RJ White is the first female owner of men’s sports teams in the United Kingdom and the United States. Her global influence extends beyond sports as she emerges as a leader in the digital landscape after securing the largest plot of land in the Metaverse.
Noteworthy is RJ’s role as the CEO behind “Ballin’ in the Metaverse,” a groundbreaking four-phase project. Additionally, Posh Multiverse, her avatar, is the first to be signed to a modeling agency.
Innovation & Tech Today sat down with RJ to talk about the motivation behind her work, the “Ballin’ in the Metaverse” project, her avatar, and more.
Innovation & Tech Today: You own the largest plot in the metaverse. Could you share your motivations behind that move and what that means?
White: My motivation has been here for a while. I’ve been wanting to own an NBA team since I was four. I’ve been around tech since I was a kid. I was playing with keyboards when they weren’t even connected to computers. When the Sims first came out, I was the person that was creating the mods. I know they couldn’t stand me in the game because they were like, “Yo, who’s creating all these side mods for this game?” I just feel like it’s something I love. It’s a space that I love to be in. It’s a space we all feel comfortable in, and I plan to continue to expand.
I&T Today: Could you elaborate on the “Ballin’ in the Metaverse” project and its significance?
White: It’s a four-phase project. We are appealing to Gen Z, millennials, sports, and tech sectors. We’re just going to bring people into the space. Here in Illinois, I’m building the first carbon-neutral arena that would be multi-multiverse. As we build this arena out, some of the functions that we have in this arena are just mind-boggling.
Our issue started with us not having enough space for our gym, so I built my own. As we were doing that, we just started getting more and more legends from basketball and more people coming in to support. And now that we’re in the beginning phase of building this arena, we have athletes that are involved that want to be digitized and bigger companies that want things like stores inside of the arena. It started small, but now we’re doing digital content.
We’re merging with a lot of artists and celebrities. We’re going to be doing concerts. It’s a big thing that started as a small passion of mine with just building mods at the Sims.
I&T Today: Your avatar, Posh Multiverse, is the first avatar assigned to a modeling agency. What role do you see for avatars in the fashion industry specifically?
White: I think it’s going to be huge. I feel like it is going to be a way to help pretty much anyone involved monetarily because now you can work two jobs. Your avatar could be at work, and you could be at work. You could be on a runway in Paris, and they could be on a runway in New York.
I do feel like avatars are our likenesses, so I could see us very well using our avatars inside of certain spaces in which we want to be ourselves. Maybe someone wants to change their avatar because they don’t want to be themselves that day. It allows us to immerse in a new and different experience. I also feel like avatars are going to be big to help with self-expression. Especially for people with a disability- they can now be comfortable and do what they like in the metaverse.
I&T Today: Can you see other industries embracing avatars? Who do you think that will be in the future?
White: I feel like everybody will, but mainly sports. Most of our players will be digitized before the end of 2024. We have five legends. If I named them off right now, it would be mind-boggling.
So, to be able to just have a conversation with them within our arena as a meet and greet is just crazy. I think it’s going to be something that everybody is going to eventually do. I think it’s just a matter of what that looks like.
I&T Today: What are your next goals in the upcoming months and years with the metaverse?
White: Well, the overall goal is always going to be NBA ownership. As far as the metaverse, I’m already a founding mother of the metaverse right now, so it would just be to continue to build, grow, learn more about the space and audience, and immerse into the space.
I&T Today: You are the first and only owner of a men’s sports team in the UK and the United States. Could you share some key moments or maybe even a challenge you faced to get to this point?
White: The challenges are the same as being a woman, specifically a black woman, in tech. You’re going to be the only female predominantly in that particular space. So, the biggest thing that you are going to have to learn and get past is the fact that you will only be that female or feminine face in the world. I come from a really big family. My dad, uncles, and grandfather are all former military. So I don’t think there’s any space or any room I’m too uncomfortable in. I’ve always pounded concrete and made sure that we are seen and heard.
I&T Today: If you could give anybody advice, especially women going into the industry, about breaking the barriers, what kind of advice would you give them?
White: Don’t have any preconceived notions. I feel like everybody is always willing to learn, and everyone is looking for the next thing to fix their problem or create a solution. Being a woman in a particular industry just means using your voice, expertise, and knowledge, and you show up.
