It’s hard to see the future… unless you make it yourself.
We are doing just that, and we do it by imagining what will come.
Here are three articles that we imagine reading in the future, because of what we did.
WHAT IT IS. WHAT IT MEANS.
The Everyone Sport: How a Social Experiment at Prep Schools Became a Global Sports Phenomenon
In the winter of 2024, a bold experiment quietly began at two of the most prestigious prep schools in America: Phillips Academy Andover and Phillips Exeter Academy. These historic institutions, known for producing future world leaders, played host to a disruptive new idea: The Everyone Sport. What started as a small social experiment, designed to test the boundaries of inclusive, competitive sports, quickly ballooned into a global movement that not only revolutionized athletic competition but also redefined virtual reality as we know it.
By the winter of 2025, The Everyone Sport had become a worldwide phenomenon, spanning continents, engaging every demographic, and earning its place alongside — and often above — traditional sports.
The Genesis: Private Schools as a Testing Ground
The plan was ambitious from the start. Victor Bond, the mastermind behind The Everyone Sport and CEO of the Virtual Sports Association, envisioned something radical: a virtual sport that could be played by anyone, anywhere — leveling the playing field for athletes of all abilities and backgrounds. In a world where professional sports primarily favored physicality, wealth, and geography, Bond saw an opportunity for something vastly more inclusive and just as, if not more, challenging.
But to make it work, he needed to test his theory in environments that were both competitive and culturally impactful. The elite prep schools of Andover and Exeter were perfect proving grounds. Both schools had a reputation for nurturing driven, competitive students, and if The Everyone Sport could gain traction there, it could work anywhere. Bond knew this because he himself attended the oldest prep school in the U.S., The Governor’s Academy.
The concept was simple but groundbreaking: a totally affordable virtual reality-based competition that didn’t just test skill but also factored in effort. In the flagship game, Racket:Next, players wore VR headsets and competed in an immersive racquet sport, akin to squash or tennis but with many futuristic twists. Every swing, every twist and turn, every ounce of energy exerted was tracked by the system, creating a new metric: an effort-to-value exchange rate. Players could contribute to their teams’ performances regardless of their skill level, simply by pushing themselves toward their physical limits.
And each team had unlimited membership, so no one was cut… everyone could play and score for the teams [also unlimited in number] that they wanted.
The Breakthrough Moment: Competition Meets Collaboration
At Andover and Exeter, students quickly took to the game. What started as after-school experimentation grew into an all-out obsession. Tournaments were held between the two schools, and soon other independent schools began to take notice. Bond’s innovation wasn’t just a game — it was an entire competition system that rewarded everyone for their contributions, not just the top athletes.
The Independent School Everyone Sport Association (ISESA), a network of prestigious private schools, saw this new sport as an antidote to the increasingly toxic, hyper-competitive atmosphere surrounding conventional youth athletics in the U.S. and around the world. Within months, the association fully adopted The Everyone Sport, sparking a ripple effect across independent schools nationwide. By 2025, the system had spread to public high schools and universities, including the Ivy League, Stanford, and the University of Michigan.
A Strategic Pivot: Corporate Partnerships and Global Scale
This wasn’t just a grassroots phenomenon. Bond had been planning the next step all along. With success in the prep and university circuits, Bond turned to corporate partners to scale the experience. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet — all of the tech giants took note. But it was Amazon that emerged as the key partner. Known for its expertise in hardware, Amazon was uniquely positioned to deliver a low-cost, accessible VR headset designed explicitly for The Everyone Sport.
Bond’s pitch to Amazon executives was a masterstroke: a $99 VR headset, specifically designed to lower the barrier to entry for virtual reality sports. Dubbed the Amazon VR Sport, it was built with “Lateral Thinking With Withered Technology,” a concept which guided the development of the Nintendo Wii. This wasn’t about bleeding-edge specs or AR integration as competitors were chasing — it was about creating a durable, affordable headset optimized for sport, not games. And the payoff? A headset that would sell hundreds of millions of units globally.
The brilliance of the strategy was in its simplicity. While competitors like Meta focused on tech innovation, Amazon and Sport:Next focused on market adoption. The Everyone Sport wasn’t just a game — it was a movement that anyone could join. Amazon seized the opportunity to lead in the VR hardware space, while Bond used his partnership with One Hamsa, the developers of Racket:Next to expand and refine the sport’s core experience with the Sport:Next Collective Competition System.
The International Surge: Breaking Barriers and Borders
The Everyone Sport didn’t stop with American schools. By 2025, the game had spread across the globe. International partnerships with countries like Malaysia, Israel, and New Zealand opened new doors, as their schools and universities adopted the sport. The sports federation route also opened, with organizations like the International Racquetball Federation, the Badminton World Federation, and the International Tennis Federation joining the fold. While Bond had initially sought to disrupt traditional sports, by 2026, The Everyone Sport had become a fully recognized and legitimate alternative — a parallel global athletic ecosystem.
Iglesia ni Cristo, the international Christian church known for its global influence and community involvement, also threw its considerable support behind the movement. Their involvement was crucial in spreading The Everyone Sport across Asia and the Philippines, cementing the sport’s appeal across cultural and geographical boundaries.
The Future: A New Olympics?
In 2027, the question on everyone’s mind is not if, but when, The Everyone Sport will establish The Summit, the Olympics of fully inclusive sport. The inclusion of eSports in various international competitions has already begun to blur the lines between traditional and digital sports, but The Everyone Sport offers something different: physicality and athleticism. This is a virtual sport that demands real-world exertion, skill, and strategy. As global adoption has surged, the idea to create a global sport competition became compelling.
Corporations have also begun to integrate The Everyone Sport into their employee wellness programs. Major companies, from Silicon Valley tech giants to Wall Street firms, recognize the team-building and health benefits the sport offers. By 2026, millions of employees worldwide were competing in virtual sports leagues sponsored by their companies, and corporate partnerships with Sport:Next and Amazon had become a major revenue stream.
A New Age of Sport
Sport:Next’s and Amazon’s vision was never just about creating another game. It was about reshaping how we think about sport, inclusivity, and competition in the digital age. The success of The Everyone Sport at Andover and Exeter was just the beginning. What started as a social experiment in the ivory towers of prep school privilege is quickly growing into a global force, transforming education, corporate wellness, and professional athletics alike.
The Everyone Sport is more than just the second coming of the Wii. It’s a glimpse into the future of how humans will engage with sport — and each other — in a world increasingly defined by virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and digital athleticism.
As Bond once said, “The future of sport is for everyone — and that future is now.”
The $99 Bet that Changed Sport… and Society
Amazon’s $99 Bet: How a Bold VR Gamble Turned Into Global Dominance
In the annals of corporate history, there are moments when a company takes a risk so bold that it could either cement their place as an industry leader or flop like a pancake. For Amazon, that moment came when the company decided to invest in a bare-bones, $99 VR headset. While competitors were racing to release the most advanced and technologically sophisticated virtual reality devices, Amazon bet big on simplicity—and it paid off in spectacular fashion.
Fast forward to today: Amazon is not only the leading provider of virtual reality hardware but has fundamentally reshaped the VR landscape across industries. From the smash hit of The Everyone Sport to enterprise solutions and educational initiatives, Amazon’s VR ecosystem has become an indispensable part of global technology infrastructure. Here’s how a “crazy” $99 idea led to their rise as the undisputed leader in virtual reality.
The Spark: A Crazy Idea
It all started with a phone call that some insiders say bordered on lunacy. Victor Bond, CEO of Sport:Next, the Virtual Sports Association and the mastermind behind The Everyone Sport, pitched Amazon an idea: a low-cost, no-frills VR headset that could bring virtual sport into the homes of millions. Amazon’s leadership was skeptical but intrigued. The concept defied the prevailing logic in the tech industry, which at the time was focused on more expensive, feature-packed headsets aimed at the high-end market.
Bond’s pitch was as radical as it was simple: the headset would not aim for the cutting-edge specs that Meta, Sony, Apple and others were focused on. Instead, it would be dedicated to a singular purpose—making The Everyone Sport accessible to the masses. By taking a page out of the Nintendo’s Wii playbook, which used “lateral thinking with withered technology” to offer a unique and addictive experience, Amazon would focus on user experience rather than technological marvels. The hardware didn’t need to be cutting-edge; it needed to be affordable, reliable, and built for fun… and competition.
And it needed to be INCLUSIVE, enabling everyone to play and meaningfully contribute, regardless of their skill level. To that end, teams and team sizes were unlimited… only possible with digital athleticism.
For Amazon, it was a multi-million dollar gamble that could either dramatically boost its consumer VR hardware division or lead to a spectacular flop. The risk? Sinking millions into a headset that might be outclassed by more advanced devices or ignored by consumers still largely uncertain about VR. The opportunity? Becoming the first company to truly capture the untapped market for competitive VR users.
The Execution: Betting on Affordability and Simplicity
Behind the scenes, Amazon’s engineers worked to design a VR headset that could retail for just $99 without sacrificing quality where it mattered most—user experience. The company collaborated with suppliers like Qualcomm, opting for the Snapdragon 750G chipset, a powerful yet cost-effective component that could handle the demands of immersive VR experiences without pushing the price tag through the roof. To further reduce costs, they scoured the “parts bin” of previous tech, making use of components from older hardware and cutting-edge manufacturing techniques.
The challenge, however, wasn’t just building the hardware. Amazon had to ensure that the device would work seamlessly with Racket:Next, the centerpiece game of The Everyone Sport. They needed to convince the world that a $99 headset could still offer a world-class VR experience. And perhaps most importantly, they had to leverage and expand a distribution network that could get this revolutionary product into the hands of millions of consumers worldwide.
Partnering with established e-commerce giants and retail chains, Amazon positioned its new VR headset as the perfect device for families, schools, and everyday consumers—not just hardcore gamers. But the real stroke of genius came from marketing it not as a VR device, but as sports equipment. This subtle shift in messaging allowed Amazon to avoid direct comparisons with more expensive VR headsets and instead focused on the immersive athletic experience that The Everyone Sport promised. The entire Everyone Sport package was $119, including the Racket:Next game, plus a $99 yearly subscription to the Sport:Next Season Pass, all of which together cost less than a youth football helmet.
The Payoff: Taking Over the World of VR
The response was nothing short of extraordinary. The Everyone Sport, powered by Amazon’s affordable and accessible headset, exploded onto the global stage. Initially introduced to prep schools like Andover and Exeter in the U.S., the sport quickly spread to universities, corporations, and eventually public schools and international markets. The low cost of the headset made it an attractive proposition for institutions and families alike, while the competitive nature of The Everyone Sport—where effort, not just skill, was rewarded—created an entirely new kind of demand for VR hardware.
Sales figures skyrocketed. Amazon had bet on volume, and that bet paid off in spades. By the end of the first year, Amazon had shipped millions of units globally, earning accolades not just in the tech press but also in the broader business and sports worlds. What set the company apart, however, was that it didn’t stop there. The Everyone Sport had opened the floodgates for an entirely new segment of VR users—those who might not have considered VR in the past but were now hooked on the immersive, social, and physical experiences it offered. They had their “Wii Moment.”
Beyond The Everyone Sport: Expanding into New Markets
But Amazon’s success didn’t stop with sports. Recognizing the power of their low-cost, high-value headset, the company quickly moved to expand into other sectors, with the Amazon Sport and other more powerful VR hardware. Education was an obvious next step. Amazon’s partnerships with school districts around the world allowed students to access immersive educational experiences in fields like history, science, and geography. In some developing regions, Amazon VR headsets became primary tools for remote learning, offering students opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have had.
Corporate training was another unexpected avenue of growth. Amazon’s bare-bones VR headset paved the way for training programs in industries ranging from healthcare to manufacturing. The Amazon devices’ affordability made them attractive options for companies looking to scale VR training across thousands of employees without the prohibitive costs associated with higher-end headsets. Soon, Amazon had deals with major global corporations that were using its VR technology to simulate everything from surgical procedures to hazardous factory environments.
And then came fitness and wellness. Leveraging the community and competition dynamics established by The Everyone Sport, Amazon expanded into VR-based fitness programs. These platforms allowed users to train virtually, both solo and with friends. Once again, Amazon had cornered a market that others had underestimated.
Competitors Scramble to Catch Up
Amazon’s rise to dominance in VR has left competitors scrambling to catch up. Meta, Sony, and HTC—each with their respective premium-priced headsets—were suddenly on the back foot. While those companies focused on the high-end VR gaming experience, Amazon had captured the hearts and wallets of everyday consumers by making VR accessible, affordable, and engaging. What’s more, Amazon’s integration into non-gaming sectors like education and corporate training meant that it had diversified its revenue streams far beyond what its competitors were able to achieve.
By the time Amazon’s rivals realized the scale of the shift, it was too late. The $99 VR headset had created a wave of consumer adoption that was hard to reverse. Even companies that initially dismissed Amazon’s approach began to follow suit, attempting to release their own budget-friendly devices. But Amazon’s first-mover advantage, combined with its distribution channels and the global presence of the Sport:Next Competition System, cemented its place as the leader in the VR space. The Wii had been a sensation that faded without the robust competition system that defined The Everyone Sport.
The Legacy: Redefining What’s Possible in Tech
What started as a risky bet on an affordable, bare-bones VR headset turned into one of the most successful gambles in corporate history. The company didn’t just create a device; it redefined the way people think about virtual reality. The Everyone Sport might have been the initial spark, but the ripple effects have transformed industries far beyond sports.
Today, Amazon’s VR technology is woven into the fabric of everyday life—whether it’s through gaming, education, training, or fitness. The company’s success has become a case study in how sometimes, focusing on simplicity and accessibility can win out over sheer technological advancement. In an industry obsessed with bigger, faster, and more expensive, Amazon proved that sometimes, the path to dominance is as simple as making the right thing accessible to everyone.
And it all started with a crazy, $99 bet.
The Everyone Sport: Why It Makes Us Happy.
Why The Everyone Sport Became a Global Fixture: The Psychology Behind Its Enduring Success
In an age where trends and fads rise and fall as swiftly as social media posts, few phenomena manage to stand the test of time. From viral TikTok dances to fitness crazes, many once-ubiquitous movements have faded into obscurity. Yet, against this backdrop of fleeting popularity, a virtual sport has not only survived but thrived. The Everyone Sport, which started as a niche experiment in elite prep schools, has grown into an integral part of global culture — as common and necessary as breakfast and dinner. How did this happen? What makes The Everyone Sport so far immune to the natural decay of most trends?
In this article, we dive into the psychological underpinnings of The Everyone Sport’s enduring success, analyzing the deep human needs it satisfies and the unique factors that have made it a permanent fixture in people’s lives across the world.
The Need for Belonging: Universal Inclusivity
One of the foundational principles of The Everyone Sport is its inclusivity. From the very start, creator Victor Bond sought to create a competitive environment where everyone could contribute and feel a sense of belonging. In traditional sports, the concept of athletic ability always creates divisions: the skilled and the unskilled, the winners and the losers, the picked and the left out…the included and the excluded. However, The Everyone Sport obliterated these boundaries by setting no limits on team size or number, and introducing an effort-to-value exchange rate that registers and rewards players not just for their skill but for their effort.
Psychologically, this taps into the fundamental human need for belonging. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the need to belong is one of the primary motivators of human behavior. People thrive when they feel accepted as part of a group. The Everyone Sport, by design, ensures that every player, regardless of their athletic prowess, feels a sense of contribution and value. This inclusivity has been critical in ensuring that the sport didn’t fall by the wayside like so many exclusive fitness trends. By democratizing competition, The Everyone Sport resonates with people across all walks of life — from schoolchildren to corporate professionals to retirees.
Competence and Mastery: A Psychological Driver for Engagement
Though The Everyone Sport prides itself on inclusivity, it doesn’t compromise on the drive for excellence. Players can still improve their skills and experience the satisfaction of mastery, a key psychological motivator identified in self-determination theory. This theory, developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, posits that humans are driven by the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In The Everyone Sport, competence is built not only through mastering physical techniques but also by improving personal attributes, such as endurance, focus, and strategic thinking.
Players are consistently motivated to outdo their previous performances, chasing personal bests in both effort and skill. This blend of effort and ability means that everyone, from beginners to advanced players, can experience the satisfaction that comes from growth and achievement. Traditional fads often lose their appeal when the initial rush of novelty fades, but this sport’s ability to continuously challenge players ensures that it remains compelling long after the first experience.
Social Connectivity: Strengthening Relationships
Humans are inherently social beings. The Everyone Sport capitalizes on this by fostering relationships, teamwork, and healthy rivalries. Unlike solitary fitness trends that emphasize individual achievement — like at-home fitness apps or gym routines — The Everyone Sport is a necessarily shared experience. It connects people not only physically but also emotionally. Whether it’s teams of students competing against one another or corporate colleagues participating in international tournaments, the sport strengthens bonds.
In modern life, where social isolation and loneliness are growing concerns, The Everyone Sport offers a structured way to connect with others. The shared experience of competition, paired with the encouragement of effort over sheer skill, means that participants are more likely to feel emotionally invested in their teams and communities. Psychologist John Cacioppo, known for his work on loneliness, has pointed out that meaningful social connections are critical to our psychological well-being. The Everyone Sport nurtures these connections by creating a space where people of all backgrounds come together, pushing each other to succeed in ways that matter to them.
Physical and Mental Health Benefits: Meeting Basic Human Needs
Another major reason The Everyone Sport has become a fixture in global life is its significant impact on both physical and mental health. As sedentary lifestyles become more common due to technological advances and remote work, The Everyone Sport offers an accessible way to integrate physical activity into daily life — without the intimidating costs and barriers of traditional sports. By lowering the entry threshold through affordable VR headsets, the sport becomes available to virtually anyone, anywhere, with minimal space.
Physically, participants benefit from engaging in real-world activity, even if they’re competing in virtual spaces. Movement, especially when combined with competition and community, is a potent antidote to the modern-day challenges of stress, anxiety, and depression. The endorphins released during vigorous play help to reduce stress, and the mental focus required to play well helps keep participants present, as do mindfulness practices.
Mentally, the sport’s combination of physical exertion, strategic gameplay, and social engagement hits all the right psychological buttons. The Everyone Sport isn’t just about moving your body; it’s about engaging your mind and connecting with others. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “flow” — the state of complete immersion and focus during an activity — is often experienced by players during intense play, providing a deep sense of satisfaction and contentment that goes beyond what fleeting trends can offer.
Constant Evolution: Keeping the Experience Fresh
Part of The Everyone Sport’s long-lasting appeal lies in its ability to evolve. While many fitness or gaming trends burn out because they fail to innovate, The Everyone Sport continues to introduce new features, challenges, and competition modes. Through its partnership with Racket:Next developer One Hamsa and top tech company Amazon, The Everyone Sport constantly upgrades its VR competition platform, making the experience more varied, and more accessible.
What’s more, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) coaching adds layers of personalization and excitement. By using AI to track and guide players’ effort and skill improvements, the system dynamically adjusts difficulty levels and suggests personalized challenges which providing 24/7 available companionship and dialogue. This keeps players from hitting the dreaded “plateau” that often leads to a drop in motivation. The Everyone Sport’s adaptive and responsive nature ensures that no two experiences are the same, keeping it endlessly engaging for participants.
A Cultural Shift: From Fad to Fixture
Finally, perhaps the most compelling reason for The Everyone Sport’s endurance is that it represents a larger cultural shift. We live in a world that increasingly values inclusivity, well-being, and technology. The Everyone Sport taps into all these trends. As traditional sports continue to grapple with issues of inequality, cost, and exclusivity, The Everyone Sport offers an alternative vision of what athletic competition can be: based on fairness, shared effort, and collective participation.
The sport’s integration into schools, universities, corporations, and every imaginable social group has cemented its status as a part of daily life. It’s not just a game to play; it’s part of the fabric of modern living, woven into everything from neighborhood past-time to corporate wellness programs to educational curricula.
As psychologist Angela Duckworth famously described in her work on grit and perseverance, the key to success often lies not in innate talent but in consistent effort and resilience. The Everyone Sport champions these values, as they are central to its structure. And as a result, it has created a community of players who don’t just participate in a trend — they are part of a global movement, one that continues to grow, adapt, and inspire.
In a world full of fads, The Everyone Sport has become a permanent fixture because it satisfies our most fundamental needs: connection, challenge, belonging, and growth.
And that’s why we believe it’s here to stay.