Fox Sports, NextVR Bring First Men’s College Basketball Tournament to Virtual Reality
From quarterfinals to conference championship, 2016 BIG EAST Men's Basketball Tournament will be broadcast globally in virtual reality
Laguna Beach(08 Mar 2016)
Continuing its recently launched relationship, Fox Sports and NextVR, the leader in live-action virtual reality broadcast technology, will broadcast the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games of the 2016 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament live to hoops fans world-wide in virtual reality from Madison Square Garden. The virtual reality broadcasts begin March 10; all games will be broadcast live on FS1 with the March 12 championship game on Fox (5:30 P.M. ET).
This marks the first time a college basketball tournament will be broadcast live to a global audience in virtual reality. In total, seven games and more than 15 hours of live virtual reality coverage will be streamed over three days.
Basketball fans who experience Fox Sports virtual reality coverage of the 2016 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament will feel as if they are watching the game amongst the fans in courtside seats. The immersive, high-definition views will bring fans to center court, near the sideline player huddles and under the basket for an experience unlike any other in sports. The live virtual stream will include audio and graphics highlighting player stats, scores and game updates.
“Our pipeline for premiere sports content keeps building and we're excited to deliver virtual reality programing with broad appeal to college sports fans, well-known early adopters of technology,” said Brad Allen, NextVR Chairman.
The first-of-its-kind relationship between NextVR and Fox Sports will broadcast a range of top sporting events in virtual reality where Fox Sports holds the broadcast rights. In February, NextVR and Fox Sports launched the joint effort by bringing the Daytona 500 to virtual reality, just weeks after broadcasting a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) fight together. In 2015, Fox Sports, through its Fox Lab initiative, and NextVR also tested the U.S. Open from Chambers Bay.
“Fans want to be a part of the action and virtual reality takes the fan experience to the next level,” said Eric Shanks, Fox Sports President, COO & Executive Producer. “Our relationship with NextVR comes at a time as the demand to enjoy these amazing ‘like being there’ experiences expands.”
NextVR’s future virtual reality programming with Fox Sports will be announced soon.
How to watch the Fox Sports 2016 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament in virtual reality
FOX Sports' 2016 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament virtual reality broadcast will be available free worldwide through the Fox Sports Section on the NextVR portal. Samsung Gear VR owners can download the NextVR app on any Gear VR headset compatible phones. For detailed instructions, go to www.nextvr.com/gearvr-live. For game time information, go to www.bigeast.com/tournaments.
About NextVR: NextVR enables the transmission of live, long-form virtual reality content in broadcast quality – leading the way for live and on-demand VR to become a mainstream experience for sporting events, concerts, cinematic productions and more. Launched in 2009, NextVR has more than 26 patents granted or pending for the capture, compression, transmission, and display of virtual reality content. NextVR's platform allows the fully immersive content to be streamed with pristine quality using current home and mobile Internet connections. NextVR was founded by veterans in stereoscopic imaging technology, software development and an award-winning filmmaker. For more information, go to www.nextvr.com.
About Fox Sports: FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing 21st Century Fox's wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, Fox Sports includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships. Fox Sports includes the sports television arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company; FS1; FS2; Fox’s 22 regional sports networks, their affiliated regional web sites and FSN national programming; Fox Soccer Plus and FOX Soccer 2Go; Fox Deportes and Fox College Sports. In addition, Fox Sports also encompasses FOX Sports Digital, which includes FOXSports.com, Fox Sports Go, Whatifsports.com and Yardbarker.com. Also included in the Group are Fox's interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network and BTN 2Go, as well as licensing agreements that establish the Fox Sports Radio Network.