Storytelling, Monetization and Engagement: Making the Pitch for AI in Sports Broadcasting

Storytelling, monetisation and engagement: Making the pitch for AI in sports broadcasting By Michael Burns

Monday, May 12, 2025 - 14:51

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From real-time match insights and performance analytics to captioning, archive monetisation and sponsor activations, AI is increasingly at the core of how sports content is produced and presented.

The sports world is such a fun place to be using AI, says Matt Fleckenstein, VP of product, media & engagement at Genius Sports. It's one of the few industries where you've got a massive amount of structure in the data, the content is super valuable, and there's a real-time need.

Genius has developed a flexible data and AI layer called Genius IQ, which supports optical tracking, predictive modelling, fan engagement, and automated officiating. Rather than relying on expensive custom hardware, the system uses networks of iPhones placed inside venues to feed video into AI models which run directly on these local edge devices. The advantage of relatively low-cost smartphones is that [one can] afford to put more of these things up and get more views, says Fleckenstein. That can be helpful in everything from offside decisions to providing new and interesting highlights.

The resulting data can also power broadcast graphics and second-screen experiences. We're going from a very manual way that we do sports to a semi-automated way where it's largely driven by a machine, but there's still a human at the helm, says Fleckenstein. Over time, more and more of those events are going to be moved towards the machine being the one collecting them.

The tech is being used across sports to enhance the viewing experience. For example, predictive models are used in American football to highlight potential player actions, guiding viewers to key moments. Premier League Productions uses GeniusIQ technology to power Premier League Data Zone, integrating statistics and tracking metrics into live broadcasts to enhance fan engagement for NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Optus Australia, ESPN Brazil, Canal+ France and others. And on 12 April, Genius helped the Premier League introduce semi-automated offside technology. This provides a more efficient placement of the virtual offside line, using optical player tracking, and generates virtual graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for fans.

Exploiting assets

For Veritone, AI's role is about unlocking value in existing media assets. With limited resources, teams need to find ways to get more out of the content they already have, says Jennifer Goode, director of product marketing for media, entertainment and sports. At Veritone, we take a data-first approach. Specifically in sports, [that data] comes from raw audio and video: game footage, live streams, commentary, which is often scattered across systems and formats. That media needs to be organised, enriched, and indexed. That's where we focus, helping sports organisations activate their media so it's structured, secure, and ready for intelligent use. Once that foundation is in place, AI can start delivering real value.

Veritone's rebuilt Digital Media Hub (DMH 2.0) puts AI at the centre of a workflow, letting content owners organise, deliver and monetise it more effectively. According to Goode, this isn't just an interface upgrade, it's a remodelling into a data-first, AI-driven approach' to media operations, where unstructured audio and video is transformed into structured, enriched assets, enabling teams to search, activate, monetise, and support media extensibility content across fast-paced workflows, all from one place .

The result is less time spent manually tagging or hunting for footage, and more time spent delivering content where and when it matters most, she adds.

The sports world is such a fun place to be using AI. It's one of the few industries where you've got a massive amount of structure in the data, the content is super valuable, and there's a real-time need

It also includes enhanced monetisation tools, rights management, and ecommerce functionality. Veritone's Live Event Services extends it further. By capturing and processing content on-site during an event and feeding it directly into DMH in near real time, organisations can make high-impact content instantly available to internal teams, sponsors, and global partners, says Goode.

A generative AI tool called Ask Veri allows users to interact with their asset library using natural language. When it comes to archival footage, AI can automatically generate captions, summaries, contextual metadata, and narrative formats - saving time and resources by automating work that might otherwise require manual effort, says Goode.

But while AI can enhance output, she stresses that human control remains crucial. We believe AI should keep people at the centre. When people stay at the centre, AI becomes a tool for amplification - not replacement - and that's when it delivers the most value.

[For example] our voice services are consent-based, with talent approving how and where their voice is used. It's one way we can help organisations localise content and engage audiences globally, without compromising authenticity or control.

Studio Automated supports AI-driven production across many different sports, deploying tools such as its Virtual Director solution that automatically follows the part of a live event that is most interesting' to viewers.

Our AI understands a live game's situations and adapts its framing to them. It does so by analysing the entire image, just like a human would, says sales director Dave Greene.

The Virtual Director Pro solution brings fully automated PTZ cameras into the mix. The AI-Automated PTZ solution provides flexibility due to its extremely lo

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