AI and Sports: Transforming Team Strategies and the Fan Experience (Part II)
By José F. Petrizzo M. – Engineer, Contributor at IT Business Solutions
Predictive analytics models for sports betting were pioneers in adopting sports analytics. These companies use models that calculate win/loss probabilities along with the likelihood of hundreds of other potential scenarios. By combining player statistics, team performance data, and machine learning, analysts can set odds that favor the sportsbook. The lower the probability of an outcome, the higher the potential payout for the bettor.
Similarly, other organizations use predictive analytics to enhance fan engagement, support injury prevention, or provide a competitive advantage. There is likely no area of the sports industry that has not been influenced by predictive analytics.
For example, IBM brought back its Match Insights, including Likelihood to Win, which predicted a 61% chance of victory for Carlos Alcaraz in the final against Novak Djokovic; the Likelihood to Win was accurate for the second consecutive year. The technique used was a classic machine learning algorithm—a logistic regression probability distribution function.
Likewise, EA Sports®’ FIFA game, using a game simulator across millions of successive sequences, has astonishingly predicted the World Cup winner in the last four tournaments (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022).
Impact on the Sports Business
From a sports business perspective, implementing AI optimized operations can improve multiple processes. From reviewing résumés to drafting meeting minutes, AI tools allow sports professionals to dedicate more time to high level business matters.
Generative AI can also be essential in developing presentations and reports. These tools can aggregate data more quickly and create visually appealing slides. Reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks—such as data analysis—enables innovation and continuous growth across the sports industry.
Fan Experience
AI is taking the fan experience to a new level, whether fans are watching from home or from a stadium. When organizations leverage AI, they can offer fans instant access to personalized statistics, replays, and real time information that make the game more exciting.
For example, AI can recommend highlights based on favorite players or teams and deliver personalized content to fans. In stadiums, AI has improved everything from finding the best seats to adding interactive screens that further engage fans in the game. It brings people closer to the action and makes the sports experience more fun and immersive.
Perhaps the best example is the team of writers, editors, analysts, data visualizers, producers, and designers at Stats Perform, who created Opta Analyst—a fan oriented digital destination and the largest data driven sports editorial team on the planet.
The result is a differentiated narrative built on unprecedented access to the numbers that form the essence of sports. In other words: turning statistics into stories, powered by a sports data supercomputer (7.2 petabytes of proprietary data and 8 core AI sports models used across more than 200 software modules).
The goal is to provide data driven insights that all fans can understand, while supporting major sports broadcasters, media outlets, apps, leagues, federations, sportsbooks, and teams worldwide.
Use of Cameras
The arrival of AI powered cameras has improved how coaches analyze game data and how broadcasters share information with fans. An AI tracking system called TRACAB®, used in the EPL and adopted by MLS teams such as Sporting KC, enables the sharing of vast amounts of additional information with fans, boosting engagement.
Sports journalism has also been transformed by interactive AI features available in broadcasts—from player performance data to heat maps showing shots, frequencies, and movement on the field. The data generated by this technology has become ubiquitous in sports broadcasts, offering fans unprecedented access to their teams.
Officiating
In addition to improving broadcasts and optimizing data collection for technical staff, AI enhanced cameras such as Hawk Eye® can be extremely useful for referees. Used in the NFL, MLB, NBA, FIA, UEFA, FIFA, and other sports such as tennis, cricket, and volleyball, Hawk Eye acts as a video assistant referee (VAR). It can determine offside positions in soccer with greater precision and can also act as a line judge in tennis, using multiple camera angles and AI systems to make decisions with nearly 100% accuracy.
Human line judges, by contrast, are accurate only about 75% of the time. This type of AI product ensures more precise game outcomes.
Improvements in Customer Service AI tools are radically transforming how sports fans interact with customer service. Whether seeking quick answers to questions or finding the best seats for a game, AI products allow teams and venues to offer better service to fans.
Chatbots
Chatbots can instantly handle inquiries and offer personalized suggestions for everything—even promotional items—giving fans a smoother and more personalized experience. Chatbots and other AI products provide immediate, real time responses to fan questions. Even in the middle of the night, chatbots can respond instantly.
Sporting Events
AI tools can help recommend the “best seat” for specific customers based on historical fan data. AI technologies can also deliver product ads or add ons that fans are statistically more likely to purchase.
AI algorithms can even recommend a future game to attend based on a fan’s likelihood of attending at a particular time. This type of data analysis can be completed in seconds to offer personalized recommendations to consumers.
Access and Stadium Security
Many large stadiums and sports venues are beginning to eliminate traditional metal detectors at entry checkpoints. These outdated detectors are being replaced by biomagnetic or radio wave scanning devices that use AI technology to compare images against a weapons database.
This new technology significantly speeds up the security process and no longer requires fans to remove metal objects from their pockets. Facial recognition technology has also become common at sporting events. This advanced system helps ensure that banned individuals do not enter and disrupt the experience for other fans.
Conclusion: What Lies Ahead?
The future of sports artificial intelligence looks promising, with endless possibilities to improve nearly every aspect of the sports industry. As the cost of accessing AI technologies decreases, their use will continue to grow. The ability of sports managers to use data analytics and master data science will make AI in sports easier to understand and apply.
What we are witnessing is a silent restructuring of how sports are played, managed, and understood. There are truly no limits to the number of AI applications in the sports industry; we are only limited by our own creative capacity.
