When underdog middleweight world titlist Daniel Jacobs shocked the boxing world by knocking out Peter Quillin in 85 seconds last Saturday, it not only was a watershed moment for the fighter, but for the sport, too.
The “Battle of Brooklyn” at the Barclays Center marked the first time a boxing match was released entirely in 360-degree virtual reality.
The bout – don’t blink – was a fight fans had been longing for. Turns out, the same could be said for the premium cable network and their VR efforts in the sweet science. Showtime had been exploring opportunities for content throughout the year, and realized that boxing would be the perfect match.
“We’re always looking to use new technologies to bring our fans closer to the content that they love,” Ken Todd, Showtime’s vice president of video strategy and emerging platform marketing, told [a]listdaily. “Since the boxing ring has a relatively small footprint, it makes it an ideal venue to use VR to get fans close to the action.”
The tech advancements not only offer fans an improved and immersive viewing experience, but it provides fighters footage of angles never seen before to study tape during training camp.
Todd and the team at Showtime plan to ramp-up marketing VR to sports fans, and subscribers moving forward. “Initially, we’re looking to reach the nexus of sports fans and 360 VR enthusiasts by maximizing our presence on the platforms that support the VR format,” he said. “YouTube and Facebook present a great opportunity, because we have a strong presence on both and our fans are already consuming and engaging with our content on these platforms.”
Showtime’s audience certainly approves. In 24 hours, they aggregated more than 1.75 million video views across platforms including the live telecast as well as Facebook and YouTube’s post-fight video offerings. The fight was also the talk of Twitter as the social media channel revealed it to be the most talked about cable TV show of the night, per Chris DeBlasio, Showtime’s vice president of communications.
Promotion company Premier Boxing Champions, who handles both Jacobs and Quillin, introduced several production advancements in the sport since debuting with TV programming this year to Showtime’s parent company CBS (and others) – specifically with a 360-degree, 32-camera array above the ring, along with referees and cornermen strapped with wearbale cameras to their head.
Showtime’s efforts in the VR space are only beginning, but it won’t be limited to just sports. Todd said they’re looking for additional opportunities to utilize VR in entertainment content, too. “The challenge is not to just create VR content because we can, but to identify the best content for the medium. Because we’re still in the infancy of VR, we plan to test and learn.”
Showtime has broadcasted pay per view fights featuring everyone from Mike Tyson to Floyd Mayweather over the last 30 years. Is streaming live fights in VR right around the corner? It’s an “exciting proposition,” Todd says.
That day will likely come in the future – along with the sport’s next big draw. In the meantime, Showtime can take credit for landing the first big punch in the sport’s VR arena.
