Sure it’s sometimes tough being a soccer fan in America. For instance, the MLS Cup (the championship game for the major soccer league in America) hasn’t even been broadcast live on an English-language network since 2008!
But tonight that changes. Fox is airing the MLS Cup tonight between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders starting at 8pm ET. And to make up for the lack of attention Soccer typically gets, they are even going to stream it in VR.
It will be available in Fox’s dedicated VR app available for iOS, Android and Gear VR, all of which are powered by LiveLike. And even if you don’t have a VR headset to pop your phone into you can still watch, as the iOS and Android app lets you tilt and pan your phone to still get a 360-expierence.
LiveLike’s approach to VR is a little different than NextVR and a few other VR streaming platforms. Instead of just a floating broadcast, LiveLike has created a virtual world inside the Fox Sports VR App. So when you launch it you’re sitting in “private suite” at a stadium looking out over the field – and you can pick different camera angles, essentially letting you switch between a suite behind the goal, on the sideline, etc. In my opinion it’s a much better experience than the floating screen that most platforms provide.
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There’s also a section of the app where you can just sit inside the suite and watch other games currently being shown on FOX or FS1. Since they are just broadcast on a big virtual screen they don’t even have to be shot in VR – meaning you get live access to every game aired on FOX. For this portion you have to sign in with your cable login, but that makes sense – just like you have to sign in to the FOX Sports Go app.
One downside – the app isn’t available for the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. But this isn’t surprising – believe it or not none of the major VR streaming services are available yet for these higher-end rigs.
You can download the Fox Sports VR app on the Google Play and iOS App Store.
