In the U.S., the NFL is huge with a massive following of fans. Now that Football season is here we can expect to see plenty of content and other things revolving around the sport, and Google is keen on offering NFL fans something to get excited about this season. Google is partnering up with the NFL to produce and offer a VR miniseries. This is an interesting move if you think about it, as Google was one of the companies in the running that was interested in bidding for exclusive rights to stream NFL games for the 2016 – 2017 season. Although Google didn’t win that bid as that achievement goes to Twitter, it seems that they still ended up with something unique to share with fans and it’s all happening in VR, an industry that is just starting to grow and gain momentum.
Google plans to show the very first episode of the upcoming miniseries during one of the biggest game days of the NFL season – Thanksgiving, and it’ll be available to view through the official NFL YouTube channel. Since this will be available through YouTube, users should be able to view it with the YouTube app through VR headsets such as Google Cardboard and others, although there will also be Daydream View versions of each episode available as well. Those however, won’t be available until a little later this year. It should also be noted that viewers can likely watch the miniseries episodes without a VR headset from the YouTube app and YouTube on the web.
To create the content and get it ready for the VR platform, Google used their Jump 360-degree camera capture system, which they unveiled quite some time ago, built to use a series of GoPro cameras in a complete rig that can see everything around it. As for what the content will actually include, the basis of each episode is to give a look into how various groups involved with the NFL prepare for the big game, with each episode focusing on one specific group. The first episode, for example, will highlight the Defensive Line for the Philadelphia Eagles, while another episode will allow viewers to see a unique take on the culture of the Greenbay Packers. There will be a total of 9 miniseries episodes to watch over the course of the 2016 – 2017 NFL season, and it all starts pretty soon.