- More than 50 hours of live Virtual Reality (VR) coverage scheduled as well as on-demand replays and daily highlights package
- Featuring some of the biggest moments at Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies
- Dedicated Winter Olympics Eurosport VR app available on iOS and Android phones
- Complements Eurosport’s first fully digital Games across Europe*, including the first-time fans across the continent can access every minute live via the Eurosport app and website
30 January 2018 – Eurosport is offering fans the first ever live Virtual Reality (VR) coverage of the Olympic Winter Games across Europe.* The Winter Olympics Eurosport VR app will be the only destination in Europe for fans to fully immerse themselves in the Games using VR, with more than 50 hours of live coverage available which will include some of the biggest moments from PyeongChang.
A wide range of sports will be available live in VR, including alpine skiing, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, short track, ski jumping, skeleton, snowboarding (big air and halfpipe), as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Eurosport will also share full on-demand replays and daily highlights packages in VR. The coverage is provided to Eurosport by the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), its partner at the Games.
Fans will be able to fully personalise their viewing experience, selecting their preferred viewing point from up to six camera positions and immersing themselves with all the sights and sounds within a venue during the live sport. The VR experience will be delivered by Intel True VR, which uses multiple cameras at the selected events to create a 360-degree virtual reality environment for fans to get closer to the action than ever before.
Ralph Rivera, Managing Director, Eurosport Digital, said: “Discovery has set out to transform the Olympic Winter Games viewing experience, so being able to offer viewers across Europe every minute of the Games and now every angle of some of the biggest events in live VR goes a long way to delivering this promise. We want to do this to engage more people, on more screens, with the Games than ever before, offering something new to attract younger audiences. In this way, we hope to make fans care even more about the sports they are passionate about.”
The app is available on iOS and Android phones from 1st February 2018 and for just €0.99.** It is also available on Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream and Windows Mixed Reality headsets from their respective apps stores.
Within Eurosport’s comprehensive coverage of the Games, Olympic-first technology will be used as part of its production. One example being the Eurosport Cube, an innovative studio that will use augmented reality and enhanced data to create an immersive and interactive 360-degree environment for Eurosport’s team of winter sports experts. The studio will create a unique setting to deliver best-in-class analysis of the best moments from up to 900 hours of live action, showcasing the detail and margins that dictate how the champions will win gold.
Eurosport’s coverage of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 starts on Thursday February 8th live and on-demand on all screens. Eurosport’s digital platforms – the Eurosport app and www.eurosport.com/olympics – will be the only place across Europe* fans can watch every minute, every athlete and every sport – online, on mobile, tablet devices or connected TVs. Fans will have the chance to personalise and define their own Olympic experience – choosing what they watch, when they watch and how they watch.
To keep up to date across all the Olympic Winter Games news from Eurosport visit www.eurosport.com/olympics
*Excludes France 2018-2020. Excludes Russia. Eurosport will be an Official Broadcaster in the UK 2018 and 2020. The Winter Olympics Eurosport VR app will not be available in Germany and Italy.
** Equivalent pricing in local market currencies.
Eurosport VR app live schedule:
| Date | Event |
| Feb 9 | Opening Ceremony |
| Feb 10 | Alpine Skiing – Men’s Downhill training |
| Feb 11 | Alpine Skiing: Men’s Downhill |
| Feb 12 | Curling – Mixed Doubles semi-finals |
| Feb 13 | Snowboarding – Halfpipe |
| Feb 14 | Snowboarding – Halfpipe |
| Feb 15 | Figure Skating – Pairs’ Free |
| Feb 16 | Skeleton – Men’s and Women’s |
| Feb 17 | Figure Skating – Men’s Free / Short Track – finals |
| Feb 18 | Alpine Skiing – Men’s Giant Slalom |
| Feb 19 | Ski Jumping – Men’s Large Hill Team |
| Feb 20 | Figure Skating – Ice Dance |
| Feb 21 | Alpine Skiing – Women’s Downhill |
| Feb 22 | Ice Hockey – Women’s medal matches |
| Feb 23 | Snowboarding – Big Air women’s finals |
| Feb 24 | Snowboarding – Big Air men’s finals |
| Feb 25 | Ice Hockey – Men’s gold medal match/Closing ceremony |
About Eurosport
Eurosport is the number one sport destination in Europe, fuelling the passion of fans and connecting them with the greatest sports events in the world. As the new Home of the Olympic Games in Europe, Eurosport will deliver the ultimate Games experience to more people, on more screens, than ever before – bringing fans closer to their local heroes through year-long storytelling. Eurosport’s dedicated Olympic Winter Games website – www.eurosport.com/olympics – and the Eurosport app (available for iOS and Android) will be the only place across Europe fans can watch every minute, every athlete and every sport online, on mobile and on tablet devices. Firmly established as the Home of Cycling, Grand Slam Tennis and Winter Sport, Eurosport channels – Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2 and Eurosportnews – reach 236 million cumulative subscribers across 94 countries in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Eurosport.com is Europe’s No 1 online sports news website with an average of 60 million unique users per month. Eurosport Events specializes in the management and promotion of international sporting events. More information is available by visiting corporate.eurosport.com.
About Discovery Communications:
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) satisfies curiosity and captivates superfans around the globe with a portfolio of premium nonfiction, lifestyle, sports and kids content brands including Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Science and Turbo/Velocity, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. Available in more than 220 countries and territories, Discovery’s programming reaches 3 billion cumulative viewers, who together consume 54 billion hours of Discovery content each year. Discovery’s offering extends beyond traditional TV to all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio and Discovery Kids Play; over-the-top streaming services such as Eurosport Player; digital-first and social video from Group Nine Media; and virtual reality storytelling through Discovery VR. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.