The Toronto Raptors will play against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday in an NBA LEAGUE PASS game that has long been scheduled by NBA Digital and NextVR for a live broadcast in virtual reality to viewers in the United States.
Fans in Canada, on the other hand, won’t be able to watch the stream of the broadcast live even though they have NBA LEAGUE PASS. NextVR did announce earlier Tuesday that fans in 215 countries (including Canada and excluding China) will now at least have access to the broadcasts and highlights via video-on-demand.
Get The Latest NBA Tech News In Your Inbox!
Live NBA broadcasts are not expected to be available internationally until later in the season, so for now, fans in Canada will have to settle for experiencing basketball in virtual reality on-demand even though the league has a team in that country.
@thisisbrandonw NextVR NBA broadcasts are available in the United States. Check your local region blackout, visit: https://t.co/9w89CKgiji
— NextVR Support (@NextVR_support) November 2, 2016
@marlonsanichar NextVR NBA broadcasts are available in the United States. Check your local region blackout, visit: https://t.co/9w89CKgiji
— NextVR Support (@NextVR_support) November 1, 2016
Enabling fans internationally to watch the NBA in virtual reality — even if it’s not live — still helps the league reach people overseas who don’t have easy access to attending games in person and offers them courtside views of all the action.
Fans with either a Daydream View or Samsung Gear VR headset can download the free NextVR app and access the NBA Channel to watch games and new features such as “Best Dunks” and “Best Plays.” Daydream, Google’s platform for mobile VR, in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany and Australia.