A New Age: Sports and Virtual Reality

Technology is advancing and that includes the advancements made in a relatively new

technology called virtual reality. Virtual reality has been used in therapy, gaming, entertainment,

etc. and now it is being used in the world of sports. Sports is always ever-evolving, meaning new

technologies are being introduced in sports or athletics from equipment, to new ways or ideas to

play certain sports, and the media coverage sports receive. Not only is virtual reality paving ways

on the field in the sports world, it is also paving way off the field as well. One of those ways is

the way audience members interacts and is entertained at live sporting events. Another way is the

the way athletes are training during their practice sessions for their respective sports. Even the

way teams are selling a future produce to its fans. Overall, sports and virtual reality are in a new

relationship which is likely to result in a long-fulfilling marriage for both parties.

There are a few methods that certain sports teams throughout different sports are using

virtual reality to advance the training regimine for their athletes both physically and mentally.

One of those methods is being seen in the NFL by a few of its teams. The Dallas Cowboys, New

England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers are using virtual reality to simulate practice, allowing

athletes to put themselves in the certain situations in games or in drills (VIAR 360.) A few

college football programs are using the same type of “VR” as well, including Auburn,

Vanderbilt, and Arkansas (VIAR 360.) As virtual reality evolves and advances, sports will

evolve as well — especially one league in particular — the NBA. According to Sports

Illustrated, NBA Executives said, “they ​expect VR to ‘play a major role in growing the league’s

global audience by enhancing its broadcasts, providing new fan experiences, and possibly even

improving its officiating,’” (VIAR 360.) This of course means an enhanced experience for those
members in the audience attending NBA games. Both players and fans are in position to benefit

from “VR” as technology advances and becomes for accessible in the future.

Outside from the playing field, virtual reality is stationed to change the means in which

people watch live sports. According to Business Insider’s Prachi Bhardwaj, one proposition that

is intriguing fans is the potential of being able to wear a VR headset and watch sports from the

perspective of players on the field or even coaches, including possibly even different angles that

were not as at the disposal of fans beforehand. One possible obstacle that could arise is that

stadiums/teams/leagues want fans in the seats watching live sports the ‘old-fashioned’ way

because a new technology could possibly cause a decline in the market of attending live sporting

events (Bhardwaj.) Despite a prospective road block in connecting VR and sports, Bhardwaj

suggests that stadium’s could get on board with a restrictive-like virtual reality technology for

fans; He says, “​For people in the stadium, there's also an opportunity to provide headsets that

overlay statistics or commentary. Stadiums would be on board, since it would give them the

competitive advantage of providing fans just as much information as they would get from their

TV.” Although there is a market for connecting sports fans virtually and upgrading fan

experience, technology is still a considerable distance away from implementing these ideas into

action.

Most important to this class, virtual reality is paving the way for the use of the new

technology in sports media. Although VR is beginning t​o make a strong case for its place in

sports media, Leigh Steinberg of Forbes acknowledges that, “​The challenge for virtual reality is

to create new ways in which sports can be enjoyed.” Steinberg asked Travis Cloyd, the
co-founder of Sports Tech Media on how VR could change the game in sports media and he

gave a lengthy response … but a valuable one. Cloyd said,

The possibilities are endless with immersive technology like virtual reality. Through VR

you can teleport yourself onto the sideline of a game or put on a haptic suit and rush

outside the pocket trying to avoid a defensive lineman coming at you. In the near future,

we will purchase products in real-time as we watch live events through VR.

This, of course, includes the way certain companies of certain mediums of sports look to fulfill

the needs and requests of their audience. Cloyd closes his argument in Steinberg’s story by

saying,

Today, we are becoming smarter as an audience and so we’ve advanced our appetite. We

strive to be closer to the action and in many cases be apart of it, but we simply can’t. This

is the first time in history when sports technology gives us the edge not only in training,

or observation but also in fan engagement.

This whole idea most become so much more than just sports related, as it is easy to note that as

technology and VR advances, other industries such as movies, primetime television, and surely

the gaming industry will have to appeal to their audiences through VR as well.

Virtual reality is also being used in marketing. The Rams, one of Los Angeles’

professional football teams, moved from St. Louis a few years ago and are now back on the

scene in Hollywood. Part of their sell to L.A. was the building and development of a state of the

art stadium located in a suburb of Los Angeles. In order to better sell the idea to season ticket

holders was through virtual reality. Steinberg says,

 The Los Angeles Rams utilized VR technology to allow potential season ticket buyers to

see the unbuilt stadium and sidelines, and what the view would be from their potential

seat location. We advocated the construction of a sports town that would have

sports-related augmented and virtual reality rides which would allow the fans to interact

with various sports in new and exciting ways.

This ultimately helped sell fans on the idea that professional football could succeed in Los

Angeles, although the team previously failed there up until the 1994 season, leading to the move

to St. Louis until 2015. Steinberg extends his argument of VR in sports upon the basis of Cloyd’s

response that reads, “These mediums are advancing every day allowing us the ability to build the

ultimate fan experience​.” ​Now, the Rams are re-imagining fan experience through VR and fans

are fully on board.

One piece of virtual reality equipment in particular is being used as a prime piece in its

entrance to the sports world and that is the:VR headset, also known as the “goggles” When

explaining how VR actually works through goggles, Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford University

says, “Virtual reality replaces your senses with ones generated by a computer. VR is a constant

technological system that tracks body movement and updates the sights, sounds and touch based

on those movements; you feel like you’re mentally transported into a different place,”

(Zorowitz.) Stanford University’s football program is implementing VR technology in full force

as Bailenson and Derek Belch’s development of STriVR Labs is being used by the Cardinal;

They turned the experience into video game-esque, making it a hit among players of Stanford

football (Zorowitz.) What sets Stanford apart from the rest of the field in terms of using VR, is

Bailenson and Belch use real game footage to formulate the VR, as opposed to an unrealistic
digitized video/game version (Zorowitz.) A former professional football player was instantly

sold on the VR headset the first time he used it. Edwards describes the experience as, “I put on

the goggles and the headpiece, and it was our video with our players, and I could hear the audio

and the plays being called. When the ball was snapped, I literally moved to catch the ball, and

there was only me and a computer in the room. That’s the thing that blew me away,” (Zorowitz.)

It is just not blowing Edwards and other players away, it is blowing other sports teams and

leagues away too. Although there are roughly a handful of teams currently using the technology,

more-and-more teams are investing in the technology with hopes of it being highly beneficial to

their team.

Because sports are always evolving and advancing in technology each and every year, it

is no surprise that virtual reality is becoming such a big part of the sports world, and it is

developing relatively fast as well. If there is one thing that can be learned as a member of the

sports media business is that sports is a copycat profession, meaning that as soon as one team

tries something new out and it becomes successful, other teams are fast to implement the same

strategy in their organization as well. Most impressively, VR is not just being used in one

capacity in sports, teams are using it for practice, for marketing purposes, for meetings, and in

the media. Although VR in sports has just begun, it is only a matter of time before it entirely

captivates the sports world and changes the whole perception of how sports is viewed today and

in the future.
 References

5 Sports That Are Benefiting from Virtual Reality. (2017, December 14). Retrieved from

https://www.viar360.com/5-sports-benefiting-virtual-reality/

Bhardwaj, P. (2018, April 25). Two technologies could transform the way we all watch live

sports - here's how close they are to becoming reality. Retrieved from

https://www.businessinsider.com/tribeca-film-festival-vr-ar-live-sports-2018-4

Steinberg, L. (2018, August 01). Virtual Reality Is Leading Sports-Tech Wave. Retrieved

from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/leighsteinberg/2018/07/31/virtual-reality-the-forefront-of-the

-tech-wave-sweeping-over-sports/#2efe8a6b23e8

Zorowitz, J. (2015, August 14). It just got real. Retrieved from

https://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/virtual-reality-sports-arkansas-kentucky/