If you want an innovative footballing VR experience, you should head to Brighton and Hove Albion’s Amex Stadium this weekend.

The Championship football club are planning to offer fans in their Family Stand the chance to get closer to the players warming up, in the tunnel and celebrating goals through the medium of virtual reality during their match against Aston Villa on Friday night (18th November).

It will be exclusively available in the Family Stand, and aimed at a younger audience and, of course, families. In order to access the stand, minors must be accompanied by an adult, but with no more than two adults to one child.

Brighton do a good job of attracting fans to their new, modern stadium. They currently have the sixth highest average attendance in the Championship, with just over 26,000 the mean attendance at the Amex this stadium, whose capacity is just over 30,000. In fact, that figure would put Brighton ahead of six current Premier League teams in terms of average attendance.

Brighton’s head of marketing, Tom Gorringe told the club’s official website, “We are always looking at ways to improve the matchday experience at the Amex. We are proud of our reputation as providing the best experience in the EFL, and it’s our aim to offer new and exciting opportunities to fans of all ages.”

With falling attendance numbers, particularly in the lower leagues, initiatives such as these are vital to get fans to actually come out of their living rooms and attend games. The VR experience will also give fans access to interactive stats and quizzes, too. All content around the live game going on in front of the fans, but the sort of content that you might feel like you’re missing when you’re not in front of your TV or connected to your home wifi.

What’s also important is that Friday night’s match will be broadcast live on TV, meaning that Brighton’s fans will have a greater incentive to watch the game in the stadium, whereas without it they may have opted to watch the game at home instead.