Apple is taking its Vision Pro headset deeper into live sports. Beginning in early 2026, select Los Angeles Lakers games from the 2025–26 NBA season will stream live in Apple Immersive Video, offering fans a courtside view from their living rooms. The streams will be available through the upcoming Spectrum SportsNet app on Vision Pro, with replays and highlights also accessible later via the NBA app.
This marks the first time Apple is enabling live sports in its 180-degree 8K immersive format, which pairs ultra-high-definition video with Spatial Audio to replicate the atmosphere of being inside the arena. Apple says that Vision Pro users “will feel the intensity of each game as if they were courtside, with perspectives that are impossible to capture in traditional broadcasts.”
To create this experience, Apple and the NBA are using Blackmagic Design’s URSA Cine Immersive Live cameras positioned courtside and under each basket. The footage will be streamed at up to 150Mbps to deliver maximum clarity and depth. While the full list of games will be announced later this fall, the first broadcast is expected to take place early next year.
Access to these immersive streams will require visionOS 26, a Spectrum internet or SportsNet+ subscription, and, of course, Apple’s $3,500 spatial computer. Users outside the U.S. will still be able to watch full-game replays through the NBA app in select markets, including the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the UAE.
This development comes as Apple continues to push new ways to make the Vision Pro more appealing. Since launch, Apple’s spatial headset has featured pre-recorded immersive content such as concerts, documentaries, and sports clips, but not real-time events. Introducing live NBA coverage could mark a turning point in how audiences experience sports at home, showing the Vision Pro’s potential beyond on-demand entertainment.
If successful, the Lakers partnership could open the door for other leagues to stream live matches in Apple Immersive Video, transforming how sports fans watch games in the future.
