NBA games to be broadcast in the metaverse after Meta partnership deal

The NBA has extended its partnership with Facebook’s parent company, Meta. The partnership will see NBA games being broadcast in the metaverse. According to the company, 52 games will be available to players using virtual reality technology (VR). Five of the games will be viewed through Horizon Worlds, the flagship metaverse application for Meta.

NBA extends partnership with Meta

The NBA is focused on bringing its games to the metaverse. The league has announced that it will be extending its current partnership deal with Meta to bring its games to the virtual world using VR technology.

52 games will be broadcast on Horizon Worlds, where users will enjoy and watch the games. Meta is also presenting five of the games in a more immersive way. It would do this by adopting 180-degree monoscopic technology to ensure that users can experience the game as they would if they had attended it physically. The fans will also have a chance to change their perspective as the match progresses.

Through this initiative, the league also focuses on ensuring that the existing fans will have an interactive experience. These fans will become more familiar with the new technology the NBA is adopting.

The director of metaverse media content at Meta, Sarah Malkin, commented on the development, saying that the adoption of VR technology would make it possible for users to have shared experiences with their fans and friends from different countries. Malkin also focused on ensuring that the NBA Arena and live games would benefit from this technological innovation.

NBA and Meta to provide avatar merchandise

NBA and Meta will work together to create an opportunity where the fans will buy licensed apparel for the NBA from the Meta Avatar Store. The features will be available to all the apps owned by Meta, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The director of sports media and league partnerships at Meta, Rob Shaw, commented on the benefits of bringing new technology to fans, saying that the immersive VR technology provided by Meta created new opportunities for sports fans to interact and engage with their favorite teams at the NBA.

NBA fans will also get a chance to wear the gear of their favorite teams through their metaverse avatars and get a chance to enjoy immersive live games.

The partnership marks the second major Web3 initiative that the NBA has taken. The NBA partnered with Dapper Labs in 2020 to release the NBA Top Shot. The latter is an NFT marketplace that features special moments during games. The NBA also partnered with Sorare to release an NFT game.