It’s the opening game of the 2026 NFL season for the New York Football Giants, a cornerstone franchise of the NFL.
Their home field, MetLife Stadium, is lit up blue for the night game. The drum line pounds out a deep, primal rhythm, smoke rises, fireworks explode, and one by one the star players of the Giants make their dramatic entrance to the raucous cheering of 80,000 football fans.
Football fans can now experience this as if they’re standing on the field. Giants 360 brings 2D 360° video to the team’s mobile app and YouTube channel, allowing fans access to views they wouldn’t normally get to experience.
“Fans just love to be able to get out of their seats and get on the field. And we wanted to try to recreate that experience from a digital perspective,” said David Dominik, Giants Vice President, Digital Strategy.
I viewed the 2D 360 video content in VR using the YouTube VR app on my Meta Quest headset. I was immediately transported to the turf surface at MetLife Stadium, positioned near the ground. The rhythm of the drums and the lights and smoke set a powerful atmosphere, and then suddenly the players begin their walkout. Star players get their individual introductions, culminating with the introduction of quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Giants 360 VR in 2D, as viewed in YouTube VR on Meta Quest 3
Admittedly, as a Giants fan, this was thrilling for me to witness. For those moments I was sitting on the field, seeing my favorite players jog past me. It was a visceral and emotional experience, watching from a vantage point that most fans don’t get to see.
While not stereoscopic 3D with true visual depth, the immersive impact of the 2D video was still powerful enough to generate a genuinely memorable experience. Stereoscopic 3D uses dedicated dual-lens cameras to capture two images simultaneously which are then projected into lenses of the VR headset, creating a truly immersive sense of depth once your brain receives and processes the slightly different images.
I asked Dominik about future plans for 3D stereoscopic 360 content for Giants 360. He told me for now they are using a GoPro camera that is limited to 2D capture, but he’s interested in understanding other technologies.
Dominik said Giants 360 could reach people who might not otherwise follow the team’s content. “We are sometimes considered to be very traditional and very conservative,” he said. “As a marketing department, we’ve been working to redefine ourselves a little bit.”
Dominik said they usually record about 20 minutes of raw footage before selecting a three-to-four-minute segment. “We’re trying out different things and we’re trying to give people whatever we consider to be the best perspective.”
The Giants production team uploads the clips to YouTube. Giants app developer YinzCam then makes them available through a 360 player in the team’s mobile app, where the user can drag to look around.
Giants 360 is presented by Modelo. Dominik said that Modelo has supported other interactive projects with the Giants, and was eager to sponsor this one.
Through the first four weeks in the NFL season Giants 360 has featured the player introductions, pre-game warmups, and a halftime ceremony honoring the 1986 Super Bowl championship team.
Giants 360 Video Playlist
For the best viewing experience on Meta Quest, view this through the YouTube VR app. Also available via YouTube in the Quest browser using full-screen mode.
New York Giants player introductions for Game 1 of the 2026 season.
Honoring the 1986 Super Bowl XXI Champion Giants team, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the championship.
Other NFL teams have experimented with 360 video and VR in the past, as UploadVR has covered. Giants 360 is a team-led effort that arrives as companies like Meta and Apple are investing more in immersive sports content and building hardware designed to deliver it to users.
Dominik said Giants 360 could eventually be used to cover a draft party, a town hall, summer training camp, or a team meeting. After watching the first four Giants 360 clips in VR, I’m excited to see what the Giants do next.
The New York Giants mobile app is available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The Giants 360 videos can be experienced in VR on the Giants YouTube channel.
