Meta extends its partnership with the National Basketball Association to bring more games to VR.
This week Meta announced that it has extended its partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to broadcast more professional basketball games in VR on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro headsets. On top of that, Meta is offering official NBA apparel for Meta avatars, allowing you to represent your team across the metaverse.
Starting this year, you’ll have the opportunity to watch professional NBA matches live in VR via Xtadium, a sports-based app for Quest headsets that allows you to host private watch parties in VR. Moving forward, you’ll also have the opportunity to subscribe to the NBA League Pass for even more content as well as purchase NBA/WNBA-licensed apparel for your Meta avatar, according to Meta.
“Meta’s immersive VR technology is opening up new opportunities for sports fans to engage and interact with their favorite NBA teams,” said Meta Director of Sports Media and League Partnerships, Rob Shaw, in an official release.
“Fans will be able to express their fandom by donning their favorite team’s gear on Avatars and enjoy more live NBA games and experience NBA League Pass in a much more social and immersive way. The NBA is always pushing us to innovate and leverage the latest technology to open the door to new fan experiences, and this chapter of our partnership certainly achieves exactly that.”
“VR’s superpower is making it possible to immerse yourself in shared experiences with friends and fans from around the world, and we’re thrilled to bring these killer features to the NBA Arena and live games,” added Meta Director of Metaverse Media Content, Sarah Malkin.
As previously mentioned, Quest owners will be able to watch NBA games alongside friends in VR via the Xtadium app. Meta plans on broacasting 52 live NBA games for free via Horizon Worlds, Meta’s social VR metaverse, over the course of the current season. This includes five 180-degree videos captured in 2880 resolution with commentation provided by celebrity broadcasters. According to Meta, you’ll also have access to select WNBA, NBA G League, and NBA 2K League games over the course of the 2023 season.
Those interested can hop into NBA Arena in Horizon Worlds now to access game highlights, recaps, and various mini-games. Visit here for a full breakdown of the Horizon Worlds 2022/2023 NBA schedule. For more information check out the official release here.
Image Credit: Meta
