The partnership gives sports organizations a way to build communities that appeal to younger fans.

Las Vegas, NV Thursday 11th April 2024; Monterosa, the fan engagement platform, has announced prior to the NAB Show that it has partnered with Ready Player Me to integrate its unique avatar creator and virtual merchandise store into the Monterosa platform.

Online visual identities are expressive building blocks for community experiences.  Yet even with the best AI, uploaded photos present excessive risk for trusted family sports and entertainment brands. Using Ready Player Me avatars will alleviate this risk by bringing compelling, animated and customisable 3D avatars with virtual merchandise to the sports and entertainment sectors.

Organizations adopting the Monterosa platform will be offered optional usage of Ready Player Me for fans to create their likeness using advanced avatar builders. They can also offer fans the chance to buy virtual merchandise with both earned virtual currency and real money payments, presenting an opportunity for new revenue streams. 

Monterosa / Interaction Cloud is the unified fan engagement platform helping customers gamify their owned and operated products to help reach ambitious loyalty and conversion goals. By adopting a single platform to power all interactive experiences, Monterosa platform customers benefit from global syndication, automation and first party audience profile generation. 

Integrated into the Monterosa Identify layer and interoperable with existing Identity Management, SSO and Loyalty offerings, Ready Player Me avatars will be available within both Monterosa-powered fan engagement Experiences and to custom applications created on the platform by partner agencies and games studios. 

Timmu Tõke, CEO & Co-founder, Ready Player Me:  "We are excited to partner with Monterosa to transform fan engagement in sports. By integrating Ready Player Me avatars and virtual merchandise, Monterosa are not only enhancing visual identity but also deepening connections between fans and their favorite teams. This collaboration opens up new possibilities and revenue streams in the evolving landscape of digital engagement."

Tom McDonnell, CEO & co-founder, Monterosa commented “Sports teams, leagues and media companies can face challenges when trying to play a role in building online communities that appeal to younger fans. Risks and moderation costs can result in fan identity and expression being deferred to big social and tech companies. Ready Player Me and Monterosa are working together to solve the problem together and inspire new ways to visualise fans, crowds, communities and conversation.”