Many broadcasting networks were on display at ISE Barcelona 2023 – ESPN, NBC, CBS, Sky Sports – but my first thought when I saw the slew of these big names was: I don’t know a single person my age who has cable television in their house. And if anyone watches a sports event, if they’re not watching at a pub, they’ve either downloaded it from some shady pirate site, or simply streaming it legally. But the days of flipping through channels on standard network television? Much like the corded landline, network television appears to be withering away like a dandelion slowly dissolving in the wind (no more pseudo poetry, I promise). According to eMarketer, forecasted viewing TV time will continue to decrease in 2023, as it has done for the past several years. But let’s hear what Stephen Nuttall has to say about it.

Echoing the words of BK Johannessen, Nuttall highlighted the importance of providing sports fans with an immersive viewing experience, emphasising the role technology plays in creating a much more interactive experience. As mentioned, sports events can easily be viewed on social media platforms – Instagram live, Facebook live, Snapchat – and this is revolutionising the way we watch sporting events, as well as broadcast news. Nuttall did also mention the future of virtual reality and virtual reality stadiums, so it will be very interesting to see how an Esports VR stadium compares with a live action sporting event. Despite not being a massive sports fanatic, I do imagine that the tangible aspect of attending a physical game will always trump the act of watching something through goggles – no matter how realistic they may be – but I'm intrigued to see the rise of these platforms and which sports, electronic or not, climb to the top.

Nuttall adds that with the arrival of 5G, sports events will be viewed with zero delay, but despite having 5G on my iPhone I still can’t get a signal in central London, so fingers crossed.

The Future of Sports Broadcasting

Did you see Moneyball? It’s about an ailing baseball team who suddenly become champions by using mathematics to generate which player, based on their athletic history, has the highest probability of continually getting on base. By using science, these guys go from losers to winners, all because of math! The reason I bring this up is because in Moneyball these math algorithms are generated by a human, played by Jonah Hill, but Nuttall spoke about something similar, yet in the future, as you could have guessed, these probabilities will be generated by AI. Through analysing player behaviour and performance, AI will be able to provide fans with a personalised and customised viewing experience, as well as giving the best bets to make based on generated research. This is either going to be very auspicious or very detrimental to the fellas down at Ladbrokes in the years to come.

Will AI eventually replace sports analysts and broadcasters as a whole?

For the moment, it doesn’t appear that way, as one might be able to get more specified stats and figures from AI generated results, but a big part of sports entertainment is just that—it’s entertainment. That includes the pints, the Dodger Dogs (for those of you in the UK, that’s literally just a hotdog sold at Dodger Games), the chants of “It’s coming home!”, and, lastly, the sports analysts. If anything, I do believe that this is just a more wholesome way to include everyone as much as possible, as we’re already seeing online chat rooms, internet polls, and social media integration being televised on screen during live events.

The future of broadcasting as a whole

What I’ve learned just from living in England the past several years is that I don’t think the average Brit will replace the vibrant pub experience for sitting at home and trying to trick yourself into having just as much fun as you would be down at the local watering hole. Nor do I think that is the intent of VR, AR, and Esports.

Mr. Nuttall did emphasise that thanks to the continual development of technology, viewing sports will be easier than ever, and more accessible to everyone. Long gone are the days of screaming at your TV for not downloading the pay-per view fast enough (hopefully).

Thanks again for an incredible week, and to all the people who stopped by the Startups Magazine booth. Don't forget to save the date for ISE Barcelona 2024 - see you next year!