For the final of the Coupe de France – an unlikely meeting between Paris Saint-Germain and the amateur club Les Herbiers – the French national public television broadcaster, France Télévisions, gave their viewers the opportunity to watch the full game in 360 degrees on a dedicated free app.

Created by the broadcaster’s sports department, France TV Sport, in partnership with the French Football Federation and the Virtual Reality and Sport company LiveLike, the app named “France TV app 360” allowed users in France to watch live the game in 360 degrees via their smartphone, VR headset or Google cardboard.

Thanks to several cameras placed in the Stade de France, fans were able to select three points of view from the main stand to the edge of the pitch behind each goal. In this way, they had the ability to choose and improve their own viewpoint.

The app was really simple to use and offered a pleasant viewing experience with good picture quality and replays. I tested it with my smartphone and you can find here some images from this experience:

Main view of the game with two screens from TV broadcast.

When you turn with your smartphone or your head to the right or the left, you can select another point of view by clicking on the goal icon.

View from the edge of the pitch behind the goal.

Replays of goals.

In the next weeks, France TV Sport will continue to offer live content in VR on its app as part of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, just as they did during the 2017 edition, and for the Tour de France.

This activation from France Télévisions and LiveLike represents maybe the next step for sport and VR industries. With 360 degree content already employed by many sport actors like Real Madrid to show highlights and behind-the-scenes videos, more sport events broadcast live in VR via dedicated apps and platforms, like the BT Sport VR app last year for the Champions League final, could be more and more prevalent in the coming months.