The Sacramento Kings Are Building the Virtual-Reality Basketball Stadium of the Future

The Sacramento Kings Are Building the Virtual-Reality Basketball Stadium of the Future
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The Sacramento Kings may have had a mediocre season but they and their fanbase have a $507 million state-of-the art stadium to look forward to.

Slated to open in October of this year, the Golden 1 Center will feature a massive 84-foot long scoreboard, which is only 10 feet shorter than the basketball court itself. Built by Panasonic, this gargantuan board promises to revolutionize the fans’ viewing experiences, featuring 4K ultra high definition screens that are seven times longer than the current “KingsVision” screens in Sleep Train Arena.

In addition, Golden 1 Center is equipped with a Wi-Fi system that will give fans access to high-speed internet, allowing them to Facebook, Tweet, and Snapchat uninterrupted during games.

This high-speed internet capability will also allow the stadium to experiment with virtual reality, with the goal of giving fans a courtside experience no matter where they are sitting.

While Paul Jacobs, co-owner of the Sacramento Kings and former CEO of the tech company Qualcomm, did not confirm when the virtual reality equipment and headsets would be brought in, he noted that virtual reality’s incorporation into sports was inevitable and that it made sense to build the infrastructure to support it.

In the future, fans will be able to experience instant replays in VR so that fans who are in distant seats won’t miss out on the biggest plays of the game. Some fans may even opt to purchase seats in an amphitheater-like space with high-end VR sets rather than pay for nosebleed seats.

Taking this one step further, Jacobs even predicts that this model can be exported out of the physical stadium so that individuals can one day experience virtual courtside seats from the comfort of their homes.

Featured Photo Golden1Center.com

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