Virtual Reality Is Coming to The Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics, And Everyone, Soon

STRIVR, the virtual reality sports company, is branching out from football. The startup announced a multi-year deal with Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group behind the Washington Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics, adding to its existing deals with the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, and several college football teams.

The announcement says the technology will be used for "player development and as a unique in-arena and VIP game-day experience." The player development benefits are obvious. VR offers a futuristic film room where players can re-live moments from the game from a P.O.V. perspective with 360 degree rotational view rather than the static, bird's-eye perspective. It allows them to rehearse decision-making and visual focus in ways traditional film rooms can't.

In the grand scheme of things, this is intriguing but barely matters. Just like any other innovation in a competitive space, this will be touted as a "game-changer" and competitive advantage along with other vague cliches, as Capitals defenseman John Carlson does in the press release. But, the sports world is a closed community with coaches and players jumping around from team to team. If it is indeed that wonderful, every team in the league will have something like it soon enough and the advantage will be a wash.

The game-day experience aspect of VR is far more revolutionary. There aren't many details as of yet, but Monumental Sports does say, "The technology also will be incorporated into the Verizon Center's new VIP club game-day experience as well as in-arena by offering a rare perspective and level of insight to the game for Wizards, Capitals and Mystics fans."

Given the VR technology available at the moment, this doesn't mean live camera angles or broadcast feeds. It likely means three-to-five minute pre-recorded clips from previous games that have been re-packaged for fans to watch at dedicated stations in the VIP concourse or something to that effect. It'll be neat enough, but you'll go back to your seat to watch the game afterwards.

Still, it's easy to see how VR is the future of sports broadcasting and live event coverage in general. At some point, the technology will be good enough for live feeds, and you'll pay a "ticket" price to watch the game at home from your VR headset. You'll be able to choose your seat and watch from any vantage point, perhaps even changing seats to move along with the action on the field/ice/court. It'll be prohibitively expensive for most as first, but cheaper over time, although "ticket" prices may vary greatly by sport and event. There will be "surge" pricing for the most popular games.

Teams will make far more money because they will no longer be constrained by physics on how many tickets can be sold to games. TV networks will either get involved or they will be bypassed entirely and lose their last remaining must-watch programming. As the technology and broadcast quality further improves, it will become harder and harder to justify physically going to the stadium. The in-stadium experience will suffer; so, too, will the experience of watching, since empty stadia are less appealing as a spectacle than full, rowdy ones. Home field advantage, largely a product of referees feeling influenced by a partisan crowd, will decline. Watching sports will be a totally unrecognizable experience from what it is today and has been for the last two millennia. It will be great, at least until someone dies somehow.