When Intel CEO Brian Krzanich admitted at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that “consumers are choosing experiences over products,” sports fans around the world should have guessed they were in for a treat. And later, when Krzanich announced that Intel would be working with Replay Technologies, every baseball, soccer, basketball, and football lover across the globe was given a special treat.
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Replay Technologies, an Emmy-winning Israeli company with offices in Tel Aviv, Dallas and Newark, CA, is a pioneer in allowing viewers to witness sports from a 360 degree perspective. With its “freeD” technology, now to be powered by 6G Intel core processors and Intel server technology, 2D video footage will quickly be converted to 360-degree video replays to give fans the ultimate opportunity to see athletic events in more ways than ever before. This video conversion will be done by placing 25 to 32 super-HD cameras around stadiums. 
Replay was founded by three Israelis who quite literally “wanted to see the game from the perspective of the soccer ball.” But Replay covers significantly more than soccer now — since bursting onto the scene in the 2012 Olympics, Replay has worked with the NBA, NFL, PGA, MLB, NCAA and U.S. Open.
The new partnership between Intel and Replay should serve as a watershed development in not just the way sports are viewed, but also in the way games transpire overall. For those who regularly watch sporting events, the ability to observe particular plays and moments from all 360 degrees is exquisite. Seeing a basketball player throw down a dunk with a view from inside the hoop itself? Amazing. Observing a soccer star curve the ball into the goal in the same way he himself sees it curve? Unreal. And as far as games themselves go, sports will likely experience a new and unprecedented level of play-calling perfection that maximizes the integrity of athletes, officials, and athletics as a whole. If only this technology was around six years ago — Armando Galarraga would be bragging to all of his friends about throwing a perfect game.
It’s no secret that sports viewership has become increasingly advanced as technology has exponentially improved in recent years. High-performance video cameras allow anyone to see a 96 mile-per-hour pitch in super slow motion, or an all-time great catch by a wide receiver occur across 30 seconds. But this partnership between Intel and Replay is going to let everyone see every sport in new ways, ushering in an era of entertainment that truly allows individual fans to be a part of the game.