FOX Sports Unveils Social Virtual Reality with Three Matches at CONCACAF Gold Cup
FOX Sports VR App Allows Group Viewing Similar to Multiplayer Video Games
Buffalo Wild Wings Sponsors ‘Virtual Suite’ Experience
CHARLOTTE, NC – Today, FOX Sports announces the worldwide debut of Social Virtual Reality, taking VR to a new level by connecting viewers experiencing select matches of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men’s soccer championship of the North, Central and Caribbean regions. Through its free FOX SPORTS VR app, viewers will have the ability to recognize each other’s avatars and communicate with one another throughout the experience.
Once again teaming with LiveLike, and presenting sponsor Buffalo Wild Wings, FOX Sports is producing three live CONCACAF Gold Cup matches in virtual reality, beginning Saturday, July 8 with the USA-Panama match (4:30 PM ET, FOX), followed by a TBD match either July 22 or 23, and concluding with the Gold Cup championship on Wednesday, July 26 (9:30 PM ET, FS1).
“We are thrilled to partner with CONCACAF and Buffalo Wild Wings in one of the most important soccer events of the year,” said Michael Davies, FOX Sports SVP Field & Technical Operations. “The massive feature set of this application keeps growing, and we think that social is a wildly important and seminal moment in the ongoing evolution of the technology.”
Through its “virtual suite,” the FOX SPORTS VR app will offer:
- Multiple live-event, high-resolution camera angles w/ the ability to choose between views or sit back and simply select a director’s cut that automatically selects the best camera angle for live game action
- Multiple pre-produced, all-access, 360-degree features
- Ability to go back in time to relive moments within the application
When entering the experience, users will be able to select a “Social” tab and a “Join Friends” button that connects the user to Facebook upon authorization. At that point, friends who have done the same will pop up on your friends list, creating the opportunity to view the experience in a social environment. Additionally, the experience can automatically select a viewing partner at random, with viewers having the ability to seamlessly switch Social VR “on” or “off.”
The FOX SPORTS VR app can be enjoyed without any special VR equipment through the mobile specific interactive, 360-degree viewing experience built specifically for smartphone viewing, or with a Gear VR or cardboard headset. Fans can access this FOX Sports VR “virtual suite” by downloading and installing the free FOX SPORTS VR app and signing in with their television provider credentials.
The social virtual reality initiative is the latest effort from FOX Sports Lab, a designed approach to exploring technical partnerships that give viewers a fresh perspective and ad sales teams more targeted sports integrations.
Over the last 18 months, FOX Sports has offered more than a dozen major events in VR, including Super Bowl LI, the 2016 & 2017 Big East Men’s Basketball Tournaments, the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final, the 2016 U.S. Open Championship, the 2016 MLS Cup, the 2016 Bundesliga season opener, the 2016 Daytona 500, the 2016 Big Ten Football Championship and a PBC heavyweight title fight.
