While signs of an impending virtual reality revolution have surrounded the world of sports for a couple of years now, virtual reality broadcasting might be in the not-so-distant future if it were up to Sky Sports.
According to The Guardian, Sky Sports, the leading sports television broadcaster in the United Kingdom and Ireland, has announced the creation of an in-house virtual reality production unit called Sky VR Studio. Next to Fox Sports, they are the biggest name in sports broadcasting to take virtual reality this seriously—ESPN has yet to jump on this bandwagon.
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At the moment, Sky is teaming up with Facebook’s 360-degree virtual reality video platform, in addition to creating their own Sky VR app. Facebook has heavily invested in the world of virtual reality, having acquired the biggest name in virtual reality headsets, Oculus, in 2014.
Sky Sports released their first video last Friday—a 360-degree immersive look into driving in Formula One with the Williams Martini Racing FW38. You can watch the video here, either with a virtual reality headset or by normal means.
20 virtual reality productions are on the slate for Sky in 2016, that being not solely in the realm of sports. But, Sky Sports has committed to two Formula One projects, coverage of heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua and footage of Team Sky’s run for the Tour de France.
While there are no direct plans for live broadcasts in the near future, Sky is at least making progress towards pushing out virtual reality content. The creation of an entire branch dedicated to sports-related virtual reality should cause quite a stir—their first video alone has around 2.5 million views.
Even though the reach right now is minimal, Sky VR Studio is a massive step in bringing virtual reality to a large sports audience and sets them up to be ready for significant advancements in VR tech.