NEW YORK—Fox Sports and Major League Soccer announced that Fox Sports and virtual reality company LiveLike will broadcast Saturday’s MLS Cup through the Fox Sports VR app, marking the first time the league’s championship game has been offered in virtual reality, sponsored by Audi.
“MLS has done a tremendous job helping soccer grow in the United States and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with them on the first VR experience for the MLS Cup,” said Devin Poolman, senior vice president of Digital Platforms for Fox Sports.
Coverage for the 2016 MLS Cup kicks off on Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox. This also marks the first time since 2008 that MLS Cup will air live on an English-language network television.
During the match, viewers can choose to watch any of five camera angles with or without a headset. They can also enter a “virtual suite” with access to rosters and live stats. The presentation includes a “magic window” experience for iOS and Android, as well as fully immersive VR on both cardboard and Samsung Gear VR.
The match will also include a first-of-its-kind VR replay feature for iOS users, allowing viewers to rewind the game in 30-second increments going as far back as 30 minutes, as well as the ability to control replays from different camera angles. Access can be had via signing into the Fox Sports VR app with pay TV provider credentials.
Audi’s presenting sponsorship gives it in-suite branding, an in-suite Audi car and real time delivery of each player’s Audi Player Index score - a performance-based number, calculated by combining in-game metrics.
