The role of "extended reality" in sport & an overview of key global licensing considerations

The sports industry uses advances in technology to shape the fan experience, especially for fans not able to attend the live event, in a number of ways. Fans can access different types of sports content, such as the live game, highlights, and analyses because of online streaming services. Apps that offer league and team–generated content also help fans can also feel as though they are part of the game. For example, the Major League Baseball At Bat app offers customized home screens and icons, live updates on subscribers’ favorite teams, highlights, and team schedules and rosters. Teams have also developed official apps to offer team–specific content, such as Football Club Barcelona’s live updates on the club’s matches, videos, statistics, and team schedules. In both of these examples, the services are to some extent limited by the rights licensed by the club and/or league to third parties including broadcasters.

Emerging technology adds another dimension to the fan experience. This technology is known as extended reality, and refers to virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. This article will:

• provide a primer on extended reality and its current and potential future uses in the sports industry; and

• explain the necessary licensing considerations required in the U.S., Germany, UK, Brazil, and Japan; and

• detail best practices for industry players incorporating this technology to alter the fan experience.