Virtual Reality May Be the Next Ubiquitous Sports Broadcast Platform

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Virtual Reality Pop

11 min readDec 15, 2016

Virtual Reality May Be the Next Ubiquitous Sports Broadcast Platform

Jake Kalmenson

Today’s sports broadcast landscape is dominated by a select few networks. ESPN, Fox (Fox Sports), CBS, NBC, and ABC have lead the industry since the early formation of mass media:

- The first ever live broadcast of a sporting event on a mass medium (radio) was a boxing match broadcast on KDKA, a CBS owned radio station.

- The first baseball game aired on radio was on NBC

- The first televised professional football game was on NBC

It’s been almost a century since sports were introduced to mass media, and today the same networks continue to own the bulk of sports broadcasting licenses. This is because these networks have amassed so much money over the years from advertising revenue and subscription fees (not to mention they are all owned by massive media conglomerates that have the financial backing to purchase such licenses). For example, according to The Washington Post, ESPN is expected to pay $1.4 billion per year to the NBA through the 2024–2025 season in rights fees. And no need to question whether or not they have the capital to make this sort of investment: ESPN and ABC — both owned by The Walt Disney Company, accounted for $24 billion in revenue this year…

The First Monday Night Football Telecast on ABC

While the owners of broadcasting rights might not be changing hands any time too soon, the platforms through which we watch live sports are beginning to shift in major ways. Currently, the majority of live sports are still being viewed via TV. However, recently the sports broadcast industry has been disrupted by online digital streaming. While networks still own exclusive rights to broadcast these games, it has proven almost impossible for them to prevent games from being streamed illegally via the internet, where they cannot monetize the viewership.

This poses a major threat to traditional TV service providers. With more and more people “cutting the cord,” they are curating their own television experiences by selectively subscribing to their favorite network’s over-the-top services. While major cable companies are in great distress regarding the steady decline of its subscribers, networks might have much less to worry about: they still own the broadcast rights and control their content, thus they can choose where and how they distribute it. Moreover, most of the networks are locked-in to long-term deals with professional sports leagues and teams that will last for years to come: ESPN signed a deal with the NBA through 2025.

A few of the major networks have evolved by creating their own over-the-top service. For instance, recently CBS launched its new OTT service, CBS All Access. This service cost $5.99 per month for subscribers and delivers a live stream of CBS owned channels including live sports. The service is available on on tablets and connected devices (PS4, XBOX One). Initially, CBS All Access did not include the NFL games for which they own the rights to for television; but just recently the network and the NFL agreed on a new deal to allow all NFL on CBS games to be carried by the new OTT service. All Access already has around 1 million subscribers.

Moreover, Monumental Sports Network broke ground recently by launching its own OTT subscription service. It will provide its subscribers with live coverage of all non-nationally exclusive Capitals and Wizards games. Additionally, the service plans on launching a three-part, behind-the-scenes series surrounding Capitals training camp. This is not only another example of cable networks transitioning to OTT services; VP of the network explains why this service is unprecedented: “this goes down as the first ever regionalized OTT subscription strategy.” Is this something to look for in the future? Regionalized OTT networks? One thing we know for sure is that the landscape is evolving ever so quickly.

While networks transitioning to OTT is old news, more and more companies are entering the live sports broadcast hemisphere. Just recently, Twitter launched its own live video streaming service which will be available on Apple TV, XBOX ONE, and Amazon Fire TV. Twitter also beat out Amazon and Verizon in a bidding war to acquire Thursday Night Football rights from the NFL: a package that consists of 10 Thursday Night Football games during the 16–17 season and cost Twitter upwards of $10 million. Additionally, Yahoo gained the rights to broadcast the first free global live-stream of a regular season football game. This game took place on October 25th in London between the Jaguars and the Bills. The sports broadcast landscape is continuing to transition. What will it look like in 10–20 years from now? Will people still be watching NFL games on TV? Or OTT? The only thing we know with full certainty is that we can’t precisely predict the future; but that doesn’t mean we can’t try.

Virtual Reality:

In order to forecast the future of any industry as accurately as possible, we must investigate the current trends and tremors within in the industry today.

Virtual reality may be the next ubiquitous platform for sports media consumption, as well as for live broadcasted events. If VR is going to gain mass appeal, the product will need to evolve progressively. In the book Digital Disruption, by Jason Kauffman, he discusses this idea of “the adjacent possible;” he defines the term as “a stable next stage in evolution or innovation that serves as a segue to the next adjacent possibility and the one after it.”

Virtual reality in live sports already exists, but it needs to continue to evolve. NEXT VR is one of the leaders in producing a top-tier experience in live sports. Recently, the company signed a multiyear partnership with the NBA that includes the rights to stream one game per week in VR. The VRCast includes designated announcers, multiple camera angles, statistics, analytics, and graphics. The league has been experimenting with the new technology for 2 1/2 years and has finally made the push for implementation. But here’s the problem: in order to watch the games, one must own a Samsung VR headset, as well as subscribe to NBA League Pass. Currently, only so many people have both a Samsung VR set and NBA League Pass — thus there’s a long way to go when it comes to reaching a substantial audience through the platform.

I see a future in which all of the major networks converge unto VR; Thursday night NBA games on TNT will be available on it’s VR channel; on Sunday morning’s at 10 am I can wake up in bed, put my shades on (VR glasses), and watch football as if it were a dream. I imagine VR taking on a similar role to that of Apple TV, Playstation, and XBOX consoles: both of which are major platforms for streaming TV (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon) and live sports (Sunday Ticket, League Pass, WatchESPN, Twitter). I see a future in which hometown friends Jeremy (Packers fan) and Oliver (Patriots fan), who go to school on separate sides of the country, can put on their headsets on Sunday Night and watch the Patriots vs. Packers game together from the sideline. And when Terrific Tom throws a 35 yard touchdown to Gronk, Oliver immediately accesses his twitter from within the headset and posts, “@jeremys.24 GRONKKK!” This is groundbreaking.

The intersection between sports media, virtual reality, and social media has a lot of potential. “Twitter has become a virtual sports bar,” said George Dudley of sportspromedia.com. Fans unite on twitter before, during and after the games. It’s a way for sports fans to rally together without being at the game. It’s also a great way for fans to talk smack to those of the opposing team. According to Navigate Research, sports fans are 67% more likely to use Twitter to enhance their viewing experience in comparison to non-sports fans. What’s more is that according to Nielsen, “while live sports only account for 1.4% of total TV programing in the US, it gathers 50% of Twitter conversations linked to TV programs.” It’s evident that fans take to social media to engage with other fans. They do this because their natural inclination at a game would be to do the same. They could be at the game (virtually), engage with peers and other fans, and all the while they could be taking a bath for all we know — with a waterproof VR set that is.

Okay, so we’re all so freaking excited about the future now aren’t we? In X amount of years I’ll be court-side for every Laker game, and it won’t cost me more than my monthly subscription to (whatever VR platform/TV convergence service is out there). Not so fast, remember we must keep looking for the adjacent possible. In an article published this week by WBUR.org, Boston’s NPR news station, a few people were interviewed after experiencing live sports through the platform. Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal goes on to point out some of it’s flaws in these early stages: “It still looks a tad unreal, like it’s 85% real life, 15% a video game.” Additionally, Time Magazine writer Sean Gregory commented on the experience: “The big problem with the VR presentation, at this point, is the resolution. Players can appear blurry, which puts strain on your eyes, and patience, over the course of an NBA game.” Clearly there are measures to be taken in order to perfect the experience as a whole. Poor resolution would be a bottleneck in the live-sports-VR industry forever — if it were to persist; but something tells me the technology will get stronger (I mean we’ve already made it this far). As a sports fan myself, I hate buffering. There’s no worse feeling than watching a ball thrown deep down the middle of the field only to be interrupted by a slow connection. More feedback was later given by Tim Moynihan of Wired:

“VR is a solitary pursuit, one that requires clamping a headset on. Watching sports is a social endeavor, one that revolves as much around the camaraderie of the experience as it does the game itself. There are indeed some people who are interested enough in the VR perspective to watch sports and wear a device on their head that blocks out their wife or husband, kids, parents, friends, pets and smartphone for hours at a time. But not many.”

Moynihan is absolutely right in that sports are about people joining together to rally around their squad. While VR might be a solitary experience right now, there is still endless opportunity for creating a virtual space designed for families, friends or even random people to watch live sporting events together.

Three Individuals Experiencing Virtual Reality for the First Time

If VR becomes a major success and is adopted by the masses, we’ll sure know why: it’s the ultimate fan experience — part of me wants to say “second to being at the game,” but I’m not sure that that will be true down the road.

“Virtual reality democratizes the world” — Hyim Pinson

VR offers users to participate in unprecedented experiences. Of course there is no substitute to attending the actual game; but consider average Joe. He goes to the game, finds his seat in section 305, row 15, seat 3 — had a good time, go team, celebrate a win, forget about a loss.

Wake up Sunday morning at 9 am (PST), put on my shades (as if I needed to say that), and hopefully my VR’s Amazon app has automatically delivered me a 6-pack of beer since it’s a Sunday during the NFL season. Next, I enter the Saints locker room and not only watch, but exist at the scene of Drew Brees uniting the team through his emotional pregame speech. Then I follow the team through the tunnel and onto the field as the Super Dome thunderously roars, “Who Dat, Who Dat?” Now I don’t know what to do myself, I’m on the field — something I’ve dreamed of doing my entire life! Lets go Saints! This is not only virtual reality but virtual VIP reality. Suddenly I am very important and my team is about to play. Easily the best football Sunday in years…and it’s only week one.

Delivering a smooth, high-quality, unabated experience in VR is key. That is why the technology, the industry, the industry’s surroundings, and of course the consumer will all need to evolve organically. The convergence of live sports and VR is still very early in the process, and capitalizing on the next adjacent possibilities will be crucial in the ensuing years to come. Tom Hoffarth of the OC Register expressed his thoughts on the future of the platform:

“As brave as we may be in today’s sports TV viewing world, virtual reality’s potential has virtually dominated the conversation with some guarded reactions. Realistically, it’s a process that needs to be tested by as many entry points as possible for those willing to adapt and survive. Where this vision quest goes next may depend as much on viewer response as what can be tweaked on the production and technology side.”

People live and die by their sports teams, and for that reason I see VR becoming a dominant sports media platform. However, if sports broadcasting rights are too restricted by corporate ties and headset owners are limited to a meager amount of games per week, then perhaps it’s not the future of sports media. That being said, VR doesn’t have to be owned by the masses in order to be successful or have media influence.

Sources:

Virtual Reality May Be the Next Ubiquitous Sports Broadcast Platform

Written by Jake Benjamin