New Zealand Rugby takes first step into the metaverse

  • New Zealand Rugby Commercial has bought 33 World of Women Galaxy NFTs
  • In a show of support for the Black Ferns NZRC has joined the World of Women NFT community ahead of the Rugby World Cup
  • NZRC believes there is an exciting future for sports brands on web3

New Zealand Rugby Commercial (NZRC) has bought 33 World of Women Galaxy (WoWG) NFTs and taken a first step into web3 by joining the World of Women (WoW) community - in a show of support for the Black Ferns, and women’s sport, ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

WoWG is the second collection of digital art by WoW co-founder Yam Karkai (@ykarkai). WoW is an online community with 218,000 followers on Twitter, who stand for the values of representation, inclusivity, and equal opportunities for all, and have been credited with boosting diversity within the crypto industry.

NZRC CEO Richard Thomas said the goal of the acquisition was to “engage with, and better understand” web3 communities and their relationship with sports and entertainment.

“We have been watching, learning and absorbing all we can from the side-lines, but the time has come to take the next step. To do that we needed to create a genuine connection and we believe the purchase of these powerful NFTs was the right way to show our intent and actively participate.”

The 33 WoWG’s represent NZRC’s support for the 32-strong Black Ferns squad plus the legion of fans united behind them, including WoW, as they kick-off their Rugby World Cup campaign at Eden Park in Auckland tomorrow (Saturday 8 October).

“We wanted to show that we take this first step together, as one, just like the Black Ferns do every time they step onto the field,” Thomas said. “To be able to align our first step with the Black Ferns Rugby World Cup campaign is hugely exciting.”

NZRC hoped to offer the WoW community something new by engaging with rugby and women’s sport.

“We’re looking forward to partnering with WoW and participating in the community, this is only the beginning.”

To make the purchase of the NFTs, NZRC enlisted the expertise of leading web3 infrastructure company, MoonPay, through its Concierge division, which provides “crypto-as-a-service” to brands, organizations, celebrities, and high-net worth individuals.

What is web3?

Web3, also known as web 3.0, is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such blockchain technologies and token-based economics such as NFTs. Web3 embraces decentralization and is being built, operated, and owned by its users. It moves the internet as we know it today, from its read and write capabilities, to read, write and own.

Who are WoW?

World of Women is a thriving community celebrating representation, inclusivity and equal opportunities for all. Created with a vision to build an exciting new world that is inclusive, cooperative, and diverse by design - a vision we share and feel privileged to participate in. The way the arts are portrayed includes images of white women, women of color, women of fashion, women with different colored hair, different eye features, women represented simply, women of fashion- it is all a testament to the project’s aim of creating something that has the potential of being an all-inclusive community and the representation is as broad as possible.

About MoonPay

MoonPay is the world’s leading web3 infrastructure company. Its suite of on-and-off-ramp products provides a smooth experience for converting between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies using all major payment methods, including debit and credit cards, local bank transfers, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. MoonPay is active in more than 160 countries and is trusted by 450+ partners, including leading wallets, websites, and applications.