Immersive fan platform · Project manager on the studio side (Adastra Studios, partner of Infinite Reality) · 2022
UCI Track Champions League: a metaverse experience for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports
Context
The UCI Track Champions League is an international track cycling series by the UCI and Discovery Sports, with 149 million viewers across the WBD network and further broadcast partners in over 200 countries in its first season. To bring fans closer to the sport than a classic TV feed can, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports entered a partnership with Infinite Reality: a browser-based metaverse experience around the final rounds in London in December 2022.
Starting point
The idea was more than a 3D showcase around a standard livestream. Fans were to get real added value: the choice between more than eight live camera feeds following a "Choose Your Own Director" principle, real-time rider data such as heart rate, cadence and power, a virtual velodrome with social spaces and watch parties, all accessible via browser, no VR headset required. A deliberately low entry barrier instead of a hardware hurdle.
My role
Adastra Studios was involved in the implementation as a studio partner of Infinite Reality. I was responsible for project management on the studio side: coordinating work packages, aligning with the partner and making sure the deliverables arrived at the overall project on time and at the required quality.
Approach
Sports broadcasts forgive no delay, and the race date in London was fixed. As with the Burning Man project, that meant planning backwards from the event date, making dependencies between teams visible early and escalating problems before they endanger the deadline. Added to this was alignment across company boundaries, because requirements came together at several interfaces between studio, technology partner and broadcaster.
Outcome
The experience went live on time for the final rounds in London. The partnership between Infinite Reality and WBD Sports continued afterwards and was extended to further sports formats, and a mobile app version of the experience followed a year later.
What I take away
Immersive technology does not convince through 3D for its own sake but through concrete value. The camera selection and the live data were the real added value, the virtual world just the packaging. This distinction, real value versus effect, has stayed with me in every digital project since.