NBA Digital have announced several ways that NBA fans can view the 2019-20 season in VR, through Oculus Venues and NextVR, marking the second consecutive season of NBA content available in VR.
Ahead of the start of the NBA season in late October, NBA Digital and their official live VR partner, NextVR, announced the schedule of games across the season. Each week, one game will be selected and broadcast in stereoscopic 3D on Oculus Venues and NextVR.
The NextVR app is available on several platforms. In order to access the weekly VR game through NextVR, you will be have to be a NBA League Pass subscriber, which also allows you to watch live games online. In addition to the weekly stereoscopic 3D game, all NBA League Pass games will also be broadcast in 2D with NextVR Screening Room, a theatre-sized screen.
If you’re not a NBA League Pass subscriber, you’ll also have the option to buy a pass for a single game through NextVR.
The same weekly stereoscopic 3D game will also be broadcast on Oculus Venues, available on the Quest, Go and GearVR. It’s unclear whether the games will be paid or free when viewed through Venues, however Venues content has traditionally had no charge attached.
In contrast to the NextVR service, Venues allows you to talk and interact with others watching the content in VR at the same time as you. This means you’ll be able to cheer, boo and trash talk each team alongside other viewers, just like watching sport in real life. I recently attended a Billie Eilish concert in Venues and interacted with the people sitting around me, which made for an interesting experience.
The NBA VR schedule is available online now, with the New Orleans Pelicans and the Houston Rockets kicking off the VR-ready portion of the NBA season.
