Pay-television broadcaster Star India has said it will provide virtual reality coverage of the Indian Premier League for the first time, ahead of its first season as the exclusive rights-holder of the Twenty20 cricket competition.
Star will provide the VR service through its digital and mobile entertainment platform Hotstar. Fans will be able to access the coverage by two means.
The first is using VR glasses, with Hotstar’s back-end technology updated to include compatibility with VR devices.
Another option within the app will allow viewers to pause the match at any given time, and swipe/tilt their phone to receive a 360-degree view of the ground. Sanjay Gupta, managing director of Star India, said the broadcaster is not seeking any hardware partnerships with VR equipment makers at this time.
He told the Business Standard newspaper: “In India, between 600 and 700 million people follow cricket. However, of these, not more than 30 million would have seen a live cricket match in a stadium.
“We want to enhance the experience for those who can’t make it to the stadiums. Through Hotstar, using technology, we have made the virtual reality option available this year.”
The latest announcement comes after Star last month said it would live stream the IPL for the first time. In September, Star ousted Sony Pictures Network India as the main rights-holder to the IPL after securing the global television and digital rights to the annual tournament.
Under an agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Star has paid Rs164.375bn (€2.17bn/$2.56bn) for all rights packages on offer across the five editions of the IPL, from 2018 to 2022.
Star will use Hotstar to provide full live streaming of the IPL. The league has previously been streamed, but with a five-minute delay to the live television broadcast.