In March, Sky Sports became one of the biggest names in sports broadcasting to put some serious money behind virtual reality, launching an in-house virtual reality production unit. Now the fruits of this venture are starting to show, as Sky, the largest sports television broadcaster in the UK and Ireland, is set to release a virtual reality app later this summer.
While Sky has not released the exact list of content that will be available through the app, they have leaked news that a promo virtual reality video starring David Beckham will be the first piece presented. Sky Sports have already experimented with covering Formula 1, the Tour de France and British boxer Anthony Joshua in virtual reality. They did this before even creating their dedicated virtual reality studio.
Along with the app formally dropping, Sky is looking to create their very own virtual reality headset to distribute with the app. But the headset will be formally released much later after the app, and for now Sky is supplying customers with Google Cardboard.
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At the moment, the app will be compatible with the four most popular virtual reality headsets—Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive and Google Cardboard.
The app will not solely focus on sports, and Sky hopes to air a number of original dramas in virtual reality.
All of this virtual reality excitement will give Sky a new method of creating content to focus on, having already entered the world of 4K, or Ultra HD. They announced a couple weeks ago that 126 Premier League matches will air in this latest level of high-definition.