
Inside the Cosm/NBC Sports Deal and What It Means for the Future of Immersive Experiences The entertainment/tech company is developing two venues with 8K+ LED domes By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, February 13, 2024 - 1:04 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Immersive video is having a moment, and it's not just the Apple Vision Pro VR headset. The U2 shows at The Sphere in Las Vegas have proved that a new live experience can find success, and last week Cosm, which this year will open two immersive venues that have 87-ft.-diameter 8K+ LED domes, announced a content deal with NBC Sports around events like Big Ten football, the English Premier League, and premium horse racing. Cosm SVP, content and media, Peter Murphy discussed the deal and more with SVG.
Where do things stand in terms of construction of Cosm venues?
We have two in development and are targeting the first, in Los Angeles, to open at the end of the second quarter, which is coming up quickly. The second one is just north of Dallas in Colony, TX, and that one will be opened in the third quarter of this year. We hope to announce more in the coming months to keep the momentum going.
How did the deal with NBC Sports come about?
We're layering in premium partners as we get closer to open, and that started last year with the announcement at the NBA All-Star Game. That was followed by the UFC pay-per-view announcements and TNT Sports for nationally broadcast basketball, playoff basketball, playoff hockey, and U.S. men's and women's soccer. We are trying to add to the breadth and depth of the sports that we had.
First, NBC has been a phenomenal partner with great people who have really leaned into what we offer, and NBC adds more sports to our portfolio. Their productions are championship quality, and they have an incredible portfolio and a rich heritage. It will be our first foray into college football, which is exciting.
EPL fans will be able to experience matches in a whole new way, thanks to the deal between NBC Sports and Cosm.
But the core of the deal is the Premier League. Part of our thesis as a business is to democratize access to fans. For EPL fans, it is prohibitive to get overseas to catch a game at a stadium in England. But now we can bring the experience of being at those stadiums to Dallas or Los Angeles. Fans can wake up in the morning on the weekend, come to Cosm, and feel like they're sitting pitchside in England, which is really exciting.
The other part of the deal that's exciting are the other blockbuster events, like their incredible portfolio of horse racing. We can turn those events into an affair at Cosm, which is not just about experiencing the content itself but also about trying to supplement the hospitality experience. You can imagine serving thematic drinks, you can imagine people dressing up in attire that brings them to a particular sense of place, and that is coming forward as part of this agreement with NBC. We're excited to focus on what we've announced with them last week.
The demonstration I saw last year was very immersive with the C360 cameras. Will you have your own production or just take a feed?
The value proposition of our technology is being immersive, so we will be doing our own production but working very closely with the leagues, broadcasters, and the networks that we have the deals with. We will typically have four to six cameras, depending on the event, that are locked off and unmanned and connected to a flypack that has a production crew embedded on the ground. It's very lightweight in terms of presence.
We've been working over the last decade, particularly when you include our legacy companies, with the big producers, and we know them well and how we can fit within their production. We will work closely with them to deliver on the promise of what I think is unique to our technology and will be exciting and new for fans.
Will you have your own commentary?
We will typically try to pair our feeds with the broadcast commentary being produced by the broadcaster or the league. That will give a sense of familiarity to the storytelling and narrative but layered into a production that makes you feel like you are on the sideline, making it the best of both worlds.
Between TNT and NBC, there are a lot of potential events. Do you have an idea of the schedule?
We want to be an always-on option for fans to come experience, and the anchor is live sports. We want to try to fill our calendar with the best live sports 365 days a year, and one of the beautiful things about EPL is that it's a morning program for the most part. International sports work well in that window, particularly during weeks and early on the weekends.
Our goal is to have events, certainly seven days a week, multiple events a day, and I think you'll see layering a little bit more of the puzzle pieces. There are certainly more deals to come to fill out that robust calendar.
What about outside of sports?
We have a Studios division of Cosm [formerly Cosm Studios], which is a robust development team focused on content acquisition. We have a multidisciplinary community of filmmakers, artists, contributors, creators that are creating content for us, and we're partnering with a number of premium entertainment brands like Cirque de Soleil, which is going to be really exciting. We anticipate that we will have a full docket by the time we open, and it will be appealing to not just sports fans but people interested in fandom. Whether you're a fan of sports, whether you''re a fan of movies, musicians, comic books, whatever it might be, we are providing a destination for those fans who self-select and want to celebrate with other fans.
I wanted to mention The Sphere because it appears that people are reacting well to that immers
Most recent headlines
13/03/2025
(L-R) Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, John Malkovich, Ayo Edebiri, and Juliette Lewis attend the premiere of Opus at Eccles Theatre in Park City. (Photo by...
13/03/2025
Spotify took center stage at the London Book Fair this week, reaffirming our commitment to the audiobook market and showcasing our impact on the publishing indu...
13/03/2025
At Spotify, we work every day to lift up new voices, giving creators the opportunity to live off their art. Through Spotify Audiobooks, our in-house publishing ...
13/03/2025
Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...
13/03/2025
Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...
13/03/2025
On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...
13/03/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...
13/03/2025
TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...
13/03/2025
DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...
13/03/2025
FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...
13/03/2025
CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...
13/03/2025
he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...
13/03/2025
MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...
13/03/2025
Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
13/03/2025
Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content Feature marks Rokus first women's league-branded zone within service By Bra...
13/03/2025
Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew...
13/03/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size ...
13/03/2025
IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036;...
13/03/2025
NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical...
13/03/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive...
13/03/2025
Sky Business, Sky's B2B division, providing connectivity and content to busi...
13/03/2025
Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark ...
13/03/2025
We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey.
Our 2025 survey p...
13/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...
13/03/2025
Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025
Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...
13/03/2025
Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...
13/03/2025
A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...
13/03/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...
13/03/2025
This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...
13/03/2025
What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...
13/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...
13/03/2025
Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library.
Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...
13/03/2025
AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...
13/03/2025
PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....
12/03/2025
Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
High-capacity switch enhances existi...
12/03/2025
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...