Add tennis to the list of sports serving up virtual reality, the burgeoning technology that acolytes contend will change how consumers view sports.
For this year’s BNP Paribas Open, which starts this week, ATP Media is contracting with virtual reality firm LiveLike to broadcast part of the event on-site. It’s thought to be the first time tennis has used the technology to show match play.
ATP Media is owned by the top 10 tournaments on the ATP Tour — so if this test proceeds well, the technology may be rolled out to other events.
LiveLike, a startup based in France that last month won a grant from the NFL, is also working with the French Tennis Federation and may deploy a far wider virtual reality program for that group’s French Open.
ATP Media though a publicist confirmed the test but declined further comment.
While increasingly buzzed about, virtual reality remains in its relative infancy. The technology allows, through a headset, a viewer to see an event (often from different angles) as if watching in person. LiveLike’s demo shown to participants at the Leaders’ Sport Business Summit in New York last week could switch between two English Premier League games and an NBA contest, and choose from three cameras for each.
Among LiveLike’s prime competition in the space is NextVR, which counts Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber as an investor. The team sparked significant attention when the Warriors’ season opener was broadcast using NextVR technology.
Kevin Compton, founder of Radar Partners, a Silicon Valley firm that invests in early stage tech firms, cautioned that there are still many hurdles for the technology. He was one of four judges on the February panel that picked LiveLike over two other firms to win a grant from the NFL.
“Virtual reality is going to play a role in sports,” he said. “It is certainly not for everybody; it is certainly not next year. The second big hurdle behind the production quality is the social [element].” In other words, people attend sporting events for a social experience; a headset leaves a viewer in his or her own universe. However, LiveLike is designing headsets that would allow users to have a shared experience.
At the BNP Paribas Open, the experiment is expected to occur over a few days in one area where fans, and players, can come and try on the headsets and watch a match occurring elsewhere on the grounds as if they have a front-row seat.
