NBA fans who haven’t yet purchased a season-long LEAGUE PASS subscription in order to view the league’s weekly games in virtual reality will soon be able to select games a la carte for $6.99 starting Feb. 23.
The remaining eight games on the virtual reality schedule, the first regular VR sports programming of its kind, will include three featuring the Golden State Warriors. Subscribers of the full-season NBA LEAGUE PASS will still have access to the full slate of games in VR, which will now include international broadcasts except for China beginning on the same date. The virtual reality content is being produced between leading virtual reality company NextVR and NBA Digital, the league’s digital assets which are managed by the league and Turner Sports.
Get The Latest NBA Tech News In Your Inbox!
NextVR and NBA Digital also announced Tuesday that this weekend’s All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night festivities (Taco Bell Skills Challenge, JBL Three-Point Contest and Verizon Slam Dunk Contest) will be available to fans in the United States as video-on-demand highlights in virtual reality. They’ll be accessible via the NextVR app with either a Google Daydream View or Samsung Gear VR headset following the linear broadcast on TNT.
“NBA All-Star weekend always delivers spectacular plays and we are thrilled to provide fans with an immersive courtside experience in virtual reality,” NextVR Executive Chairman Brad Allen said in a statement. “We will continue to explore groundbreaking ways to expand our historic NBA partnership and deliver unrivaled access to the game to fans anywhere.”
The NBA’s continued focus around virtual reality plays into Jeff Marsilio’s comments from last November, where the Vice President of Global Media Distribution said that he could envision a future of live virtual reality broadcasts.
“I think eventually every game is made available in some form of VR,” he told SportTechie.