decentralised technology special.

(2) From a visual perspective - one of the hardest things to do is to ensure that a Bored Ape NFT looks identical or almost identical in multiple worlds, domains and crucially — on different technology stacks. This is difficult in itself on the same technology stack, let alone crossing the ‘cross-chain’ barrier.

(3) From a sports perspective, perhaps the most crucial one. There is no incentive for rights holders to allow for the interoperability to happen. There is a lack of control associated with it, which makes the stakeholders here uneasy. It’s a lot easier, and right now profitable, to create something in Roblox that has strict parameters and controls set. I think that could be about to change shortly, however. It makes a lot more sense for IP owners to create digital assets and then allow them to work on several different platforms, in a permissioned manner, increasing distribution and perhaps monetization. Again, (1) and (2) make this idyllic state difficult - but baby steps are being taken to make this a reality.

From the interoperability release, as per Improbable, this is “allowing businesses to develop and share IP assets while maintaining complete control and security, ensuring that brand and intellectual property remain protected” (h/t SEG3 report). In other words — rather than siloed approaches to digital rights deals, there is a more centralised creation and management of those assets, on decentralised rails, that allows for this control and protection.

When MLB launched the Virtual Ballpark last year, Kenny Gersh their VP of Media & Biz Dev said:

With any ‘Metaverse’ type experience, this is what sports rights holders are looking at. Can we interact with the 99% of fans we have that aren’t in the stadium, in a more meaningful way?

Again, this idea of global digital fan engagement has gone from a marketing gimmick to quickly becoming the potential next frontier of sports monetisation, especially as broadcast rights, sponsorships and ticketing prices are already incredibly lofty. Again, there is much to be done to make this a reality — but it is clear that most leaders in sports view this as a serious part of their future strategy.

How big a part Web3 plays in this is still a developing story, but my feeling is that it is now something throw inherently part of many innovation strategies in sport.

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