PMU in turn pushes the doors of web3. The nearly 100-year-old horse betting operator (created in 1930) made the announcement last week, with the launch of a project called Stables. Based on NFTs of real racehorses, Stables will allow players to collect rewards (in “Stable Points”) tied to the actual performance of Thoroughbreds on racetracks, modeled after Sorare in football or baseball. In addition to earnings related to horse businesses, NFT holders will be able to “actively contribute to the development of the game universe” and will have access to “premium live experiences”, indicates the PMU.
The number 1 horse racing betting operator in Europe makes no secret of it: this foray into web3 aims to attract a new clientele of players, younger than the current bettors. Director of Innovation at PMU, Constantin Garreau shows his ambition to “create a new community of tens of thousands of gamers”. The pilots of the Stables project justify this goal with the “assumed international ambition” of the fantasy game, whose initial version will be launched in English, in the second quarter of 2023.
Stables also offers the PMU a “new freedom” to target customers it previously did not have access to, as horse racing bets have historically been geoblocked by country, where one operator enjoys a monopoly.
However, this “fantasy game” is not aimed at traditional spectators. On the contrary, the PMU intends to surf on the potential of web3 to attract horseracing laymen. “With Stables, our ambition is to build a community of players who are new to this universe,” insists Constantin Garreau. “And if we want to talk to the uninitiated, we have to invent a new way to play that isn’t based on betting,” he continues.
It creates an emotional bond between an NFT holder and their horse
If the value of NFTs held by players will in fact be associated with horse racing performance, Constantin Garreau points out that this is by no means the same mechanics as traditional betting. “With Stables you bet on the duration of a horse’s career, with the risks that this can involve,” he explains. “Keeping a digital asset tied to a real horse creates an emotional bond” between the latter and the NFT holder, he believes, citing the French project Dogami as an example “where players are crazy about their dog”.
“Eventually, the challenge for us will be to be able to project this horse in motion so that it can become, for example, a character in a game. As for the racing aspect, we want to allow users to experience the race in an immersive way, as if they were on horseback. Or from the racetrack, as if he were the real owner”, develops the manager.
In terms of schedule, players can start their Stables adventure this January by participating in a selection (whitelist), each registrant can acquire up to 2 NFTs per wallet from the first collection. To introduce the greatest possible fairness, the PMU has chosen to select a cohort of young horses at the beginning of their career, with a homogeneous value, in order to offer all these NFTs at the same price. “We don’t want there to be an ‘insider bonus’, for an expert to have an advantage over other players,” Constantin Garreau points out. These NFTs will be issued from blockchain French company Tezos, particularly selected for the quality of its technical support.