Imagine: you put on lightweight virtual reality glasses — and suddenly you're at Camp Nou. Next to you is an avatar of a friend from Tokyo, and an avatar of Messi (who is 40 but immortal in the digital world) is running on the field. You scream, wave a virtual flag, and in a second you're transported to Maracana to watch the final. This is not science fiction. The metaverse is already entering sports, and by 2035, virtual stadiums could become the norm. They won't replace live emotions, but they will complement them, making sports accessible to billions. How will it work? What's in it for fans, clubs, and sponsors? Let's look into the near future. From broadcasting to presence: the evolution of watching First, we watched sports at the stadium. Then — on TV. Later — on a laptop and smartphone. The next step is immersion. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies have reached such a level that by 2026, you can buy a ticket to a "virtual match" and feel like you're on the stands. But the real metaverse is not just 360-degree video. It's a shared space where thousands of fans can interact with each other, choose a camera angle, even influence the atmosphere (for example, lighting virtual fireworks). Unlike TV, where you're a passive viewer, in the metaverse, you're a participant. How a virtual stadium is structured A virtual stadium is a 3D model of a real arena (or a fictional one). You enter through a portal (a website, an app, a VR headset). Create an avatar (your own face or a fictional character). Buy a "digital ticket" for cryptocurrency or fiat. Choose a section: VIP box, fan "kettle," family section. Inside, everything is like at a real stadium: scoreboard, commentator, beer stalls (where you can buy virtual beer, but drink it in reality — delivery by courier). Cameras from the real match are broadcast into the 3D model. You can watch the game from any angle: sitting behind the goal, from the height of a bird's-eye view, even from the p ... Read more