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Comment by amelius | Hacker News Reader

When will VR sports streaming become a thing?

I want to watch a match virtually from within the stadium.

NBA already has this... http://nbavr.ca/

Reviews were mixed, I've read that it's a great experience and has huge potential, but there is a lot to be desired with the camera positions. There are two(?) cameras, one located at the middle of the court, courtside, and one right below the net. So you can see dunks right above you.

Steve Ballmer talked about this recently on a podcast, and said that they are working on it. It would allow you to buy a "virtual ticket" for any seat in the building.

I think it's a pretty great idea for fans who live far away from their favorite teams.

Sporting events (and experiences like concerts more broadly) seem like one of those areas where VR could actually find paying customers. There's a proven market for subscribing to watch this sort of activity and it avoids the physical interaction/feedback challenges that a lot of other VR applications have.

The tech still needs to get better and there are certainly questions of viewer fatigue etc. But it certainly seems like a very plausible use of VR.

i don't get this. You get a better view of the game on tv (multi-angles, commentary, etc.). You go to arenas for the experience, of getting there beforehand, tailgating, going with your friends/kids. You get a worse view but you get a better experience. Why would you use VR for a worse view without the experience?

As a baseball fan who doesn't live in a city with a team, I would definitely use this. You're right that you don't get the full experience with VR, but I disagree that the view isn't part of the experience. So if the choice is no experience, only TV viewing, or some little bit of it, I'll take VR. Not every time I watch, of course, but every once in a while, definitely.

EDIT: I just realized that you're probably focused on football. Football isn't a great live sport for viewing, so I get where you are coming from there. The pregame experience (tailgating) is the biggest reason to go to a football game. I've done plenty of tailgating where we never go into the game at all.

For other sports I think this makes more sense.

concerts in VR you say?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kcIy9XGmwI

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