The recent ‘Madden NFL Cast’ is just the start for Genius Sports’ AI integration capabilities according to the firm’s President of North America, Steve Bornstein.
Bringing the commentator cliche of ‘they are playing like its a video game’ to life, the NFL Week 16 fixture between Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans had a new look as it was overlaid with pass route trees, play cards and player ratings more familiar with players of the Madden video game franchise.
The “blending of live action with video game elements”, streamed on Peacock, was made possible by Genius Sports’ GeniusIQ software, which applied machine learning to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats data feed to deliver real-time statistical insights and fully-branded animations to the broadcast.
Bornstein, in an interview with Sports Business Journal, said: “What we’re on the cusp of — and what I think all these different efforts have been demonstrating, is what the future is going to look like. It will be customised content that will enhance engagement and enhance the experience of consuming that content.”
The Maddencast was just one of the alternative streams made available by the NFL in a bid to reach a new audience. In recent times, other NFL initiatives include producing animated versions of games set in the worlds of Toy Story and The Simpsons.
Outside of the NFL, Genius Sports has also harnessed its AI capabilities for a similar integration with the NBA. During last year’s Emirates NBA Cup, TNT Sports offered an immersive NBA 2K25 Data Cast which included overlays and camera angles reminiscent of the NBA 2K series of games.
Sporting organisations are also using animations to circumvent broadcasting restrictions.
During the early rounds of the Australian Open, the tournament organisers caused a stir when they began streaming games using animations from the popular Nintendo Wii tennis games.
The Australian Open don’t own all of their broadcasting rights (fairly common), so they’re live-streaming a Wii Tennis-like version of the matches on YouTube – love this 😂
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) January 13, 2025
This is Carlos Alcaraz’ match point: pic.twitter.com/HvxhYneWGH
This trend of personalisation, Bornstein said during the interview, is only set to continue and there could be a time when AI is used to create individual highlights for fans based on their interests.
“[Genius Sports’] highlights will not be the same format as in the past 35 years,” Bornstein explained. “We’ll deploy highlights to you based on what you’re interested in and who’s on your fantasy team, and do it effortlessly, or [at least] it will appear effortlessly.”
He added that the ability of Genius Sports’ technology to identify all players on the field is “incredibly valuable” in its efforts to customise for the needs of users.
Further highlighting its intensifying focus on AI adoption, in the final quarter of 2024 Genius Sports named Mark Kropf as its Chief Technology Officer, tasking the former Google Technical Director with furthering its AI capabilities.
Already, GeniusIQ is powering augmented viewing experiences across the NBA, NFL, English Premier League and other leading European football leagues. Bornstein confirmed that the technology will be deployed across college football and international sports.
Outside of broadcasting, the integration of sports data and deep learning also powers BetVision, an “immersive” sports wagering platform that features data-driven insights, graphic overlays and visualisations tailored to user preferences.
Although Genius Sports’ AI-led live broadcast revolution will begin with sports, Bornstein noted that AI-produced content is set to “involve all the media you will consume”.
