WNBA Partners With Oculus on 20-Game Broadcast Schedule on Oculus Venues and Facebook Watch
Regular season schedule begins with Aug. 19 game between Dallas Wings and Minnesota Lynx
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On Wednesday, the WNBA announced a new multiyear partnership with Facebook and its virtual reality platform Oculus on a broadcast schedule that will see 20 upcoming regular season WNBA games delivered to fans across Oculus Venues and Facebook Watch.
This year’s programming plan is to stream live WNBA games in 2D through Oculus Venues on Oculus Quest and Oculus Go headsets, while streaming games on Facebook Watch. The first game in the deal is Wednesday night’s contest between the Dallas Wings meet the Minnesota Lynx at 9 p.m. ET.
“We are excited to partner with Facebook and Oculus to provide fans a new and truly immersive experience to view WNBA games this season and beyond,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in an official release. “Providing more opportunities to view WNBA games on innovative platforms will drive expanded coverage to our growing fan base, and combined with our other broadcast partners, will help sculpt the future landscape of the fan experience.”
Here’s a look at the schedule of live games included in the deal:
“When we discussed WNBA marketing opportunities, we wanted to make sure that our investment helped connect the league with its current and future generation of fans,” Rob Shaw, Facebook Director of Sports Media and League Partnerships said in the official announcement. “This sponsorship achieves that, as people around the world will now be able to experience and engage with the WNBA and its incredible players like never before on Oculus and Facebook Watch.”
As part of the deal, Oculus from Facebook also becomes the Official Marketing Partner and the first-ever Virtual Reality Headset Partner of the WNBA. In addition, Oculus will become an associate partner of the WNBA’s Believe in Women platform. Oculus will also have a presence during the league’s 24th season in Bradenton, Florida at IMG Academy, which features a 22-game schedule for each of WNBA’s 12 teams and will include Oculus signage throughout the bubble environment.