Emerging new technologies and the Metaverse are changing how betting operators deliver their products and how customers see betting, more as part of an entertainment around racing and other sports.
Virtual NFT horse racing universe where you can buy and breed NFT horses, and host races in your owned hippodromes for actual profit could be one of the ways to create new racehorse fans.
Wayne Henrys, Head of Racing Wagering Product listed some of the projects of the Hong Kong Jockey Club: supporting influencers (in Asia they are also known as KOLs) to build their own networks around sport, including racing, and entertainment through party events and livestreaming in conjunction with our race meetings. HKJC develops apps and displays that draw on the crypto and day trading experiences that many of our customers had in recent years and is aiming for frictionless user experiences when it comes to the actual trading and betting transactions. Such developments are small steps compared to some of the products and experiences already accessible such as the next generation of virtual racing available from Q4 2023 and 2024 at Royal Ascot, presented by Vincent Caldwell, CEO of VLR, followed by his business partner, Vaibhav Kadikar, USPTO Patent holder (time-incentivised parimutuel betting) and web3 rails creator, listing all the requirements to meet the value of the next generation: transparency, flexibility and optimality.
Bobby Chow of Vertex Labs presented its own lifestyle Metaverse and Metarace, where you can play to earn, breed, trade and race horses. Education and Fun should be part of the Metaverse journey.
Constantin Garreau, Director of innovation at the PMU, has launched Stables in the beginning of the year, a game based on real racehorses where holders and buyers come from 65 different countries and where 6666 NFTs have been sold in three days last March. The game has started two weeks ago based on real races in France and will be developed with the help the community (participants from 18 to 35 (90% are not horse betting customers). WoTA will continue to explore WEB3 and how to address the next generation in Webinars and its Racing & Betting Forum scheduled on 2nd November 2023.