Santa Monica-based sports metaverse platform LootMogul announced an agreement for Hoop Culture Inc., a basketball lifestyle brand, to acquire the naming rights for a digital sports arena in “Orlando.” The company has several metaverse arenas named as if they are in real-world cities.
The terms of the deal include an agreement for Hoop Culture to place five retail stores in five arenas within the LootMogul Metaverse.
“We have been receiving a high number of inquiries for naming rights in our Sports Metaverse, and penning this agreement with Hoop Culture, one of the fastest-growing apparel brands, is phenomenal,” Raj Rajkotia, chief executive at LootMogul, said in a statement. “Our goal is to onboard all major brands in our sports metaverse, convert their web2 consumers to web3 and vice-versa; essentially create a whole new revenue stream in the metaverse for all brands.”
LootMogul consists of virtual real estate. Fans can buy metaverse properties or merchandise to engage with their favorite athletes. Brands, like Hoop Culture can grow their reach in web3 community using exclusive NFTs with real-life merchandise benefits.
Mike Brown, president of Hoop Culture, said in a release that obtaining the rights for the Orlando Arena is a big step in growing the fashion company.
“Having Hoop Culture stores in five LootMogul Metaverse arenas will continue to expand our brand and place us in front of hundreds of millions of potential customers,” Brown said. “Game players will be able to represent the Hoop Culture brand within the Metaverse and purchase physical products that will be sent directly to the customer. Truly a game changer.”
DKS Apparel also acquired digital real estate within LootMogul’s Metaverse. The fashion brand will open four stores within the metaverse cities of Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Miami and New York, among others.
“This is a huge opportunity for DKS to continue to build our brand and also to expand into the Metaverse,” said Dominic Thomas, chief executive at DKS Apparel. “At DKS, we firmly believe that bringing our brand into the LootMogul Metaverse will offer our current customers and future customers the opportunity to rep DKS in the physical world and the real world.”
On Sept. 16, the sports metaverse company secured a $200 million investment commitment from Gem Global Yield LLC SCS that is expected to provide financial flexibility to help with developmental plans to build virtual cities around the metaverse.
