MR Sports Spectating vs In-Person Sports Spectating
Are you tired of the routine offers of a box of popcorn and a cold soda while watching your favorite team’s live game at the stadium? Or, are you bored with the limited camera angles and poor commentary while spectating from your living room couch? How about trying the new technology offered by MR?
Mixed Reality (MR) presents a new way of spectating sports; it offers a unique experience with interactive capabilities. A question arises, can MR spectating ever replace the excitement, the thrill, the atmosphere, and the sense of community that in-person spectating has to offer?
MR Sports Spectating
With MR spectating, fans can enjoy a fully immersive experience that comes with live games in a way that has never been done before. Users can watch the action from any viewpoint, adjust the camera angles, and zoom in to guarantee an excellent view of the field. But there's more; fans can interact with the game, get real-time player stats, and communicate with other fans.
According to Statista, the revenue of MR in sports is estimated to reach 6.7 billion dollars by the year 2027.
In-Person Sports Spectating
Watching a sports game in-person has its unique effect on fans. The adrenaline rush, the roar of the crowd, the shared sense of following a team, and the human interaction they get is what makes it so captivating.
In 2019, Forbes reported that the average ticket price of an NFL game was 102.32 dollars. Considering the additional expenses like transportation, parking, accommodation, and food, spectating a game can cost a lot of money. Despite that, fans keep on spending on tickets; the NFL season 2020 had a record-breaking attendance of 33,431,205 fans.
Can MR Replace In-Person Spectating?
The answer is, not entirely. Nothing can replicate the physical experience of attending a live sports game. For example, no matter how advanced the technology is, it can’t replace the sight, the sound, or the smell of a hot dog at the stadium. However, MR can mimic the excitement of watching the game and bring fans closer to the action than ever before!
MR, on one hand, can accommodate fans from all over the world to spectate the game in real-time, regardless of their location, budget, or mobility. On the other hand, In-person spectating provides that ultimate feeling of immersion that many fans crave.
The Verdict
MR and in-person spectating both have their pros and cons. At the end of the day, it boils down to personal preferences.
Nevertheless, it is fascinating to see how technology is affecting the world of sports, and with the rapid advancing of MR, we expect to see exciting and innovative ways of spectating in the future.
References:
- Statista. (2021). Revenue of the Mixed-Reality market worldwide from 2019 to 2027. https://www.statista.com/statistics/950132/global-mixed-reality-revenue-forecast/
- Forbes. (2019). NFL Ticket Prices 2019: Everything You Need To Know. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2019/08/09/nfl-ticket-prices-2019-everything-you-need-to-know/?sh=157dc8e32e89