A new alliance between Entain (formerly GVC Holdings) and Verizon Media hopes to keep pace with new technologies, and deliver a whole new level of realistic digital gambling experiences to customers. The two companies announced their new global innovation alliance in a December 17 press release.

Entain will work with Verizon to develop a new Virtual Reality (VR) experience, allowing users to watch live sports, interact with sports data, gamble, and socialize with friends. The two companies will also develop concepts for new formats using 5G and augmented reality to offer similar content. The end goal is to offer the customer experiences similar to being in the stadium, while having all the benefits of sitting on the couch.

“To win in the future we need to understand where consumers will be in five, ten years’ time and work with other global businesses also investing in that,” said Shay Segev, CEO of Entain. “We envisage consumers meeting at a game with friends, who could in fact be elsewhere, using virtual reality headsets to watch, interact and share the experience together and, potentially, compete between themselves at half time or feel like they’re on the pitch with the players.”

“Together, we are building the next-generation of content experiences for sports and gaming fans,” said said Guru Gowrappan, CEO, Verizon Media. “Our world-first 5G-enabled production studios in LA and London, creative technology teams and Verizon Media’s Immersive platform, that enables extended reality (XR) content to be created and distributed across digital channels at scale, allow partners like Entain to bring next-level immersive and interactive experiences to their customers.”