FloSports Uses Ray-Ban Meta Glasses To Shoot On-Ice Footage at AHL All-Star Game

FloSports Uses Ray-Ban Meta Glasses To Shoot On-Ice Footage at AHL All-Star Game Content from the glasses was used on social, digital platforms during the event By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Thursday, February 27, 2025 - 2:48 pm

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A common goal for creators of live sports content is to offer deeper, more immersive access to the viewer. How can you get fans closer and closer to the action?

At the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, CA, early this month, FloSports placed the new Ray-Ban Meta glasses on players during the Skills Competition and other events to acquire unique sights and sounds from the ice.

Toronto Marlies player Alex Steeves wears the Ray-Ban Meta glasses for FloSports during the Skills Competition at 2025 AHL All-Star. (Photo: FloSports)

The content acquired via the glasses was used to post clips in near real time to FloHockey's various digital and social channels, increasing exposure to an event that was behind the FloSports subscription paywall.

With our content team, says FloHockey GM Josh Siskin, we've been digging into how we make an impact on the media side to accentuate and expand our partners' reach to the fans. [This was] a great opportunity to give fans a firsthand view from the player's eyes of what's happening on the ice, the bench, and other aspects of behind the scenes, which hasn't been done a lot, especially at the levels within hockey below the NHL. The feedback we've gotten thus far has been overwhelming and positive.

With the smart-glasses-based content at the core of its strategy, FloHockey's metrics around the event were strong, with the brand's AHL All-Star coverage generating approximately 4 million impressions and 1.46 million video views, as of Wednesday, according to a FloSports spokesperson.

FloHockey's content team, led by Content Manager Chris Peters, identified the new Ray-Ban Meta glasses as a unique, cost-effective tool to create original immersive content for fans and to drum up some buzz on social media and digital platforms outside FloSports' subscription paywall.

The FloHockey team - featuring Associate Content Creator Elizabeth Child and videographer Matt Kricheli - rotated the glasses on various players, asking them to wear them for a specific activity during, say, the Skills competition and promptly bring them back. The latest edition of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses can shoot up to three minutes of video internally through a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera at 1440 1920 resolution. The glasses also have five built-in microphones, whose performance Siskin praises.

FloSports ran the idea by the league, which gave its support. FloHockey was able to use the audio off the glasses in all clips as well, which required the AHL's trust: the workflow was working too fast in real time to allow approvals of individual pieces of content.

I think, says Siskin, [the AHL] saw it more than anything as an opportunity to get to know the players and the coaches on a more personal level. There's a trust that you have to build up with these partners. Fortunately for us, we've reached a point with the AHL where our content team have that trust factor. Before the event, we made it clear that this is what we [were] going to do. We want your blessing, but, once we get into the weeds and in real time, you have to trust us. We're not going to post anything controversial. We're not going to put you in a bad light. We took on that onus, the AHL put that trust in us, and I think both of us were very happy with the results.

So what came first? The glasses or the idea? Siskin says a little of both.

Hockey is one of the best live sports in the world, he opines. How do you bring fans to that and show them how fast things are going on the ice? [FloSports Shooter/Editor] Matt Kricheli saw an advertisement for the Meta glasses and said, This would be the perfect opportunity to take what we've been talking about internally and put viewers on the ice to show them. It was the duality of having the idea and seeing the Meta glasses and thinking this would be a perfect way to integrate the idea.

FloSports has also deployed Ray-Ban Meta glasses in auto racing. A couple of weeks ago, stock-car driver Gavan Boschele - who competes on the ASA STARS National Tour - wore the smart glasses and took viewers for a ride around the track at New Smyyrna Speedway in Florida.

Following the success of both deployments, Siskin expects the glasses to be used more often across the various FloSports properties. I went into it questioning what the results would be and if the juice was worth the squeeze in terms of the time investment. It blew me away in terms of what the capabilities were and the access it brought to the fans. They've certainly got a big proponent in me.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/02/27/flosports-uses-ray-ban-meta-gla...
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