Sometimes, physically making it to a Golden State Warriors’ game is impossible — tickets are not only expensive, but are essentially sold out for the rest of eternity. There are of course still ways to watch Warriors games real-time, though: Bay Area natives can watch the contests on CSNBA and die hard fans without that particular channel can see the Warriors go at it through NBA League Pass or other streaming services. But American Express clearly didn’t think that was enough and decided to do something that the professional sports world had never before seen.
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By working with IMAX, TNT, and AMC Theaters, American Express inspired the opening up of a theater in Newark, California for live viewing on an IMAX screen of the Warriors’ April 7 game against the San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors ultimately won the game 112-101, thus keeping alive their historical pursuit of the NBA regular season wins record, which has stood for twenty years. Amex’s Warriors IMAX Experience Extraordinaire gave 250+ Warriors’ diehards the opportunity to witness history in two ways: first, by seeing the Warriors edging markedly closer to the aforementioned wins record, and second, by giving those in attendance the first opportunity to witness 3,744 square feet of live-streamed basketball.
Had a blast teaming up w/ @AmericanExpress at #DubNation to the @IMAX on Thursday! #amexwarriors pic.twitter.com/u44tniQUwP
— Jason Richardson (@jrich23) April 9, 2016
The main difference between viewing a Warriors’ game on a home TV and watching it on an IMAX screen (besides the obvious size discrepancy) is that IMAX screens are unbelievably high quality, thus affording viewers an experience akin to being at the game itself.
Emulating real life ventures, as AMEX did with its Warriors IMAX event, is not a novel concept, however. Recently, technology — most notably in the sports world — has been surging ahead with the use of virtual reality in efforts to create profound vicarious engagements for those lacking the ability to view a sporting event in person. But virtual reality, great as it is, is not anywhere near commercial enough to be readily accessible to the masses — it is still quite expensive, and often requires an impractical amount of equipment to be used properly. The streaming of sporting events on IMAX screens, on the other hand, is an undertaking similar to virtual reality, yet capable of reaching a decidedly wider audience.
None of this is to say that virtual reality is set to suddenly become obsolete in the sports world because live events can be aired on IMAX screens. Heck, even the Warriors — the subjects of Amex’s IMAX experiment — are lovers of virtual reality. But the recognition that virtual reality is still not an option for everyone, followed by the start of an era that is sure to witness more sporting events epically shown on IMAX screens, is a win for Warriors’ fans, and sports lovers in general.