Posted Wed Feb 17, 2016 at 04:00 PM PST by Steven Cohen
More live virtual reality sports content is on the way to Gear VR devices.
Following successful tests, FOX Sports and NextVR have announced a new partnership to provide live virtual reality coverage for sporting events. The five year deal will include a variety of televised sports that FOX has the rights to, including the upcoming Daytona 500.
"We have worked with FOX Sports for over a year to test live, virtual reality programming across several sports," said Brad Allen, executive chairman, NextVR. "This wide-ranging agreement is proof that our technology provides an exciting and compelling option to witness great sporting events in virtual reality."
To kickoff the new agreement, FOX Sports and NextVR will be offering live coverage of Sunday's Daytona 500 in virtual reality to owners of the Samsung Gear VR. The HD VR stream promises to give viewers an immersive experience and will include audio commentary and graphics highlighting the race leaders. FOX Sports and NextVR previously streamed the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) in VR, and earlier tests also included the Auto Club 400 NASCAR race in Fontana, Calif. and the United States Open Golf Championship from Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.
"It's all about delivering something new and exciting for our viewers," said Eric Shanks, FOX Sports president, COO & executive producer. "Virtual reality is the next great frontier in immersive experiences for fans across a wide variety of sports. It's a rapidly changing technology, and this deal with NextVR positions us to be on the front lines for years to come."
The Daytona 500 virtual reality broadcast will be available for free through the NextVR app on the Samsung Gear VR and supported Samsung smartphones. The stream will begin on February 21 at 1pm ET. More information can be found at www.nextvr.com/gearvr-live. In addition, a dedicated FOX Sports section will soon be added to the NextVR portal along with information on more upcoming virtual reality streams.
The Samsung Gear VR is on sale now for $99 and is compatible with Galaxy Note 5, S6 edge+, S6, and S6 edge smartphones.
Source: PR Newswire
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