Today’s guest op-ed author is Steve Bornstein, president, North America, of Genius Sports.
I feel fortunate to have had a seat at the table for some of the most momentous moments in the evolution of sports media and entertainment. From the reimagining of the NFL media business to the innovation of ESPN to the explosion of gaming and Esports at Activision Blizzard, each piece has continued to knit together this great mosaic that we have today for content and fan engagement around the world. From my perspective, this is just the beginning and with every passing year, innovations are providing us with new insight and opportunities we could only have dreamt of a short time ago.
The next big step for the wider industry has arrived via our work at Genius Sports. What brought this about you might ask? Simply, it’s the integration of all the tools of Artificial Intelligence which allow us to surprise, delight and engage fans in equal measure.
Like innovative technology and tools in the past—from live broadcasts to replay to the yellow first down marker to streaming—there will be some debate about the “why,” but trust me on this one, the “what” will answer that question very easily once we do one key thing: Make sure the “fun” is there for the fans while we grow the functionality and engagement.
What’s fun about the integration of AI into fan engagement? Well, this season alone the NFL has provided numerous examples. The idea of alternative broadcasts, or alt-casts was a novelty just a few years ago, but now they are increasingly becoming part of the mainstream viewing experience. Themed broadcasts like the EA Sports Madden NFL Cast and the Simpsons Funday Football were not just imaginative, they were evolutionary in how we as fans enjoy the NFL … and yes … they were FUN! They followed in the path of other endeavors we have helped bring to the table in my four years working with Genius Sports including CBS’s RomoVision, the Nickelodeon Slimetime and TNF Prime Vision—all powered by Next Gen Stats.
Scoring Madden Cast
Madden Cast is perhaps the best example of tech advances delivering game-changing experiences for the fan in 2024. On December 21, EA Sports unveiled the Madden NFL Cast on Peacock, featuring everything from fully-themed graphics, player ratings, route trees and more, creating a first-of-its-kind live viewing experience. Whether traditionalists like it or not, many younger fans first become familiar with their favorite sports through video games such as EA Sports Madden or NBA 2K. These games are how they get to know the best players and teams, as well as the inner details of different play calls and the unique strategy of every NFL game.
Millions of fans who grew up playing the latest version of Madden every year are now adults paying for TV and streaming packages of the NFL. EA Sports saw a massive opportunity to further blur the lines between the iconic video game and live action with a fully-themed Madden broadcast–all they needed was an innovative technology partner to make this dream a reality.
GeniusIQ, our next generation AI and data platform, was the crucial technology that brought everything together in the live broadcast environment on Peacock. It combined the NFL’s Next Gen Stats feed with a live video feed and dynamic animations and graphics to deliver the right metric at the right time along with a highly engaging product. See how the Madden NFL Cast came together here:
Just three years ago, a fully-themed broadcast experience like this would have been unimaginable. But advancements in AI are enabling us to think way beyond the status quo for delivering live sports to a mass audience. Genius is proud to have GeniusIQ at the forefront of this revolution which will drive a new era of broadcasts.
Alt-Casts Become Mainstream
Themed alt-casts are another massive step toward each viewer being able to personalize a live viewing experience. The live NFL game at the heart of a broadcast will always remain the same for each viewer, but everything else—the augmentations, the stats, the camera angles, social and other integrated feeds—can be bespoke for each fan.
Take, for example, the millions of NFL fans we’ve seen turn to sports betting in recent years. Betting-themed programs are something we are asked a lot about, and the technology is there if the broadcasters and leagues want to do it. Our BetVision solution has already broken new ground in this field by providing the largest sportsbooks in the U.S., including FanDuel and DraftKings, with an interactive touchscreen overlay that enables fans to view live betting markets, player stats and place “in play” bets seamlessly within the NFL live stream.
NFL teams are also getting in on the act by using the power of AI to enhance the experience they’re providing to their fans while extracting more value from their rights. The LA Rams have led the way here, launching a series of augmented game highlights on SoFi Stadium’s incredible Infinity Screen. These highlights delivered many of the same statistics that we’ve all seen broadcast on NFL+ and Prime Vision. Now, game-day fans have more insights while the team can provide new brand inventory for long-term sponsor Verizon.
As ever, the NFL is leading the charge in integrating these emerging trends and everyone–from the league itself to teams, broadcasters and brands–is waking up to the immense opportunities made possible by AI. The old rules and confines of what a broadcast has to look like and how a sponsor is made part of the action no longer apply. Now, the possibilities are endless.
This is an exciting moment, and all of us at Genius Sports are determined to keep the fun in functionality for sports fans across the globe.
