Nike Dives Deeper Into Metaverse With ‘.Swoosh’

Nike is continuing its investment in the metaverse with “.Swoosh,” a digital, blockchain-powered meeting place for athletes, collectors, creators and consumers.

According to a Monday (Nov. 14) news release, the platform will let Nike members learn about and collect creations such as virtual shoes and jerseys, which they’ll one day be able to wear in digital games. In some cases, members will be able to unlock access to physical products, or events such as private conversations with athletes and designers.

“We are shaping a marketplace of the future with an accessible platform for the Web3-curious,” said Ron Faris, general manager of Nike Virtual Studios. “In this new space, the .Swoosh community and Nike can create, share and benefit together.”

.Swoosh is in beta for the moment, with registration set to open later this month. Next year, Nike will unveil its first digital collection, “shaped by the platform’s community.”

Soon after the debut of the first digital collection drops, members will be able to enter a community challenge to win the chance to work with Nike to co-create — and earn royalties on — a virtual product.

Last month, PYMNTS made the argument that Nike’s efforts had it “winning” Web3, with the company’s sneaker-focused nonfungible token (NFT) sales “so far ahead of other brands that it’s not even a race.”

Those sales — $185 million — were 60% higher than the combined sales of the rest of the top 10 and 14 times higher than the NFT earnings of the No. 2 brand, fashion house Dolce & Gabbana.

But as we argued in October, those numbers — courtesy of Dune Analytics — are about more than just sales. Nike earned that total with 67,000 NFT sales, while No. 5 brand Adidas’ 50,000 sales took in a little under $11 million.

And that’s not even the full extent of its digital wearables sales either. Nike’s highly successful metaverse home Nikeland is based in Roblox, an 18-year-old metaverse with upwards of 50 million daily active users that isn’t built on a blockchain and doesn’t support NFTs.