
NBA, Meta Extend VR Deal as League Taps into Meta Horizon Worlds By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 12:19 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The world of VR sports consumption got a big lift today with the news that the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Meta have extended their partnership via a new multiyear deal will feature a new virtual reality experience for fans through Meta Horizon Worlds via Meta Quest, the official VR headset of the NBA and WNBA.
Meta VR users who are NBA fans are in for a big treat courtesy of a multiyear deal extension.
Meta Horizon Worlds is a free app that can be experienced on your Meta Quest headset. Last year the NBA launched NBA Lane in Horizon Worlds, offering a free throw shootout, low-gravity dunk contest, and more. This new team adds the NBA Arena experience, featuring live NBA League Pass games in virtual reality throughout the season.
Our extended partnership with Meta will provide more immersive and innovative ways to experience the NBA, says Jennifer Chun, NBA Executive Vice President and Head of Content Partnerships. Meta's digital world opens up exciting possibilities for NBA fans to virtually attend our games and to interact with other fans around the world.
The NBA and Meta will bring 52 live NBA League Pass games, including five immersive 180-degree monoscopic live VR games in 2880 resolution, in NBA Arena in Meta Horizon Worlds. Fans can visit the NBA Arena in Meta Horizon Worlds to watch NBA content with friends, compete in interactive mini-games and cheer on their favorite teams.
Additionally, existing NBA League Pass subscribers will be able to access their subscription in YBVR's Xtadium app within Meta Quest VR in the coming weeks. Fans will then be able to sit in a virtual courtside seat to watch live NBA League Pass games and host private watch parties with friends. Live WNBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League games will also be available via a Meta Quest headset.
The game schedule for the NBA Arena through next Tuesday includes:
Monday, Jan. 23: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Detroit Pistons - 7 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Jan. 24: Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans - 8 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Jan. 25: Denver Nuggets vs. Milwaukee Bucks - 8 p.m. ET
Friday, Jan. 27: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder - 8 p.m. ET
Sunday, Jan. 29: LA Clippers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers - 7 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Jan. 31: Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers - 7 p.m. ET
The partnership extension will also include the launch of NBA-licensed apparel in the Meta Avatars Store and authenticated NBA League Pass access in Xtadium, a VR sports hub app that offers shared watching experiences in high-definition.
Meta's immersive VR technology is opening up new opportunities for sports fans to engage and interact with their favorite NBA teams, says Meta Director of Sports Media and League Partnerships Rob Shaw. The NBA is always pushing us to innovate and leverage the latest technology to open the door to new fan experiences, and this chapter of our partnership achieves exactly that.
As part of the partnership extension, NBA-licensed apparel will be available in the Meta Avatars Store soon. Fans will be able to purchase their favorite NBA or WNBA team apparel for their Meta Avatar and showcase it across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and on the Meta Quest.
Meta will also have a presence at major NBA and WNBA events to showcase Meta Quest technology to NBA fans. You can find the full VR game schedule at NBA.com.
More from Sports Video Group
18/07/2025
Live from the 153rd Open Championship: SMT Enhances Video Board Experience; Enab...
18/07/2025
ShotTracker's Davyeon Ross on Revolutionizing Basketball On the Court and ...
18/07/2025
Home Pitch: How the Danish League Brought Its Live Match Production In-House Matchday Production produced 800+ matches across Denmark in its first year By Geor...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: EMG Debuts Spidercam for Golf, Expands Su...
18/07/2025
Usyk vs Dubois II: Bringing the fight to life with state of the art cameras and ...
18/07/2025
Usyk vs Dubois II: DAZN's head of boxing Chris Glanville talks helicopters, ...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: NBC Expands Unilateral Effort; Shared Stu...
18/07/2025
Warner Bros. Discovery's Anne Graham on Training New Professionals to Ensure...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: How R&A Spidercam Became a Reality for Go...
18/07/2025
ESPN Bulks Up Onsite Studios, Cameras, Player Mics for WNBA All-Star Weekend Besides the game, four studio shows will be produced onsite By Jason Dachman, Edit...
17/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: OpenDrives' Sean Lee, Michael Wilsker, and Jason Matousek on E...
17/07/2025
Oracle's Geoff Tognetti on Staying Ahead of the AI Curve Through Further Ado...
17/07/2025
NBA's Summer League Is a Hot Bed of AI, Immersive Innovation Testing Audio mixing, intelligent camera framing are among AI-driven efforts By Ken Kerschbaum...
17/07/2025
SVG's TranSPORT Conference Returns to NYC on Oct. 21; Register Today! By SVG Staff
Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 8:29 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
St...
17/07/2025
Gravity Media chosen as group name for merged OB business By George Bevir
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - 11:30
Print This Story
Gravity Media executive chairm...
17/07/2025
SES Closes Deal to Acquire Intelsat, Creating New Giant in Satellite Connectivit...
17/07/2025
How MLB Pulled Off That Unforgettable Hank Aaron Tribute at the All-Star Game Vintage content, state-of-the-art projection/processing combine in marvelous mile...
16/07/2025
Deltatre Acquires Endeavor Streaming in Major Streaming Industry Move The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 By Brandon Costa, Direc...
16/07/2025
SVG Regional Sports Production Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch ...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: FOX Sports Aims To Capture Chatty Players on the Fi...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: From Live Event Coverage to Studio Shows, MLB Netwo...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: FOX Sports' Francisco Contreras and Tom Lynch o...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star: FOX Sports' Production Is Bigger Than Ever in Steamy...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star: FOX Sports Director Matt Gangl and Producer Pete Machesk...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN Preps for Home Run Derby Broadcast While Produ...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN Operations on Supporting Monday's Home Run...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN's Home Run Derby: Statcast Edition' T...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN Producer Scott Matthews Goes Inside the Home R...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN's Phil Orlins on Adding Live Drone AR Smar...
14/07/2025
Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL Featuring a custom dynamic boom mic, the headset will debut in the fall By Dan Da...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on th...
13/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
09/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment, ViewLift Unveil Broadcast/Streaming Joint Ven...
09/07/2025
SVG Europe Audio State of Wireless Mics Forum: If we lose the spectrum, it...
09/07/2025
Tech Focus: Athlete Audio - Venues Provide Sound Just for the Players From locker room to field of play, personalized systems help rev up the athletes By Dan D...
08/07/2025
Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control...
08/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN...
08/07/2025
Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an ...