In a first-of-its-kind technology collaboration, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has joined forces with the NEAR Foundation in a multi-year partnership to leverage NEAR’s Web3 ecosystem to elevate fan engagement in cricket.
The overarching goal is to introduce a 'fan passport' - a digital ledger of fan interactions that is impervious to tampering.
Under this partnership, the NEAR Foundation will serve as the ICC's Official Blockchain Partner until the end of 2025.
Initial efforts under this partnership will manifest in a pre-match strategy challenge preceding the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, set to kick off on October 5.
*chirp chirp*Hear that? That’s the sound of crickets ????
Oh never mind, we got mixed up.
That’s the sound of a new era of fan engagement in cricket as the NEAR Foundation partners with the International Cricket Council (@ICC) to usher in the next level of fan engagement ???? pic.twitter.com/xIh6nQ1iqE
— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) September 27, 2023
Deeper fan engagement
ICC's head of Digital Finn Bradshaw said: “We are excited to embark on this partnership with NEAR Foundation and to use their technology and network of talent to create better and deeper fan engagement around the globe.
"We are looking forward to exploring ways in which we can use new technology to create lasting, valuable experiences for our fans.”
Powered by NEAR’s Blockchain Operating System (BOS), this interactive platform will allow fans to pit their cricket acumen against each other across the sport’s key dimensions - batting, bowling and fielding.
The platform will also feature a leaderboard, offering weekly prizes such as match tickets and exclusive Men's CWC merchandise, thereby making fans a crucial part of the game experience.
Post the 2023 Cricket World Cup, the ICC and NEAR Foundation will collaborate to build long-term Web3 applications.
About NEAR Foundation
NEAR Foundation is a Switzerland-based non-profit foundation (Stiftung) whose mission is to enable community-driven innovation to benefit people around the world.
One of its core areas of focus is the NEAR ecosystem, which includes a fully operational decentralised blockchain-based platform for building decentralised applications.
Commenting on the significance of this partnership, NEAR Foundation Chris Donovan said: “We are extremely excited to be working with the ICC in this multi-year deal.
"This is one of our biggest partnership announcements to date and solidifies our reputation as a go-to blockchain technology provider in the sporting world.
"Given the immense size and popularity of cricket, the NEAR ecosystem will potentially be exposed to hundreds of millions of cricket fans who will have the opportunity to learn about NEAR Foundation’s mission of increasing the adoption of an open web, and get the chance to interact with Web3 use cases built on the Blockchain Operating System.
"We look forward to opportunities that this mutually beneficial agreement will bring to cricket fans and to playing a key role in using Web3 to make the world of sport more inclusive and exciting for everyone.”