23 Jan How to sit courtside at a basketball game without leaving your couch
One of the promises that virtual reality offered was that we’d all be able to watch “courtside” sports games without having to leave our couches. Sporting event organizers from the Rio Olympics to the British Premier League have touted the new technology as a way to be there without having to deal with the expense, travel and crowds of an actual game.
But is it any good? To find out, I tried watching a basketball game using NextVR, a company that broadcasts one NBA game per week, as part of the NBA’s League Pass package. (Plus the cost of either a Samsung Gear VR or Google Daydream and a compatible smartphone.) This past week, the company offered its weekly game for free, so I watched the San Antonio Spurs crush the Minnesota Timberwolves from a just-about courtside vantage point. You can still download that game for free.