Meta has partnered with NFL.
As part of the partnership, football fans will be able to outfit their on-platform 3D avatars with digital t-shirts featuring the Los Angeles Rams, Cincinnati Bengals, or the Super Bowl LVI logo on Facebook, IG, Messenger, or on VR.
“This represents real momentum on the road to the metaverse,” said Rob Shaw, Meta’s Director of Sports Partnerships. “It enables the NFL to drive engagement with its next generation of fans in a unified way across our technologies, which is a step toward an interconnected digital world. And while we don’t have anything to share on monetization opportunities yet, we’re also moving closer to our ultimate vision of a future where fans can buy digital merchandise for their avatars – which will only increase the business opportunity for us and our partners.”
“We’re updating Meta avatars with a lot more expressions, faces, and skin tones, as well as wheelchairs and hearing aids,” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post released Monday. “We’re starting to experiment with digital clothing too, including official NFL shirts you can wear for the Super Bowl. You can use your avatar across Quest, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. One day, you’ll have multiple avatars ranging from expressive to photorealistic. Looking forward to sharing more soon.”
