While the coronavirus pandemic continues to force fans out of their seats and onto their couches, the NBA and Oculus from Facebook are teaming up to put them back in the front row. On the latest episode of “SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead,” our Andrew Levin breaks down the implications of VR in a post-pandemic world with Facebook Dir of Sports Media and League Partnerships Rob Shaw.
On why the NBA-Oculus partnership came together:
Shaw: The relationship between Facebook and the NBA has been robust for a number of years. When you think about the NBA and its willingness to always jump in and innovate and test new product and work with us on ultimately serving fans, it is as good a league as any in the world. For that reason, as we continue the evolution on the Oculus side, it’s important for us to be able to test and learn. Having sports content there is definitely a part of the long-term vision of Oculus, but as anyone knows, it’s always going to take some tests early on to understand how we can make it the experience that we aspire for it to be.
On the value Oculus provides NBA fans from a viewership perspective:
Shaw: Using Oculus Venues, you walk into a theater, and you look around and you have the avatars of people around the world. You’re able to go in if you want it to be a solo viewing experience, so it’s just you and the action, you could have it that way. If you want a more social experience where you can literally engage and talk with those around you, you could do it that way. The broadcast and the production is as incredible a view as you would expect if you were actually at the stadium sitting in the front row, which obviously at a lot of these stadiums would literally cost thousands of dollars.
On where the NBA and Oculus partnership will go next season:
Shaw: We’re planning to have a bunch more games. That’s our goal right now, to be able to unlock different experiences for people to experience live games on NBA League Pass. We’re also talking to the NBA about bringing other content in, being able to catch up what you may have missed. That’s very much a use case today with Facebook Watch where people are able to come in and say, ‘How did that game finish last night?’ and almost be able to relive (Heat F Jimmy) Butler’s triple-double with 40 points in a matter of watching a five-minute clip. That could be a very social experience that you might want to have with friends in virtual reality as well.
