Barclays Center ‘gaming-inspired’ court

Article posted by Coliseum, September 9^th, 2022

Image: Microsoft

Recently, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team New York Liberty hosted their peer team the Los Angeles Sparks at the Barclays Center in New York (US). The Liberty came back from 20-point deficit and beat the LA Sparks in a thriller.

‘The Verge’ stated that the basketball court at Barclays Center was covered in Xbox logos and console-inspired designs. Tech giant Microsoft says that it’s the league’s “first gaming-inspired basketball court”, with the area under the net made to look a bit like the ventilation holes in the Xbox Series X (home video game consoles developed by Microsoft).

The New York Liberty is an American professional basketball team based in Brooklyn, New York City. The Liberty competes in the Women’s National Basketball Association as part of the league’s Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1997 and is one of the eight original franchises of the league.

Apply for membership

The Los Angeles Sparks is an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California (US). The Sparks compete in the Women’s National Basketball Association as a member club of the league’s Western Conference. The team was founded before the league’s inaugural 1997 season began.

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States. It is composed of 12 teams. The league was founded on April 22^nd, 1996, as the women’s counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the league play started in 1997.

The 19,000-capacity Barclays Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Brooklyn (US). The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association.

‘The Verge’ further stated that of course, there’s also a “metaverse” tie-in as well – the court was recreated in the Dunking Simulator Roblox experience. While the gameplay doesn’t look quite as realistic as something like the NBA 2K (series of basketball sports simulation video games), it could be fun for those who are not able to attend one of the actual games.

The Dunking Simulator is an experience developed by the Virus Game Studio for the Roblox metaverse platform. One can become the ultimate dunk master in Dunking Simulator. In this game, one can earn cash for each successful dunk he or she performs. Use the money to buy new basketballs which act as multipliers, dunking animations, jerseys, direct upgrades to one’s range speed, and more.

Microsoft says it’ll donate up to $50,000 to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation or Girls Who Code, giving $10 to one of the foundations for each submission to its Power Her Dreams site, as part of its goal to bring more attention to women in sports and gaming.

The Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating positive impact for underserved athletes and boys and girls in sports.

A report last year highlighted how women are massively underrepresented in the list of top earners in esports, and players in the WNBA are paid far less on an average than their NBA counterparts. WNBA players have just started to appear on the cover of the popular NBA 2K video game series in the past two years after the league was added to the NBA 2K20.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 250 member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue