Cricket World Cup to function Web3 fan app as ICC faucets into Close to blockchain

The Worldwide Cricket Council has partnered with NEAR Basis to construct a blockchain-powered, Web3 fan engagement app for the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India, which guarantees to succeed in a whole lot of thousands and thousands of followers over the following six weeks.

Cointelegraph spoke solely to ICC head of digital Chris Donovan and NEAR CEO Finn Bradshaw, who unpacked particulars of the Web3 cellular app that’s aimed toward driving fan engagement earlier than, throughout and after matches on the world showpiece in India.

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The ICC’s first foray into the world of Web3 was the creation of an NFT platform known as FanCraze in 2022 that gave followers the power to personal highlights of historic moments from numerous ICC tournaments. Donovan mentioned that it laid the muse for future Web3 exploits:

“We cherished the group that grew round that product, so we’ve been on the lookout for different use instances that assist strengthen our followers’ love of cricket.”

The app will enable followers to play prediction video games requiring technique choices for video games through the competitions. Followers will earn factors reflecting their choices and the precise final result of matches, counting in direction of leaderboards and rewards through the competitors.

Donovan mentioned that cricket’s governing physique and NEAR share an identical imaginative and prescient for the way Web3 know-how can enhance digital experiences for followers and that NEAR’s Blockchain Working System’s interoperability with different networks was a key issue within the partnership:

“An enormous a part of that’s about creating merchandise with better interoperability throughout blockchains.”

Whereas NEAR is a layer-1 blockchain, it options scalable infrastructure supporting communication, sensible contract and transaction capabilities with different blockchain ecosystems. Bradshaw mentioned that this function may show helpful as extra use instances are explored within the partnership that ends in December 2025:

“The ICC is barely targeted on working with a single layer-1 blockchain associate for now, however they’re conscious of the Blockchain Working System’s interoperability capability.”

As Cointelegraph has explored at size, advertising and promoting in numerous sports activities codes has been a driver within the adoption of cryptocurrencies and Web3 basically. Bradshaw believes {that a} Cricket World Cup being hosted in India presents one other alternative to current working use instances of blockchain know-how.

“In partnering with the most well-liked sport on the sub-continent, we count on it to be a showcase for the ecosystem’s know-how and companions in demonstrating what a mass-market web3 software seems like.”

In response to Bradshaw, NEAR Basis’s enterprise growth workforce labored alongside the ICC for 4 months researching and figuring out use instances for the Cricket World Cup. The event will get underway on Oct. 5 and the ultimate is scheduled for Nov. 19.

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