(Courtesy of Turner)
There are endless ways to watch March Madness. You can view the TV coverage at home, sit at a bar or stream from your phone, laptop or tablet. All are fine options and will keep you in touch with your favorite team or bracket.
Obviously none of those options literally bring you into the action. Turner Sports hopes to bring you virtually into the action. Its developed and launched a March Madness Live virtual reality app to bring you as close to the action as possible without actually being there. Created in partnership with CBS Sports and the NCAA, the app will offer streams of various games throughout each round.
Here’s what you need to know:
-Coverage will be offered for 21 games spanning the first and second rounds, Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4 and National Championship. In addition to live coverage, the app offers an interactive bracket as well as full-length replays and highlights of all games. Come Final Four time, Intel True View will offer 360-degree highlights of the biggest moments.
-There are two pricing options when selecting games to watch in VR: single-game tickets and a tournament pass. A single VR ticket costs $2.99 and will include multiple camera options and audio direct from the TV broadcast. The tournament pass costs $19.99 and offers access to all 21 games.
-The NCAA March Madness Live VR app is downloadable in two different places: the Oculus Store or Google Play store.
SportTechie Takeaway:
This won’t be the first time that March Madness is streamed in VR — Intel, Turner and the NCAA partnered on this last year. But the partnership is more robust this year, with seven camera pods per game versus four last year and updated camera technology.
Also new this year will be the integration of Intel’s True View feature, which will allow traditional broadcasters to use in-motion, 360-degree views for replays.
If you’re a major brand, like the NCAA, offering content that viewers consume in spades, like March Madness, it’s no longer acceptable to keep it simple. Major teams and leagues across the world have dipped their toes into VR streaming so its no surprise to see the NCAA invest more into a growing medium.
Intel True VR, the tech powering the app, has been used with a lot of major VR activations of late. The company helped capture content at the recent Winter Olympics and is working with the NBA on TNT for live productions.
Suggested further reading:
SportTechie’s Analysis of Virtual Reality in Sports
