VR Sports

The growth of Esports competitions also presents stiff competition for physical sports viewership. As more people participate in Esports and with increasingly large prize pools (the Fortnite World Championship boasts a €10 million prize pool), Esports are becoming more interesting to watch. The rising popularity of the streaming platform 'Twitch' attracts a return of 100 million viewers per month. But how does virtual reality come into play in the world of sports? And how can VR be used to offer viewers a different way to watch sports? In this blog, we will explain four examples of VR in the sports world

While most people prefer to sit further away from their TV screens, VR can change the way we watch sports and attract new viewers. By capturing games with a 360-degree camera, the audience can view and experience the game in an entirely different way. This provides a much more immersive viewing experience via mobile or VR headset. VR technology allows viewers to see what they want or to follow their favorite player closely. The American company 'NextVR' is one of the most successful startups that offer such a VR experience by broadcasting the most popular competitions like the NFL, NBA, and Wimbledon via VR. Another major player, Turner Sports, is also collaborating with Intel to provide NBA experiences via VR

By placing small 360-degree cameras on athletes' bodies, viewers can enhance their experience by viewing the game from the athlete's perspective. FirstVision (a Spanish startup) uses this technique to capture basketball games in the Euroleague. So, before long, it won't be necessary to go to an arena to see your favorite players in action; instead, you can just put on a VR headset and find yourself in the middle of the game alongside Cristiano Ronaldo!

By placing small 360-degree cameras on athletes' bodies, viewers can enhance their experience by viewing the game from the athlete's perspective. FirstVision (a Spanish startup) uses this technique to capture basketball games in the Euroleague. So, before long, it won't be necessary to go to an arena to see your favorite players in action; instead, you can just put on a VR headset and find yourself in the middle of the game alongside Cristiano Ronaldo!

Besides watching VR, viewers can also be the athlete by immersing themselves in the VR world. Thanks to modern virtual technology, sports games have become more realistic than ever. Ten years ago, Wii Sports enabled people to bowl or play tennis in the comfort of their living room. Now, VR can offer far more and realistic experiences. The content is much more appealing and interactive. All VR headsets usually have their own gaming platform where you can download various VR sports games. VR Sports Challenge and BoxVR are good examples of VR sports games that provide a realistic and fun experience for the player. With the rise of VR, new games are being developed at a rapid pace, so we expect to add a lot of new (sports) games in the coming months

Virtual Reality can provide significant benefits for training, both from the athlete's and the coach's perspective. The key to modern training techniques for athletes is to capture and understand the player's movements as much as possible. With VR technology, coaches can observe their team members from different angles to better understand behavior, while athletes can also observe their performance from actual games and training sessions. Another great way to use VR in sports is for indoor training. For sports like baseball, basketball, and tennis, athletes can practice in simulations and adjust their technique based on system feedback. Companies like 'StriVR' and 'Eon Sports' have created solutions that can train both amateur and professional athletes. Many professional teams in the NFL, NBA, and NCAA have already incorporated VR into their training. Virtual Reality training also has the advantage of being a very suitable way to mentally train the player for a sport, without physically affecting the body

Just as coaches can use VR to train athletes, they can also use VR technology to scout potential athletes. With this capability, coaches can bring scouting to a larger scale by observing athletes' performances through game simulations or VR sports games. Soon, we may no longer see scouts attending tournaments. Instead, they will observe athletes from their office using VR headsets.