Swinging into VR
While working with the PGA TOUR, I led efforts to bring golf to virtual reality, developing a proof-of-concept and becoming the first league on Oculus.
THE CHALLENGE
With technology and media consumption patterns constantly changing, the PGA TOUR asked how it could stay ahead of the curve.
THE INSIGHT
Being ahead of what’s next requires a culture of openness to experimentation and a willingness to fail.
THE IDEA & EXECUTION
At the time, VR was in its infancy with few headsets available in the marketplace. Still, VR represented a growing space with possibilities in sports and entertainment. As a more calculated risk, we partnered with Meta’s Oculus division to gather best practices and to base the TOUR’s first foray into VR on their platform.
We began with a proof-of-concept test on one of the feeder tours to the PGA TOUR, known at the time as the Web.com tour. There, away from TV cameras, we were able to test different iterations of what experiencing TOUR-level golf on a VR device might be like. The test proved successful, leading us down the path to producing at a PGA TOUR event, with the Waste Management Phoenix Open as our first. This led to the creation of an Oculus app to consume a variety of content that we continued to add to over time, before AR and other technologies also took center stage.
RESULTS
As we sought to do something innovative and ahead of the curve, this push into VR made the PGA TOUR the first sports league to have an Oculus app. And its proof-of-concept led to further experimentation with on-demand and live viewing experiences in both VR and AR.
The TOUR was also recognized for its VR efforts, with countless media outlets covering it. And I took part in a SXSW panel alongside Meta to detail learnings and future possibilities.
My Role: Content Strategy, Digital Strategy, Concept Development
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