NOS claims world’s first virtual reality football broadcast

Portuguese media company NOS has joined forces with domestic pay-television broadcaster Sport TV and Korean electronics company Samsung to broadcast a match from Portugal’s Primeira Liga top-tier football club competition in virtual reality.

Viewers wearing Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headsets were able to watch FC Porto beat Benfica 1-0 on Sunday in live virtual reality format.

The broadcast format, which NOS said was a world first, was achieved by using five cameras pointing at different angles during the match. This gave viewers a 360-degree experience of the game.

NOS transmitted the match over fibre and a 1Gbps 4G network.

The experience was open to viewers at Samsung’s store at the Fórum Almada and the NOS theatre in the Shopping Colombo Centre.