Starting with the Big East men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals next Thursday, fans will be able to witness the action from Madison Square Garden “live” in virtual reality. It’s the second consecutive year the Big East is providing fans access to content through the new medium, which will also include the semifinals and finals games.
Unlike in 2016, when FOX Sports partnered with NextVR, this year it is working with LiveLike, a New York-based virtual reality company that has worked with FOX around college football, MLS Cup, Big Ten Football Championship and Super Bowl LI highlights packages, among other content experiences.
After downloading the FOX Sports VR app and authenticating with their television-provider, users can choose to either watch via a 360-degree viewing experience on their smartphone or with a Samsung Gear VR or cardboard headset. For last year’s Big East tournament, only the latter option was available.
“This blend of virtual reality provides the promise of the second screen in a way that has not been delivered before,” Michael Davies, FOX Sports Senior Vice President of Field and Technical Operations, said in a statement.
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The “live” virtual reality broadcasts, which has Jeep as a presenting sponsor, will include two basket and two foul line cameras as part of the FOX Sports “Virtual Suite,” a constant with the network’s virtual reality experiences.
Like prior VR collaborations between FOX and LiveLike, fans will have the option of selecting the camera angle to view the games. A special “director’s cut” edition will be available inside the FOX Sports VR app which will continuously move users’ vantage points to keep them close to the action. Similar to last month’s Super Bowl, FOX will also compile a highlights package for fans to watch following the Big East tournament games.
“We’re thrilled to give every college basketball fan the opportunity to sit at virtual courtside at Madison Square Garden, where year in, year out, the BIG EAST Tournament provides some of the most entertaining basketball of the season,” Miheer Walavalkar, co-founder and Chief Business Officer of LiveLike, said in a statement.