IBC2026 puts sport at the winning end of media innovation

IBC2026 will put sport firmly at the centre of the global media and entertainment technology conversation with the strongest sports showing in the event's history, bringing together the world's leading sports organisations, broadcasters, rightsholders and technology providers at the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September.

From Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) showcasing technology from the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 for the first time at an industry trade event, to senior leaders from FIFA, UEFA, LaLiga, Liga Portugal, Women's Super League, SailGP and DAZN tackling the rapidly changing economics of live sport and major shifts in production and distribution, IBC2026 will explore the developments redefining how sport is created, delivered, monetised and experienced.

Sport's importance to media businesses continues to grow, driving viewership and revenues in an increasingly live and on-demand world across multiple screens. According to Nielsen, more than 90% of the most watched broadcasts on US television last year were live sports. Research from Omdia showed that sports accounted for 24% of all new pay-TV subscriptions worldwide over a six-month period in the same year, while Ampere Analysis projects that global spending on sports media rights will grow from $64 billion in 2025 to over $78 billion by 2030. That growing value coincides with major changes in how sport is produced and delivered: remote and distributed workflows are becoming established at the world's largest live sporting events, while an increasing number of rightsholders are developing their own production capabilities.

This is our best-ever sports showing at IBC, said Stephen Nuttall, Chair of IBC. Sport has always been a major driver of technology adoption in media, because live production demands both innovation and absolute reliability. Today, we're seeing fundamental shifts in how sport is produced and experienced, from the growing role of rightsholders in production to the proliferation of ways audiences can watch and engage. IBC brings the sports media industry together to see what's possible and keep pace with rapid changes in production, delivery, audience engagement and business models.

OBS brings Olympic innovation to Future Tech

A centrepiece of IBC2026's sports programme will be a major showcase from OBS, recipient of this year's IBC International Honour for Excellence, recognising decades of innovation in live sports production and its far-reaching influence on global broadcasting. OBS's first dedicated showcase of its technology at an industry trade event will give visitors to Future Tech in Hall 14 a close-up look at innovations developed for Milano Cortina 2026, including solutions created with Worldwide Olympic Partners.

Highlights include technologies that enabled:

Seeing the action from every angle: Real-Time 360 replay technology developed with Alibaba uses AI and cloud processing to create viewpoints never physically captured by camera, allowing replays to freeze competitors such as figure skaters and big-air snowboarders mid-twist or spin, and then move the viewpoint around them.

Producing Olympic coverage on smartphones: OBS worked with Samsung to enable mobile production, including coverage of the Opening Ceremony captured entirely on smartphones allowing camera operators to move among the athletes.

Putting Olympic information at commentators' fingertips: An Enhanced Commentator Information System developed with Deloitte uses AI to rapidly access Olympic data and content for example, finding record-breaking performances from across the Winter Games to generate relevant clips.

Connecting athletes with the people behind them: The Athlete Moment experience developed with TCL enabled competitors to connect face-to-face with family and friends, bringing the emotion around their Olympic performances into the coverage.

Enriching coverage with data and graphics: New metadata and augmented-reality graphics capabilities developed with OMEGA demonstrate further ways of adding information and context to Olympic storytelling.

Global sports leaders tackle a rapidly changing media landscape

The IBC2026 Conference will bring senior figures from some of the world's biggest sports organisations together to address the technology, economics and audience shifts reshaping sports media. Highlights include:

Live Sports at Scale: Redefining the art of the possible': Oscar Sanchez, Head of Host Broadcast Production at FIFA, and Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of OBS, will explore breakthroughs from ultra-low-latency streaming and cloud production to interactive fan engagement and AI-driven personalisation.

The New Playbook for Sports: AI, data, fans and rights': Francisco Antunez, Chief Content Officer, Liga Portugal, and Zarah Al-Kudcy, CRO, Women's Super League, tackle the changing intersection of technology, fandom, media rights and economics.

Tech Leader Perspectives how AI is reshaping the business of media?': OBS CTO Sotiris Salamouris and Damian Cronan, CDIO at ABC discuss how AI and data are reshaping production, distribution and media business models.

UEFA: Unlocking growth through innovation': Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA Executive Director of Marketing, looks at using innovation to drive growth and engage audiences while preserving tradition.

Security, Authenticity and Provenance: How can we trust the content we have now and in the future?': Jose Ignacio Carrillo de Albornoz, Audiovisual Anti-fraud Manager at LaLiga, examines how to keep content secure, verified and traceable.

The Winners and Losers in the Creator Economy: Who will be the New Media Elite?': Will Pithers, Strategic Partner Manager, Sport at Meta, and Tim Haubeil, Channel Director at Sidemen Entertainment, join a discussion on the changing

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