When I tried Apple Vision Pro for the first time at WWDC 2023, one part of the demo immediately stood out: sports in Apple Immersive Video. During a sizzle reel, I watched immersive clips from NBA and MLB games. As a sports fan, I knew right away that Vision Pro had the potential to change the game.
It took a while for that promise to fully materialize, but this weekend I finally watched a full NBA game in Immersive Video: the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.
I couldn’t watch the Lakers-Bucks game live due to the antiquated and hostile world of sports broadcasting rights. I was, however, able to tune in after the fact to watch the full game replay.
Spectrum SportsNet had an entirely separate broadcast of the Lakers-Bucks game for Vision Pro, using a different broadcast booth than the traditional TV feed. This allowed the broadcasters to give cues like, “Look to your right in Apple Vision Pro, and there’s JJ Redick, head coach of the Lakers,” or, “Look to your right, and you’ll see the Lakers inbounding the ball.”
I expected to hear the same broadcast as everyone else, just with Immersive Video instead of the TV feed, so this was a nice surprise.
There were seven different Immersive camera angles: courtside at the scorer’s table, under each basket, in the player’s tunnel, roaming on the court, a high-and-wide view of the whole arena, and the broadcast booth.
The roaming camera on the court was used for pre-game festivities like the national anthem, in-game reports from courtside host Stephen Nelson, and Lakers Girls performances. The views from the broadcast booth, high-and-wide arena, and player’s tunnel were mainly only used between quarters and during timeouts.
The vast majority of the time, I was watching the Lakers-Bucks game from the courtside scorer’s table view (seen above) or under the baskets (seen below).
One problem with a lot of Apple’s earlier Immersive Video releases is the number of “cuts.” That is, how often the video switches between different perspectives. Content like the MLS Cup Playoffs sports film for Apple Vision Pro has far too many cuts. It was almost nauseating to watch.
With the live broadcast of the Lakers-Bucks game, this wasn’t a problem at all. The cuts were used sparingly. The only in-game cuts were moving between the courtside view and the two cameras under the baskets.
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