The Australian Open has teamed up with NFT and Digital Collectible platform Sweet.io to release the AO Decades Collection, featuring six commemorative NFT collections celebrating the iconic decades of the AO.
With more than 40 pieces available to own, fans and collectors have a unique opportunity to acquire a piece of AO history.
The six collections will incorporate each of the decades from the 1970’s to the 2020’s and launched today Monday 17 January HERE.
Each decade drop will contain era specific collectables - including a Commemorative Ticket, a 3D Umpire Chair, a 3D Tennis Court and a ‘Legendary Moment’ featuring a highlighted match from that specific era with the likes of Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Martina Navratilova showcased.
Fans who complete the set for that decade will receive a “Master NFT” in the form of a commemorative 3D poster of that decade. The first 50 fans who collect the entire Decades collection of NFT’s, will be granted an exclusive AO Trophy NFT which features both the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup (Men’s) and the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup (Women’s).
The rarest items up for grabs will be auctioned separate to the collection, with only one copy of each of the following available including; a 3D Tennis Racket from each decade, and legendary moments from Mark Philippoussis (1996 win over Sampras on Rod Laver Arena) and Angelique Kerber’s memorable first Grand Slam title in 2016.
One of the most prized collectables is a special edition 1 of 1 NFT ticket to AO 2023 to be auctioned, with the winner also earning an all-expense paid trip to the Australian Open in 2023.
Dates of decade release drops, taking place at 10.00am AEDT are as follows:
- 17 January: 1970’s
- 19 January: 1980’s
- 21 January: 1990’s
- 23 January: 2000’s
- 25 January: 2010’s
- 27 January: 2020’s
The AO’s launch into the Metaverse and the realm of digital tech reinforces the Australian Open’s reputation as one of the most innovative sports and entertainment events in the world.
“The Australian Open launches the sports and entertainment calendar each year, and is the biggest sporting event in the world each January,” Tennis Australia’s Metaverse and NFT Project Manager Ridley Plummer said.
“The AO has made it a habit to unveil world firsts and this year is no different. We’re sharing the story of the Australian Open through the decades with NFTs… tennis fans can collect the grass at Kooyong Stadium as well as the ‘AO true blue’ from Rod Laver Arena while keeping it all in a Sweet blockchain wallet,” Plummer continued.
Sweet.io is a highly scalable, consumer-first, and environmentally conscious Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform used by top brands worldwide. The platform is, immersive and offers user-friendly technology.
“We were delighted to work with the Australian Open and help bring these pieces of tennis history to fans across the globe,” CEO of Sweet Tom Mizzone said.
“We love this idea of turning IP into digital memorabilia and tying that memorabilia back to an experience - the idea that the AO designed an umpire chair that had never been seen before and now tennis fans can own and display that umpire chair as an NFT is just amazing - it’s truly a new level of access.”
Join the conversation on Twitter @AOMetaverse.