Just seconds remain in a crucial rivalry game between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. With the Caps down one goal and threatening in the Rangers’ zone, Alex Ovechkin passes the puck to set up a one-timer for…you?
That dream has very quickly become a reality for the common fan. Well, at least virtually.
Enter the Oculus Rift, a headset that several professional sporting franchises have recently incorporated in their in-game experience. With the Rift, fans have the opportunity to experience the first-person narrative of a player, from exiting the team bus to a buzzer-beating shot, during each home game. To name a few, teams that have adopted the virtual reality experience this season include major franchises like the NFL’s Washington Redskins and NHL’s Washington Capitals and New York Rangers.
The Rift fan experience derives from the partnership between Monumental Sports, which operates many of D.C.’s sports franchises, and STRIVR Labs, a company dedicated to developing the latest in-game technology for players and fans alike. At FedExField, fans can strap on a Redskins helmet equipped with the Rift and step into the 360-degree world of a player entering the locker room and running out onto the field in front of tens of thousands of, albeit virtual, cheering fans. Rangers fans can undergo a similar experience by strapping on pads in the locker room and fending off slapshots at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
With the virtual reality experience quickly spreading across many of North America’s major sports, it raises the question – will the new technology directly affect ticket prices for the paying fan? It is so new (the Rangers unveiled their product on MSG’s concourse earlier this month) that it is hard to tell just yet, but if it continues to receive critical acclaim from passersby, it certainly won’t make a negative impact.
In fact, with the Rangers finding huge success through the first month of play this season, tickets on the secondary market are among the most expensive in the NHL. The average price for Rangers tickets on TiqIQ over the team’s 30 remaining home games this season is $265.71, trumped only by the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, who own a $280.01 average price at United Center this season.
The Rift may not be enough to salvage an otherwise forgettable football season in the nation’s capital, but it can at least deter the Redskins faithful momentarily on game day. The average secondary market price for Redskins tickets over their final three games at FedExField is $256.98, which marks a 4.3% increase from last Wednesday’s average of $245.03. Perhaps the Rift is partially the cause of the increase, but the two divisional battles between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys are the likely culprits.
So what’s next for the virtual reality platform? While more and more teams continue to add the experience next to their $12 craft beers and $8 hot dogs, Monumental Sports and STRIVR are in the process of developing state-of-the-art first-person technology for players to use rather than simply aerial film footage. From an athlete training perspective, the hope is that by positioning the player in crucial decision-making moments of a game, their IQ develops and carries over the next time they are in a similar situation.
And while the fan may never experience that moment traditionally, they’ll get as close as possible with the new in-game technology popping up at their team’s home arena.
Tim Dolan is an editor at TiqIQ, a leading online ticket aggregator and search engine for live events. An orange and blue apologist, Tim’s sports fandom is rooted in the New York Mets, Knicks and Islanders.