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 Kevin Roberts, editorial director of SportBusiness International, introduces Infront Sports & Media’s Empire of Sports. An online Second Life-type game (example pictured right courtesy of Getty Images Sport/ Robin Utrecht) , it will create a virtual sporting world that could change not only Infront’s own business, but the way sport is marketed and consumed….
If the past is another country, the future is an entirely different world. One of the world’s best known and respected sports marketing companies is set to flip standard practice on its head with the launch of an online ‘virtual’ sports universe in which the alter egos of players with bank accounts in the real world train, compete, attend events and buy the goods and services they need to build a parallel sporting existence.
Infront’s Empire of Sports is the world’s first massive multi player online game built around sport. It is designed to allow up to 10m players around the world to exist in a fantastical online universe where life is geared to developing performance in a range of online sports.
Infront, based in Zug, Switzerland, has a massive portfolio of real-world sports interests ranging from some of the leading winter sports events to the FIFA World Cup. The company runs the commercial interests of the Chinese Basketball and Football Associations and represents many other federations and associations across a wide range of sports.
The company is headed by Philippe Blatter, who previously led the worldwide McKinsey Sports Practice, and staffed by some of the most highly regarded executives in the international sports business. In short, this is a serious company, not given to rash, outlandish and ill-considered business moves. They are certainly not a bunch of adolescent nerds focused on an alternative world because the real one is too difficult to handle.
Infront believes that the imminent launch of its virtual world project will change the nature not only of its own business but the way that sport is marketed and consumed.  The best of both worlds
Infront’s brave new world is, some might say, the ultimate fusion of the worlds of sport and entertainment. In this world anyone can be a player and, critically, everyone can be a consumer.
For those not familiar with such things, the emergence of online games based in a virtual world, in which players adopt a fantasy identity and live a second life in which they react to and with other players, is one of the entertainment sector success stories of recent times. In these environments players are able to socialise and even make virtual world purchases which are delivered to their real world selves.
“Gaming is established as a major and growing part of the entertainment industry and the attraction of being able to play with and against others from all parts of the world has made online gaming particularly attractive,” explained Philippe Blatter.
Among the most successful is the self explanatory virtual world ‘Second Life’ and the more macabre online game World of Warcraft, both of which have millions of near fanatical devotees around the world. World of Warcraft was launched in 2005 and has around eight million players while the fascination for sport is reflected in the success of Kart Rider which claims 12 million players in South Korea and tens of millions in China. There are even those who claim to have become millionaires selling real estate on some multi player online games, perhaps the ultimate blurring of fantasy with the reality of cash in the bank.
To ride the wave of this growing passion for interactive online games playing, Infront has formed a joint venture with F4, a Paris-based video game development company famed for its technical expertise and state-of-the-art graphics. Infront owns the majority of the JV. Between them they have created a world designed to harness and unite the appeal of gaming and the global passion for sport in a future city called Sportopia which provides the stage on which the world’s sporting alter egos will strut their stuff.
You won’t find Sportopia on the departure boards of any airport. Access is strictly by broadband only, but, once there, players will find much which is familiar. In its gymnasiums, clubhouses and other social areas, players will find the coaching, fitness training, equipment and dietary assistance they need to develop their online sporting capabilities.  Creating an alter ego
The first step for each player is to create an ‘avatar’ - a virtual representation of the user…or alter ego. The avatar becomes the embodiment of the player’s online self. These are the inhabitants of Sportopia who eat and sleep, train and compete. They form teams and leagues, take coaching sessions with the avatars of real world sporting greats or simply hang out with online friends. “More or less anything you can do in the real world you can do in Sportopia,” said Philippe Blatter.
In essence, Sportopia has a virtual economy powered by a virtual currency. Within that environment players are subject to marketing messages, as in the real world. And that becomes a particularly powerful proposition when you are able to link transactions conducted in the virtual world to the delivery of real life goods and services paid for in real world dollars. To understand the basis for the business it is necessary to understand the game, which has been designed to ensure that even the rawest rookie players are not discouraged from honing their skills and developing their alternative sporting life.
Through simple controls players move around a 3D environment, interacting with other players through typed speech, training for and participating in sports competitions. At launch at least three sports will be available, basketball, skiing and fitness with others to be added in time.
The game, currently in its beta version ahead of a full blown launch later this year, first in Europe and later in Asia, was developed over the space of 18 months between Infront and the F4 team of more than 100 technicians, designers and artists.
With a targeted user base of five million in the first years and a platform capable of scaling up to handle whatever growth may follow, Infront is offering a range of in-game advertising and sponsorship opportunities as well as access to the e-commerce channels which link the two worlds.
H ow does it work? Well, in theory at least, a player might order a pair of the latest training shoes from the range advertised at a manufacturers’ store in Sportopia and have them delivered to its home the next day. At the same time, the performance of its online self is also enhanced by the new shoes… as in the real world.
And the commercial opportunities, which Blatter and his colleagues highlight, appear boundless. As our illustrations show, there are billboards aplenty on Sportopia’s cleverly crafted buildings. But why stop there? Infront is adamant that the principles of sponsorship are equally applicable to the online world as to the real world so why shouldn’t a major brand step in as sponsor of a club, a league or even as a naming rights sponsor for a Sportopian stadium or arena? With millions of players committing hours each day, the potential for engagement is clear.
According to Blatter it is potential which a number of brands have already recognised. “A number of large sponsors have already confirmed their participation although they cannot be announced yet,” he said. “They quickly realised that this was a product they had been looking for.”
Corporate involvement will not be a one-way street, with the participation of key brands raising the profile of the game and increasing traction and take-up among players. Sponsors will be able to do deals with the game’s most successful players - who are expected to become stars in their own right, perhaps creating the need for online agents - or teams or leagues and other competitions which will emerge on a local, national and international basis.  Complimentary rather than competitive
“There are very many possibilities to create commercial partnerships as well as partnerships with sports federations, leagues, clubs and individual athletes,” explains Blatter who sees Empire of Sports as complimentary, rather than threatening to, sport in the real world. Here the virtues of sport will be promoted to the full.
“We want this world to stimulate interest in sport and to actually encourage players to get out and participate in sport in their everyday lives. We want the game to promote sport and physical exercise and want the federations behind us. This is not solely for the hard-core gamers and it is not simply about the commercialisation of sport. We want this to be an opportunity to help people to develop and learn about sport.”
As in the real world, natural selection will prevail - better players will progress and win recognition, others will play just for fun, to meet personal goals and to enjoy the social life associated with the game - to meet and converse with like minded people across the world. This echoes the development of sport’s competitive, entertainment and social role over the centuries, the only difference being that this online evolution is likely to be significantly accelerated.
The issue which will concern the sports business is how Infront’s alliance with hothouse technology in the games sector will impact on the established order. It raises a raft of fascinating questions about the increasingly blurred line between real life and the virtual world and the ability to generate money which has its roots in a real world fascination for sport but, in reality, owes little to the world of sweat, toil, tears, pain, triumph and despair associated with the sheer physical effort of sport.
Infront has given us all a glimpse of a future in which sport, media and entertainment are indivisible. It is one that many believe, opens up a raft of new opportunities in both virtual and real worlds. Remember, this is not simply an amusing diversion for Infront. It is a serious project, expected to deliver significant revenues and to become one of the pillars of one of the world’s most progressive sports marketing and media companies. This then is a glimpse of the future. Only time will tell how history will judge it. The above article first appeared in SportBusiness International, the monthly magazine that is the world’s leading provider of business intelligence in the sports industry. For further details click on: http://www.sportbusiness.com/publications/sbi
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