Apple has announced a partnership with Spectrum SportsNet to stream select Los Angeles Lakers games to the Apple Vision Pro. The live broadcasts will begin during the 2025-2026 NBA season, with the first games expected to stream in early 2026.
The games will be filmed using the Apple Immersive Video format, a VR-oriented filming style previously used for a Metallica concert film released earlier this year. According to Apple, this format will showcase “perspectives impossible to capture in traditional broadcasts.”
Access to the live games will be limited to Vision Pro owners located within the Lakers’ regional broadcast territory, which includes Southern California, Hawaii, and parts of southern Nevada. Viewing the live streams will likely require a subscription. Following the live events, full game replays and highlights will be made available in “select countries and regions from both the SportsNet and NBA apps.” Apple and Spectrum plan to announce the final schedule and further details in the fall.
While the Vision Pro has been generally well-received as a media consumption device, sports programming that utilizes its specific capabilities has been limited. Apple currently offers immersive viewing experiences for Friday Night Baseball and Major League Soccer.
The NBA is the only major sports league to provide an experience created specifically for the Vision Pro. The league’s existing visionOS application offers several features, including the ability to display real-time player statistics and stream multiple games at once in a multiview format. The app also includes a tabletop view that projects a 3D court with miniature players onto a user’s physical space.
This content expansion for the Vision Pro aligns with reports that Apple is prioritizing the development of smart glasses over a lighter and more affordable version of the current headset. This strategy suggests a focus on providing new content and experiences for existing Vision Pro owners.
