The sporting industry is one of the world’s most valuable products, and so is gaming. Now, what do you get when you take these two and drop them into the metaverse? LootMogul might have the answer.

“We are building out a sports metaverse where we are bringing athletes, whether they’re NBA stars, NFL stars, WNBA, many of those athletes, into the metaverse,” said Raj Rajkotia (pictured), chief executive officer and chief technology officer of LootMogul. “Giving them the ownership of the entire metaverse commerce along with gameplay. We’re building out stadiums. Athletes can own stadiums and create their own training centers and media hubs.”

Rajkotia spoke with theCUBE industry analyst John Furrier at Monaco Crypto Summit, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the value of entertainment mediums like sports to the budding metaverse. (* Disclosure below.)

Empowering star athletes to contribute to and engage their communities

While stars in leagues like the NBA and NFL are mostly paid well, it’s been mostly the corporate structures (i.e., the franchises) that have held most of the controlling power to build facilities and fund projects. A sports metaverse like LootMogul will diversify that one-sided paradigm, according to Rajkotia.

“Those kinds of brands are looking at how to give back to the community and engage with it. And Web3, especially with our platform, is giving that power back to the players,” he said.

LootMogul has already partnered with over 171 names from the NBA, NFL and WNBA, some of which include Carlos Boozer, Lisa Leslie and legendary basketball player/coach Michael Cooper.

“For example, I use Lisa Leslie a lot, but she really wants to empower women leadership and really help women in sports. So those are the angles that really people are excited about,” Rajkotia said.

Sports player careers are notoriously short, so doubling down on a platform like LootMogul and its royalty revenue system will mean players can better capitalize on their fame and brand loyalty long after they hang up their sneakers and cleats.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Monaco Crypto Summit event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Monaco Crypto Summit event. Neither DigitalBits, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE