Deloitte and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. today announced the forthcoming launch of a new metaverse sports fan community experience. Announced to coincide with Deloitte's presence at Mobile World Congress 2023, this new community leverages Epic Games' Unreal Engine to enhance the ways in which fans and audiences can build connections and engage with the content they love.

The community is poised to redefine sports viewership and experiences through the metaverse. It builds on the new ways fans are consuming sports-related content, as well as the desire from fans for more immersive content and greater engagement with teams. Sinclair's sports community goes beyond game time, providing a metaverse experience to engage fans during post-season, pre-game, post-game and eventually, during the game. The community will launch the week of March 6th to coincide with and be geared for fans of a major sporting event.

The fandom community was built by Deloitte's Unlimited Reality™ practice, which brings together 3D computing, artificial intelligence, Web3.0, immersive experiences and advanced connectivity to help clients create business value. The community makes use of Epic's Unreal Engine — a powerful 3D creation tool that brings robust experiences to life in real time. This joint initiative marks an exciting next step in Sinclair's plans to deepen engagement with its viewing community and drive new revenue streams through experiential gaming.

"By bringing together Sinclair's vision of virtual metaverse engagement with Deloitte's deep client and sports industry knowledge, metaverse know-how and break-through solutions and ecosystem partnership, we plan to deliver an enhanced fan experience that caters to the unique communities we serve," said JR McCabe, chief business officer, Consumer Products, Sinclair Broadcast Group.

"In Deloitte's recently published '2023 Sports Industry Outlook', it is clear the blending of physical and virtual worlds is accelerating in the industry, providing fans with more ways to access and consume sports content than ever before," said Dan Helfrich, chair and chief executive officer of Deloitte Consulting LLP. "We are excited about the opportunity to team with Sinclair Broadcast Group to augment the viewing experience by harnessing the power of virtual worlds for broader community accessibility and deeper fan engagement."

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets affiliated with all the major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel and multicast networks Comet, CHARGE! and TBD; and owns and provides services to 21 regional sports network brands. Sinclair's content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and the nation's largest streaming aggregator of local news content, NewsON.