Meta expands partnership with NBA for VR live broadcasts
Meta continues to broadcast live NBA games in virtual reality and brings new features for basketball fans to Meta Quest (2).
Meta and the North American Basketball Association (NBA) extend their partnership. Meta Quest will remain the official VR platform of the NBA. Fans with access to Horizon Worlds and Xtadium can look forward to new features and more basketball games in virtual reality.
NBA live and in VR in Horizon Worlds
In 2020, Oculus signed a streaming deal with the NBA. The VR division, now fully integrated into Meta, became the official marketing and VR partner of the NBA, the WNBA women's league, and the NBA G-League. The deal with Meta has now been expanded to include several new features.
Fans will be able to watch a total of 52 live NBA season games for free in Meta's proto-metaverse Horizon Worlds. Five of these games will be broadcast as immersive monoscopic 180-degree video and hosted by well-known sports broadcasters.
New NBA Arena and Avatar Fan Apparel
Additional 180-degree coverage of the WNBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League will follow. The new NBA Arena in Horizon Worlds is now available and comes with some new mini-games to pass the time.
In addition, Meta is offering exclusive NBA team apparel for avatars in the store. In the future, the paid NBA League Pass, which includes all games including the playoffs, will also be available through Meta Quest.
Xtadium launched last November. At launch, U.S. consumers were able to experience 180-degree live streams of NASCAR races, the All American Cup tennis tournament, archived EuroLeague basketball games and UFC Fight Pass fights on Meta Quest 2.
Xtadium is currently only available in the USA. Horizon Worlds came to some countries in Europe. Since Meta's VR headsets are now being sold in the country, the social VR platform could also launch in the near future. For the full schedule of Horizon Worlds broadcasts, check out the Oculus blog.
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