The Wall Street Journal - 12.03.2020

R 6 |Thursday, March 12, 202 0 THE WALL STREETJOURNAL.

Traditional sports are

experimenting with new

technologies to make

watching matches from

afar more engaging

By Sarah E. Needleman

Gamer-

inspired

features

like live-

chatting

and VR

accessto

stadiums

areon

their way

for sport

fans.

O

neofAlexander Mac-

Fall’sfavorite pro vid-

eogame players was

live-streamingaprac-

tice session when he

decided to get in

touch with the digital

athlete. Usinga text-chatfeature

bakedinto the broadcast,the 33-

year-old told Jong-Ryeol “Saebyeo-

lbe” Park he was “hyped” to see him

competein an upcomingmatch.

Moments later, Mr. Park, the cap-

tainofa local team that competes

at the videogame “Overwatch,”

thanked himon camera—sohe and

anyone else watchingcould see.

“Ifreaked out a little bit,” says

Mr. MacFall, agraphic designer who

livesin Pomona,N.Y. “For himto

see mypost and actuallyrespond to

it was really, reallycool.”

Videogame enthusiasts are using

technologies such as live-streaming

and virtual reality. They’re watching

esports competitions while chatting

with eachother and commentators

on the same screen, and strapping

on VRgoggles to socializeinvirtual

spaces withfar-flungfriends.

Now, traditional sports leagues

are payingattention. Executives at

tech companies say they are testing

gamer-inspiredfeaturesfor sports

broadcasts. Some, such as live polls

about what will happenin matches

and the ability to toggle across cam-

era angles, could roll out over the

next severalyears. Others, like ac-

cess tofront-rowstadium seatsin

VR, are poised to take longer be-

cause theydepend onfactorsin-

cludingfaster internet speeds,

cheaper hardware and deal-making

amongteams, leagues and media

outlets.

The coming tech capabilities

aren’t designed to eliminate live ex-

periences but rather make viewer-

shipfrom afar more engaging.

“Sportsisgrapplingwith an audi-

ence under 30 that’s radicallydiffer-

ent than”olderfansin termsofwhat

theywant out ofbroadcasts, says

John Kosner,aformer executive at

Walt DisneyCo.’s ESPN. He believes

sports broadcasts need to evolve to

become more appealingto young

fans “A moreimmersive experience

around sportsisdefinitely coming,”

says Mr. Kosner, now aninvestorin

sports-technology startups.

Esports broadcasts are consid-

ered a proxyfor thefuture oftradi-

tional sports programmingbecause

the broadcasts take place mostlyon-

line and can be wildlypopular. Last

November’s “League ofLegends”

World ChampionshipFinal—the

computer game’s equivalent ofthe

Super Bowl—peaked at 44 million

concurrent viewers world-wide,ac-

cording to its creator,RiotGames

Inc., a unit of Chinese conglomerate

Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Some sports fans might struggle

to imagine following a match on a

laptop or smartphone while text-

chatting with other viewers on the

same screen. But such behavioris

common among esports fans and is

starting to occur among traditional

sports viewers, says Nicole Pike,

managing director of esports at the

ratings provider Nielsen. “It’s a gen-

erational thing,” she adds.

Upstarts such as LiveLike Inc.

and Genvid Technologies Inc., both

of New York, are developing tech-

nology that allows fans using smart-

phones and other devices to: text

chat with eachother beneath live

It’shockey. Onlyunderwater.

The sport, playedin a swimming pool, is similar to the

ice-rinkversion in that participants withstickstrytoshoot

a puck into a goal. But the net is a nine-foot-long trough,

there are no goalies, the sticksare11

incheslong andtheplayers wear

fins and snorkels.

Eachteamhas six players, who

stay underwaterfor 15 to 30 sec-

onds at a time, andgames consist

oftwo 15-minute halves.

“Underwater hockey is constantly spreading,” says

Tristan Reynard, world tournament directorfor the

sport’s governingbody, theWorldUnderwater Federa-

tion. Fifty-two teamsfrom 19 countries are slated to

compete in this year’sWorldChampionship in GoldCoast,

Australia, in July.

The game, originally called“octopush,” was invented in

the U.K. in 1954 to keep scuba diversfit during the winter.

Most ofthe action takes place underwater, making

itdifficultfor spectators to see the players—one of

theobstacles to the sport’s spread. Its organizers

have triedto address this issuebyplacing cam-

eras—someofthem mobile—above and beneath the

water. Thevideoislive-streamedonline andbroad-

cast on big screensforfans at the game.

Better underwater cameras andonlinebroad-

casting have helped raise the sport’s profile, as has

its inclusion in the Southeast Asian Games in 2019,

Mr. Reynardsays. Continues on page R8

Underwater

Hockey

THE FUTURE OF EVERYTHING |SPORTS

ARMCHAIRQUARTERBACKS,MEETESPORTS

video ofsports matches; purchase

team emojis to share within those

chats; andguess what will happen

duringthe action via real-time polls.

Techfirms are also workingto al-

low viewers to toggle between camera

angles on their screens to see differ-

ent perspectives ofa match, as well

as call up stats and highlight videos

for athletes oftheir choosing. With

chat baked into game streams, fans

could potentially engage with com-

mentators,coaches or their favorite

athletes during breaks in action or at

other times—much the wayMr. Mac-

Fall connected with one of his esports

idols through Twitch,Amazon.com

Inc.’s live-streaming platform.

Twitch is best known for live

broadcasts mostly of expert gamers

playing videogames and pro esports

competitions, but it also airs some

traditional sports matches. The plat-

form recently began allowing users to

take on the role of a sportscaster for

certain games from the National

Football League, National Basketball

Association and a handful of others,

with permission from those leagues.

User-commentators call plays or just

talk about the action during live

broadcasts, and anyone can tune in

unless marked private. Goingfor-

ward, Twitch users might be able to

choosefromalist ofcelebrity,pro

athlete or other commentators, says

Michael Aragon, senior vice presi-

dent ofcontent at the company.

The NBA meanwhileis testing

the optionfor viewers ofits League

Pass live-streamingservice to select

commentators who can call games

fromremote locations and in more

languages. “We are just at the be-

ginning of this world of alternate

commentary,” says Sara Zuckert, the

NBA’s senior directorofdomestic

programming and content strategy.

The way gamers socialize in vir-

tual realityis also expected to in-

fluence sports viewership. While

VR headsets are priceyand bulky,

future iterations won’t be, saysJa-

son Rubin, vice president of special

gaming initiatives at Facebook Inc.

The latest version of the company’s

Oculus headset is wireless in addi-

tion to being lighter-weight and

less expensive at around $400 in-

cluding two “Touch” controllers.

VR technology is capable today

of broadcasting live, real-world en-

tertainment. Lastyear, Facebook

hosted a concert with singer Billie

Eilish through its Oculus Quest.

Thoughviewers saw one another as

cartoonish avatars, Ms. Eilish ap-

peared livefrom Madrid thanks to

cameras that captured her stage per-

formance in the real world and

streameditin the virtualone.

Itwill likely take manyyears,

though,for such broadcasts to become

widespreadin sports, largely because

media companies, leagues and other

parties are waiting for wider adoption

of VR headsets to cut deals, says Mi-

heer Walavalkar,chief executive of

LiveLike.

With VR gear, sports fans will be

able towatch matches fromhome

seemingly in front-row seats or pri-

vate suites. Space is essentiallyinfi-

nite in the virtual world, so poten-

tially anyone logging in could access

the same perspective, according to

VR experts. Fans will also be able to

move their virtual seats at anymo-

ment during a game on par with the

action, as well as engage with virtual

objects. “You can throw a tomato” on

a soccer field, for example, onlyit

won’t be real, says Mr. Walavalkar. It

would be possible, though, to order a

real pizza for home deliverywithout

exiting the VR broadcast, he adds.

“Sports is

grappling

with an

audience

under 3 0

that’s

radically

different.”

—John Kosner,

investorinsports-

tech startups

44

Million

The number

ofpeak

concurrent

viewers of

the “League

of Legends”

World

Championship

Final

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ERIN PATRICE O’BRIEN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; ILLUSTRATION BY KYLE HILTO

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