NYC is famous for being a melting pot of cultures and on a recent memorable night in November, at the Rally Museum, the Sporting Crypto Social NYC edition the vibe was no different. The event by Sporting Crypto, supported by digital agency L+R, brought together the worlds of sports, gaming, tech, and web3.
The Rally Museum, with its rare collectibles, served as an appropriate backdrop for the evening’s conversation, which mostly centered on tokenization and real-world assets. Attendees included representatives from the NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, and key players in blockchain and cryptocurrency such as Arbitrum, HBAR, Zora, NEAR, Solana, and Mysten Labs as well as tech giants AWS, Google, and Apple.
Though networking was a draw, the event wasn’t just about scanning each other’s LinkedIn or Telegram QR codes. Conversations flowed around the integration of blockchain technology across sports, gaming, music, fashion, real-world assets, and of course the future of collectible investments.
"Even in the bear market, we've seen huge demand for highly curated events that get the best in class people from sports, entertainment and Web3 in the room together,” observed Pet Berisha, Founder of Sporting Crypto. “If Web3 is to go mainstream, its pivotal industry leaders understand this space better and collaborate with top Web3 native operators."
Yes, bonhomie was in the air. "At the core of groundbreaking achievements are strong communities,” said Jamie King, co-founder of Rockstar Games and advisor to both Sporting Crypto & L+R. (He might have unknowingly produced another highlight of the night when he jumped behind the bar and started serving everyone free booze, provided by GLASS, a new tokenized rewards platform for beer, wine, and spirits.)
The free liquor certainly set the room abuzz. And when the free pizza arrived,the place was roaring. (It was the quintessential NYC style thin-crust pizza which drips oil when you fold it. That is a good thing. Indeed, Dave Portnoy would probably have rated the pizza a solid 7.1 if he did a review.)
Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the pizza. But by the end of the night, everyone was pretty much talking about how blockchain technology will cross over into the mainstream through sports, gaming, and entertainment. “In this rapidly advancing tech landscape, our event stands as a vivid reminder of the passionate human spirit that continually drives these industries forward,” said Alex Levin, Founding Partner at L+R.
It sure felt like the next million users will have been on-boarded to web3 from the conversations that occurred in the Rally, where fittingly enough, you can own everything in the museum. Or maybe it was just the beginning of a typical night in NYC.