By Milo Boer, business director, MXMZ.
For years, cloud-native production slowly moved its way forward to become the new norm for sports broadcasting. By 2025, cloud-native and hybrid workflows became sufficiently stable, accessible and proven to manage the unpredictable pace of live sports.
Broadcasters moved from questioning if the cloud could be used, to asking where it should be used. For me, this subtle shift is still a turning point. Production teams no longer saw cloud as a back-up or only for smaller workflows but as an actual critical part of the control room.
This new mindset is accelerating the next era; a move away from siloed, on-prem and incompatible systems towards modern interoperability layers designed for distributed production. Legacy standards built for single facilities or newsroom environments are being replaced by native cloud integrations.
When we take a look at the buzzword AI, until 2025 this was mostly for editorial workflows with its generative capacity. But this year it evolved from a creative helper to a full on ‘digital colleague’ performing tasks within control rooms. It now handles repetitive tasks and looks ahead making sure the production will run smoothly. Even more impressive, AI systems started collaborating with each other.
This was the first year we saw meaningful A-to-A automation, multiple agents cooperating producing actual newsroom productions, creating stories, updating graphics, validating data, adjusting rundowns and more. These agents didn’t replace operators. They simply handled the things humans shouldn’t have to think about in the middle of a live event.
Reducing pressure
Graphics production has also seen significant evolution. The move to HTML5-based engines was driven not only by creative flexibility but also by practical benefits. Lightweight renderers reduce compute usage, lower energy consumption, and eliminate the need for bulky on-site hardware. In addition, with a shortage of qualified operators and technical staff, adopting a cloud-native graphics solution relieves pressure on support teams and enables creative teams to work from anywhere.
As sustainability shifted from a buzzword to a compliance requirement, lightweight and scalable solutions have become essential. Broadcasters now must monitor Scope 1-3 emissions, energy consumption, idle computing, equipment lifecycle and waste. Additionally, lightweight graphics workflows provide tangible environmental advantages.
That brings us to the last major force shaping 2025: sustainability as regulation, not aspiration. With new European reporting standards in effect, environmental impact became a hard requirement, not an optional consideration. Elastic compute and distributed workflows were no longer just efficient; they were demonstrably cleaner. The industry began to confront a question it had avoided for years: what is the carbon cost of our production model? And, more importantly, what does a lower-emission model look like when designed intentionally?
All these developments, including cloud acceptance, new interoperability layers, multi-agent automation, lightweight graphics and regulatory pressure, will reshape how the industry views live production. The outcome is a broadcast ecosystem that is less centred on hardware ownership and more focused on orchestration. It moves away from fixed workflows towards greater flexibility. Instead of building large, centralised systems, the emphasis shifts to assembling adaptable, distributed solutions.
Looking towards 2026, a clear trend is visible. The industry is moving to an era in which on-premise infrastructure, edge devices and cloud resources together form the backbone of any major broadcaster. Interoperability will soon be a necessity rather than optional. AI will progress into supporting roles, handling routine tasks to free humans for storytelling and editorial decisions. Graphics will continue to evolve to become lighter, faster and more eco-friendly. Furthermore, procurement choices will increasingly consider sustainability scores alongside performance and cost.
Expectations for 2026? Those who thrive in 2026 will be those who adopt this change and leverage it to develop systems that are more adaptable, more automated and environmentally responsible.
The question is no longer whether sports broadcasting will evolve. It’s who will move fast enough to define what comes next.
