BeTheRef - Virtual Reality Fan Experience

BeTheRef is a world-first VR experience aimed at rugby league fans, players, coaches and TV pundits - all of whom will have been guilty of levelling severe criticism and sometimes abuse at referees. This immersive experience targets those viewers, as well as wider sports fans, to raise awareness of the challenging role of a ref, increase levels of empathy towards officials, and ultimately change outlook and behaviour towards them, even when they make unpopular decisions against their team. As fans on the terraces and sofas, we tend to think our outbursts against referees go unnoticed and have no victim - they do. Refs pick up on the abuse hurled at them in the stand and on social media - yet they're often their own biggest critics of their professional performance. State of Mind's own former ref and project consultant, Ian Smith left the sport following intense fan abuse. In Ian's words - "this film will revolutionise fans' perception of referees, and that will be awesome".