Live NBA Game Broadcasts for VR Headset

Co-Creative Lead: Jordan Chouteau
Designer: Nathan Lewis

Press
AdWeek

We created, designed and produced an entire run of show for the live game NBA for VR headsets. Different from TV cameras, we had cameras strategically set up to place the viewer as if they were actually in the stands. We launched this during the bubble season, (remember the pandemic????) as a way for fans to feel like they were still attending games IRL.

The whole broadcast package for games included: creating and designing all the on screen elements to working with the on-air commentators Richard Jefferson and Adam Amin as announcers, and since we had no VR content for commercial breaks; we designed in-game trivia and entertainment segments to keep fans engaged. It was a dream. We had to send camera crews to quarantine inside the bubble to capture footage, and work remotely to coordinate and make these game broadcasts happen. And yes, a bunch of the players snuck out of the bubble to go to strip clubs, and we saw the footage to prove it.

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Example on screen graphics from VR broadcast.

Example content we created to play during ad breaks, we didn’t have any ads for VR.

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Live-Recorded game broadcast from headset. You can see some other real-time viewers in the VR world.

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We also created interactive trivia moments for fans during breaks.

Player Stat Card & Features. If you thought the NBA had a library of every player cut out from a background, you’d be wrong.

Player Stat Card & Features. If you thought the NBA had a library of every player cut out from a background, you’d be wrong.

A sampling of the in-game graphics viewers saw during the broadcast.

A sampling of the in-game graphics viewers saw during the broadcast.

A few examples of the segment titles we created to introduce pre-game show segments and talking points.

A few examples of the segment titles we created to introduce pre-game show segments and talking points.

Here is an example of content we created with the NBA to play during timeout breaks of our broadcast.

Here is an example of content we created with the NBA to play during timeout breaks of our broadcast.

Here is an example of one of the broadcast full screen intros we created before our pre-game show.