Imagine attending a sporting event cwithout sitting through traffic or standing in long lines for concessions. There’d be no risk of another fan spilling their drink on you and you might even get to sit next to a virtual version of your favorite celebrity.

Researchers at the UO’s Lundquist College of Business think this future isn’t far away at all.

In a paper titled, “Sports Fandom in the Metaverse,” the school’s executive director of sports product management–Ellen Schmidt-Devlin and Dr. Raeesah Chohan came up with a few ways brands could use these new technologies.

For example, a basketball team could create a VR Arena and give you the chance to sit next to an avatar of Michael Jordan.

They found these types of opportunities could deepen fandom, while also making events more inclusive to a wider audience.

“When I got to an Oregon football game, I’ve got to go down to the stadium. I’ve got to drive down from Portland to Eugene to go to the stadium,” Schmidt-Devlin said. “But an important part of that is I can hi-five people that are right next to me. They can create that same experience virtually in the metaverse.”

The article did outline some of the risks of the Metaverse, such as a lack of regulation, but overall, UO students studying sports and business are now focused on physical products as well as virtual ones.

The full paper can be found here.