Axios Live: AI is transforming engagement with sports media, industry leaders say

Predictive analytics and automation tools are expanding opportunities for fan and creator participation in the sports media landscape, speakers said at a virtual Axios Live event last week.

Why it matters: Leagues, networks and media platforms are racing to meet shifting fan expectations and seize new opportunities in a data-driven landscape.

Axios' Sara Fischer, Eleanor Hawkins and Mike Szvetitz spoke with The New York Racing Association CEO David O'Rourke, Huddle Up newsletter author Joe Pompliano and Cosm senior vice president of content and media Peter Murphy at the event, sponsored by Sportradar.

What they're saying: "In a lot of ways, horse racing has always been very data-driven," O'Rourke said. "But in terms of predictive analytics, AI, what I really think that's doing is it's kind of bending the learning curve."

• "As compute increases, and people's ability to ingest the data and use algorithmic betting products, we're starting to see that."

Zoom in: The human element is only going to become more important as AI and technology continue to advance, Pompliano said.

• Pompliano uses AI more to assist with what he calls "the backend mechanics of writing," which includes research, clips and summarizing press conferences or quotes.
• "The other side of that is the narration, the storytelling, the personal touch, the point of view," he said, noting that he doesn't really use AI for that part of the process.
• The human element will become more important in competitive modes over time, he said. "[P]eople want to hear from humans, not only in other businesses, but specifically in sports because sports is so human, it's tribal," Pompliano said. "There's a lot of emotion regarded in relation to sports."

What's next: "I think the biggest thing for me is that we're going to see a lot more independent creators now competing with large institutions, more effectively than ever, " Pompliano said.

The bottom line: "I would say across the business as we try to get smarter with the data that we're collecting … there's a lot we're still learning," Murphy said. "And I think things like AI tools generally allow us to kind of accelerate that learning and then implement faster, particularly as the world gets slightly more resource-constrained, AI can obviously just help the velocity of improvement."

Content from the sponsor's remarks:

In a View From the Top conversation, Mark Holland, Sportradar's senior vice president of media products, said experiences are becoming more interactive and personalized.

• "Fans are consuming content all over the place, and they're moving across platforms, broadcast, streaming, social. … What we're seeing is media companies are really starting to redesign that sports experience to cater to how these fans are moving across these platforms," Holland said.