Stella Artois UK has become the first global beer brand to enter the world of virtual horse racing by teaming up with premium digital horse racing platform ZED RUN to auction fifty rare NFT racehorses – complete with 5 limited edition Stella Artois-inspired skins.
Coinciding with the busiest part of the UK’s summer racing season, the racehorses were auctioned off between Tuesday 15th and Saturday 19th June, giving racing fanatics a chance to collect, trade, race, and even put the ‘thoroughbreds’ to stud, all in the ZED RUN metaverse which is built on the Ethereum blockchain.
This move comes shortly after Stella Artois became the first beer brand to auction NFTs in order to generate funds for UK hospitality industry.
Virtual horse racing is a rapidly growing craze within esports, with some NFT digital racehorses now being sold for over £100,000 a pop. NFTs or ‘Non-Fungible Tokens’ are commonly powered by the Ethereum blockchain – which allows users to have total ownership of their digital racehorse (NFT) and accrue real earnings through racing, breeding, and putting horses to stud, replicating the real world of championship horse racing.
Alongside the auction, Stella Artois will also be unveiling a first-of-its-kind branded 3D racetrack where ZED RUN players will come together to race their horses in the uniquely designed ‘Racing in the Life Artois’ metaverse.
“As one of the biggest sponsors of premium sporting events, Stella Artois has partnered with leading digital horse racing platform ZED RUN to offer an online equivalent to esports fans,” comments Lindsey McInerney, Global Head of Technology and Innovation at AB InBev. “With our virtual experiment, ‘Racing In The Life Artois’, we’re bringing the art and elegance of Stella Artois and its ‘The Life Artois’ platform to a new audience, offering players the chance to buy, race, and breed their very own NFT thoroughbreds in a ‘metaverse’ that replicates the real world of championship horse racing.”
This latest move follows Stella Artois’ recent Stella Tips campaign when the brand launched its first NFTs, generating funds to Licensed Trade Charity, and is part of Budweiser Brewing Group UK & Ireland’s move to replicate their position as one of the leading sponsors of sport, in the digital sporting metaverse.
