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USA Today
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
NBA fans roasted ESPN's absurd 'virtual reality' replays during the playoffs
NBA fans roasted ESPN's absurd 'virtual reality' replays during the playoffs CHET'S DUNK IN VIRTUAL REALITY 🤯🕹️ 📺 InsightCast on ESPNews — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 23, 2025 ESPN is trying out some new technology for its broadcast of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. There are some occasionally very cool advances in tech that can enhance the viewer experience when watching sports. A couple years ago, I tried watching an NBA game through a Meta virtual reality headset and it was mildly enjoyable. Earlier this year, USA TODAY wrote about how Dan Orlovsky brought virtual reality analysis to the masses for the NFL. ESPN's Tim Legler successfully used VR for ESPN's InsightCast. Recently, former NHL player PK Subban tried something similar for his hockey analysis. This could work for pregame or postgame analysis, especially when it incorporates shot charts or advanced stats. But it simply doesn't work as a replay: But ESPN's latest effort is, which you can watch above, is not nearly as impressive and fans were unimpressed. Here are more details about the replays from Tim Corrigan, who is the ESPN Senior Vice President of Sports Production (via ESPN Press Room): "Beyond Sports is going to provide virtual replace literally from any angle you can imagine based on what the action was, what it looked like. And we'll go into this environment with the Avatars. The Avatars will match the uniforms they're wearing, the court they're playing on. It's just kind of an insight into the future of what this might all look like. [...] Again, that's going to be all new to a live broadcast and the ability to turn these things around like the virtual replays could be the first replay in a sequence of what we're doing on this broadcast. These are ways it's going to look and feel different than the main broadcast. Vivid Arc is a company, again, we're tying them and their Avatars and what everything looks like from what the players are wearing, which will match with what they're wearing in the game and the courts they're playing on and everything." It sounds nice in theory, but here is the thing: This isn't even technically virtual reality, it's just 3D. It isn't interactive without using a headset. It's just boring. More: MLB hyped up a video game-like replay view from the Tokyo Dome and fans justifiably hated it I like basketball, but I wish it looked like it was generated in MS paint. I just wish ESPN had an option for viewers like me. — Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) May 23, 2025 'What if I told you that you could spend a bunch of money to generate the worst possible graphics you could ever produce and add nothing to the coverage?' ESPN: 'Sold!' — Daman Rangoola (@damanr) May 23, 2025 Nobody is gaining anything from this You don't learn anything, you arguably understand less about the play, and it doesn't even look cool 'We can so we probably should, right?' is how we got here — Kris Pursiainen (@krispursiainen) May 23, 2025 NBA Live 2004 looked better respectively — Kofie (@Kofie) May 23, 2025 Wanna know how many millions were wasted on this garbage and how many jobs this will ultimately cost ESPN — Blazer Banter (@blazerbanter) May 23, 2025 What is the point of this? — Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) May 23, 2025 Not the NBA Live 99 graphics — Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) May 23, 2025 Recession indicator, why y'all using PS2 graphics for something you just recorded in 4K — Tristan (@AyoTristan) May 23, 2025 As you can see, fans all seemed to agree with each other that this highlight of a Chet Holmgren dunk would have looked far cooler if it were just a replay of him putting the ball in the basket. There is clearly an effort for ESPN and others to push for VR on the telecast, but fans don't want it to replace highlights. The technology just isn't there quite yet, even if it may get there eventually.
Boston Globe
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
NESN's ‘Best Snow Day Ever' alternative Bruins broadcast aims to reach and educate a new audience about hockey
Titled 'Best Snow Day Ever,' it can be found on NESN Plus and the NESN 360 app as an alternative to the main Bruins-Panthers broadcast on NESN. It's an ambitious undertaking. The Bruins and NESN applied to the NHL in November for the chance to produce an alternate broadcast, and were one of the four franchises and networks chosen. Related : The NESN approach stands out in particular because it also subtly incorporates a learning element that children usually try to dodge on a snow day. There will be STEM lessons in the broadcast, involving such hockey-relevant subjects as math and physics. 'We wanted to stand out,' said Andrea Mazzarelli, Bruins vice president of marketing, who has been the team's lead on the project. 'We didn't want to do an animated game for the sake of doing an animated game. We had a bit of a greater purpose with it. Advertisement 'We had seen at least one other club last spring do a stat focused alt-cast, which was really designed for hardcore hockey fans who are really interested in the nitty-gritty stats and data. 'We thought that was cool, and with the rise of alt-casts, we wondered how we could get in that space but do it in a way that was a little bit more consumable and a little bit more aligned with our goals to sort of reach that next generation and a wider audience.' When viewers turn to NESN Plus at 7 p.m. Tuesday, they won't be in the animated world just yet. The broadcast begins with what looks and feels like a real-life snow day announcement in Boston. That's when the viewer — led by Blades, the Bruins' mascot — will be transported into a snow-globe vortex of the animated world for a narrative-driven story that coincides with the game. Advertisement The animated broadcast will use NHL Edge Positional Data to track the puck and player movement, with Sony's Hawk-Eye and Beyond Sports technology recreating the live action in real time. Adam Pellerin and former Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference will call the action — in animated form, of course. 'It's unlike anything I've done before,' said Pellerin, who rehearsed with the virtual-reality headset for the first time recently. 'I was kind of freaking out a little bit when I put on the VR headset and saw my animated hand in front of me. It was kind of like being in 'Blades of Steel' [a popular Nintendo hockey game in the '90s]. It's incredibly cool.' The STEM-centric lessons will utilize the Edge tracking data to teach the math and science behind such details as player skating and shot speed, and how fast someone gets from Point A to Point B. 'It's such an incredibly cool way to teach the elements of STEM through the game of hockey,' said Mazzarelli. Justine Pouravelis, director of original content at NESN and the network's lead on the project, said the approach is similar to how 'NESN Clubhouse' — its kid-focused Red Sox show — approaches appealing to a younger demographic, which of course is one of the main purposes of the animated alternative broadcast. 'You want kids to be entertained to the point where they don't know they're learning,' she said. Integrating STEM is something the Bruins wanted to lean into, said Pouravelis, to give the alternative broadcast even more purpose and appeal. Once it received the NHL's go-ahead, NESN worked with an organization called Everfi, which does Advertisement 'And then from there,' said Pouravelis, 'it was about putting together the STEM in the animated world in a fun way that we could teach about hockey, which is a cool collision of everything.' Only a few elements of the 'Best Snow Day Ever' broadcast won't be animated. NESN has produced 10 pieces of supplementary player-related content that will run throughout the game. But not quite everything translates to the animated world. Pellerin noticed immediately when he saw his animated hand via the VR headset during that first rehearsal that his wedding ring was not showing up. 'I had to let my wife know,' said Pellerin with a laugh, 'that it was still on my finger in the real world.' Chad Finn can be reached at
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NHL Looking To Attract Younger Audience With More Animated Programming
The NHL has announced a lineup of new animated programs that will run throughout the rest of this season. These programs, known as NHL Hockeyverse, are animated data visualizations that follow hockey games in real-time, providing a new experience for fans to watch their favorite teams. The NHL uses NHL Edge positional data and is powered by Sony's Beyond Sports to implement the accuracy of the players and their actions into animated form. There will be five new events coming up on the calendar with three in March and two in April. The @NHL announced a variety of unique and exciting animated programs for the rest of the 2024-25 regular season, featuring numerous formats, content types and distribution — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 5, 2025 Next Tuesday, the NHL will collaborate with the Boston Bruins for an animated broadcast of the Bruins and Florida Panthers game. This presentation is called the Best Snow Day Ever. This broadcast will be available at 7 p.m. ET on NESN. On March 16 at 3:30 p.m. ET, the NHL plans to air the game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars as the NHL Showcase presented by Dr Simi+. This broadcast will be available to fans in Spanish on Sky Mexico and Max (U.S.). On March 29, Hockey Paradise will be live at 2 p.m. ET and hosted by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts take on the New York Islanders on the FanDuel Sports Network, as well as the Tampa Bay website and app. The first day of April showcases Music City Hockey in Smashville in a partnership with the Nashville Predators. The broadcast will air locally at 7 p.m. ET on NewsChannel 5 (WTVF), showing the game between the Preds and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Harvey's Mountain Classic will nationally air in Canada as the Calgary Flames take on the San Jose Sharks on April 13. This broadcast begins at 8 p.m. EST and will be available on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet +. All these programs feature educational and fun content for kids incorporated into the broadcasts, along with the appearances of some of the mascots, according to the NHL. Furthermore, the NHL is collaborating with the San Jose Sharks to provide some extensive animated content. The league will create short animated highlights from every Sharks game between March 15 and April 16, which is the final day of the regular season for San Jose. The league already has NHL Hockeyverse Matchup of the Week airing on Saturdays on Sportsnet and NHL Network. The program features one NHL game from the past week in animated form. All animated program presentations will be available on-demand on the NHL's YouTube channel and after the initial airing. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on
