NEW YORK — Asked if it took a lot of negotiating with the NFL to get NextVR cameras on goalposts, NextVR CEO and co-founder David Cole tilted his head back and smiled.
“It takes trust, and it takes work,” Cole said Tuesday.
NextVR has built up quite a relationship with the NFL as they will produce the third and final virtual reality post-game experience of the season when the New York Giants play at the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. The “post-game experience” label makes it clear that no, these are not live VR games. But that could ultimately change.
“We’ve definitely laid the groundwork at least from a technical basis,” Cole said of a possible future with live broadcasts of NFL games in virtual reality.
Inside the first production truck for VR for Giants vs Bears #virtualreality #nfl pic.twitter.com/OS0XxpUC6e
— Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire) November 20, 2016
NextVR already has a deal with NBA Digital to broadcast 25 NBA games this season, enabling the league to become the first to put out a regular schedule of live VR programming. The NFL has a larger field of play for VR cameras to cover, but according to Cole, technical hurdles continue to be cleared.
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NextVR also shot three NFL games during the 2015 season and had a booth at the NFL Experience at Super Bowl 50. For now, it has graduated to producing the post-game experiences that are about ten minutes long.
But much like in the NBA where NextVR started its experiment with a filming of a 2014 Golden State Warriors-Denver Nuggets game, a schedule of NFL experiences if not games could be coming soon.
“Now you know there will be programming,” Cole said of the regular programming with the NBA. “That’s a muscle we will continue to flex.”
Yep @nextvr has done it again this with @NFL @DanyelleSargent @EphraimSalaam. Great work & a awesome way to watch the best sport pic.twitter.com/gg2YzXv3a9
— Jason A. Poles (@7ThirtyFive) November 14, 2016