Online Cup service aims for 100,000 subscribers

By PETER GRIFFIN

Virtual Spectator aims to attract 100,000 subscribers to its online 3-D racing service that will allow a worldwide audience to watch every Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup race in real time over the web.

A small team of five to 10 Virtual Spectator workers will begin tracking boats racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup from today, as the Auckland company launches an online racing service, much improved on its efforts in the last America's Cup.

The online service is based on GPS (global positioning system) data each racing boat downloads from a satellite to plot its course and work out distances and speeds.

That information is then transmitted from the boats to Virtual Spectator and on to the web using Telecom's fixed cdma wireless data network.

The data are used to graphically plot the courses of the boats online and present race statistics and a running commentary. Those on broadband connections will ultimately enjoy the best-quality service.

Virtual Spectator has struck an international deal with web server company Akami that will allow users to access the racing graphics from servers around the world. Previously, Virtual Spectator has assembled its own server network.

Virtual Spectator's executive director of business development, Craig Meek, says the service will allow online coverage of 120 races over the next five months for a flat fee of US$24.95 ($49.95)

This time, Virtual Spectator is promising more features and vastly improved graphics at a lower price and has the backing of big name sponsors Yahoo!, SAP, UBS Warburg and Louis Vuitton.

The technology has also been licensed to ARI, which will present some of the graphics as part of TV coverage of the racing.

"We started last time with a compact disk and a price of US$69.95. Now we feel we've actually created a commodity product."

Meek says Virtual Spectator looked closely at online gaming technologies to find ways of improving 3D rendering of graphics over the internet. As a result, the racing boats and the Hauraki Gulf look more realistic, he said.

The service will be available in French and Italian versions and will let subscribers pay in US dollars, euros, British pounds and NZ dollars.

Virtual Spectator is in partnership with Italian internet provider Virgilio, which has 9.3 million customers and will be marketing the service extensively, as will Yahoo!

If subscriber numbers mount the way Virtual Spectator hopes, the company could net up to US$2.5 million in subscriptions alone.

Meek says online registration numbers so far have been high although the marketing campaign begins only today.

Virtual Spectator

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