World Cup 2010 Will be Shown in 3D

January 6th, 2010 | by: Daryl |

comiccon

ESPN announced yesterday that they’ll be screening World Cup 2010 games in 3D. They’ll show the opening South Africa vs Mexico game in 3D, and “up to 25″ World Cup games in total.

Now the bad news: You’ll need more than just those big glasses you wore to see Avatar (which you’re supposed to give back at the end, by the way) in order to watch the games. You’ll also need an expensive 3D television and a subscription to the ESPN 3D channel.

So this isn’t for the common fan. It’s very much an experimental, early adopter type deal. Unless you live in Europe. According to the Telegraph, 3D TV will NOT be available in Britain in time for the World Cup, but WILL be available on certain big public screens at FIFA International Fan Fests, courtesy of Sony.

I can think of worse ways to spice up a dead rubber group game.

That said, I’ve never seen football in 3D, so can only imagine what it looks like. My first guess is that it’s confusing, and will take a little getting used to. But I’m all for something new, and if it takes off then maybe we’ll get on board and launch 3D versions of The Offside and WorldCupBlog. I already need glasses to read them, so wouldn’t be a huge change for me.

International Football News – World Cup Blog RSS Feed

http://fm8.theoffside.com Samir

Great! Loved the last sentence!
fan across the atlantic

3D in the USA are they crazy I mean the shouldn’t do it now maybe the next world cup. the espn people are just jumping on the bandwagon.

i mean shouldn’t they be making it easier and cheaper to watch the world cup instead of more complicated and expensive, i mean expand the viewership.
http://www.malawi.worldcupblog.org sscouser

“It’s not the aggressive 3D that you would see in the movie, like someone is trying to poke your eye out,” Spinella said. “It’s a more real-world experience.”
http://www.wfaa.com/sports/Dallas-Chargers-game-going-3-D-79043772.html

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS: WATCH LIVE
http://malawi.worldcupblog.org/team-news/africa-cup-of-nations-watch-live.html
http://www.barnsley.theoffside.com Oli

Hang on, you had to give the galsses back after Avatar?

Jesus, the cinema I was in only shows two movies a day, and they didn’t ask for them back.

Can’t imagine football in 3D though, would the ball fly up out of the screen…
arthur

Lol i never returned the glasses.. we had to option to recycle them.. but they were some cool 3D glasses.
Pseudinho

Just to clear this up for everyone. The World Cup every single match with be available in old fashioned HD too. Also they have been making 3D ready tv’s since 2007. So if you got an HDtv within the last few years double check, it might be 3D ready. As far as the subscription works no cable or satellite provider has announced anything about subscribing to ESPN3D so that’s up in the air. It may already be included with what you pay for HD. So some of you may not have to do a thing but buy some 3D glasses or steal some from some Avatar geeks.
floormaster squeeze

If you think about this this is actually a bad thing. I am not against progress or something new but this could actually effect the coverage non-3D users see.

The normal “high” camera view that shows 1/3rd of the field will be of little use in 3D. So that means ESPN is going to want more close-ups and “in the action” shots. Which means you will see less of the game if those directorial decisions dominate the LD and HD view as well. ESPN already relies too much on close-ups when they bring in directors who learned their craft in other sports. Soccer needs the “high” view to dominate so you can actually see plays develop and runs off the ball (or even defensive tactics forming) and 3D is likely to make this worse.

3D is pretty irrelevant to soccer (might make for some cool intros, red cards, slo-mo dives, and other effects though).
http://www.campionatulmondial2010.ro CM2010

The next step will probably be holographic football :)
http://briantw.com Brian Tristam Williams

Greetings from South Africa. Nice site.

One thing: Your flag is the wrong way around. The red goes at the top when the flag is horizontal, and should be on the left when it’s vertical.
http://www.worldcupfootballchampionship.com/2009/12/2010-world-cup-football-groups-and.html Football Fan

Can we watch the 3D matches on TV?
http://south-africa-world-cup-soccer-2010.blogspot.com hakim

3d!! good idea genius brilliant, nice blog ;-)

http://south-africa-world-cup-soccer.blogspot.com/