Turner Sports and Intel Announce Partnership to Bring VR to NBA Fans

Turner Sports and Intel announced a multiyear partnership to make live NBA game action available in virtual reality using Intel True VR technology.

Intel will become the exclusive provider of VR for the NBA on TNT and deliver live content for marquee matchups beginning with NBA All-Star 2018 in Los Angeles. Additionally, Intel is partnering with the NBA to become an authorized provider of virtual reality and 360-degree volumetric video with their freeD technology for official NBA broadcast partners globally.

Using True VR technology, viewers of the games can be transported courtside to sit knee-to-knee with celebrities or up in the stands for a bird’s-eye view. Leveraging the company’s powerful computing technology and proprietary approach to virtual reality, Intel is able to create a lifelike virtual reality experience that allows users to choose multiple camera angles. Intel can also integrate 360-degree volumetric video into the virtual reality experience using Intel freeD technology.

Every virtual reality game experience will be available through the forthcoming NBA on TNT VR app on Samsung GearVR and Google Daydream headsets for download via the Oculus and Google Play stores. Working with Intel, the NBA will also make 360-degree volumetric video available to global league broadcast partners, which collectively deliver games in 215 countries and territories.

In the future, Intel plans to integrate freeD technology into the virtual reality experience to enable fans to freeze a moment of game action and view it from the player’s point of view as if they were on the court. The technology can also be incorporated into game broadcasts allowing commentators to pause key moments in the game and view the action in 3D from any angle.