Golden State Warriors fans leaving Oracle Arena after Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets will each receive a Cardboard virtual reality viewer in celebration of the team’s new deal with Accenture that will affect the fan experience in the future.
Accenture was named the Warriors’ official technology innovation partner, with the multi-year deal geared toward impacting that fan experience once the team moves to its new San Francisco arena at Chase Center. The Warriors expect to play at Chase Center beginning in the 2019-20 season and had announced Tuesday that they were looking forward to breaking ground soon after clearing yet another legal hurdle.
The giveaway at Oracle Arena is being done to provide a glimpse into the interaction and engagement with fans that will be offered at Chase Center. For now, that meant 19,596 fans with their VR viewers being able to watch a behind-the-scenes 360-degree Accenture VR experience featuring Stephen Curry shooting pregame, coach Steve Kerr looking oddly at the camera, and access inside the team’s facilities. The Warriors’ mobile app was updated to enable the video to be viewed with VR headsets.
“It’s pretty real,” Warriors forward Draymond Green told reporters while using the VR viewer.
Added Curry: “Pretty cool.”
Accenture under the agreement will collaborate with the Warriors to design and implement the immersive and engaging experience for fans at Chase Center and the surrounding area. Warriors president Rick Welts said in a statement the professional services company “has the talent, experience and insight to design and implement innovative experiences.”
“We want to enable the Golden State Warriors to delight their guests, fans and tenants with connected experiences,” Accenture Digital group chief executive Mike Sutcliff said in a statement. “To deliver on this goal, we will tap the full range of Accenture’s digital and technology capabilities – from driving insight from data and designing experiences from an outside-in perspective all the way to using proven and emerging technologies to engage with people when and where it really matters.”
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
The Warriors and Accenture will also involve fans with Fannovate, which enables them to give input and ideas while possibly having the best ones incubated and prototyped at Chase Center.
“We will work hand-in-hand with the Warriors, as well as Fannovate participants, to define and enable an unparalleled set of experiences,” Julie Sweet, Accenture’s group chief executive – North America, said in a statement.