The bad thing about every sporting event everywhere being available to audiences is that every sport everywhere is available to audiences. There is tremendous choice available to sports fans, and that means audiences – even for the global tentpole events – are no longer guaranteed.

Sports broadcasters have always searched out add-ons to make the live broadcast more than a pitch-side transmission of a game, but now sports producers are striving to provide an immersive experience aimed at retaining fans accustomed to a 24/7 content stream.

Sometimes, greater immersion is a matter of enhancing the live experience at the point of capture. Norwegian tech company Muybridge offers a software-based camera system for volumetric capture of events, allowing producers to capture, replay, and navigate from any angle on the pitch. The system comprises a row of cameras encircling the action that allow for manipulation of point of view. Muybridge technology makes this wider spatial capture available to live broadcast too.

Turning data into storytelling is at the heart of the new race for fan engagement. Hawk-Eye Innovations is a company that pioneered the field, with its technology for tracking the path of cricket balls in use as early as 2001. Now the company offers a whole suite of data-driven visualisation for sports, for use by everyone from referees to broadcasters to sports scientists.

A subsidiary of Sony, Hawk-Eye has just been brought aboard the ATP Tour in a multi-year deal along with a host of Sony’s other sports broadcast solutions, including the newly acquired STATSports. For the first time last year, ATP Tour coverage included Hawk-Eye’s HawkAR product, which enables graphics overlays, powered by live data generated by Hawk-Eye’s live tracking system.

The tour coverage also featured Hawk-Eye’s HawkVISION, an immersive broadcast experience that, like Muybridge, combines low-profile camera arrays with software-driven movements for a unique on-court perspective. The tech will be in use all nine ATP Masters 1000 events and the Nitto ATP Finals in 2026.

Going where the fans are

But the enhanced fan experience goes beyond the broadcast. It runs the entire gamut of contact points with fans, even during the in-stadium experience.

“The fan experience has shifted from a seat-centric event to a journey-based entertainment experience,” notes Perry Teague, sales manager for venues (stadiums & arenas) at Disguise. “We are witnessing a shift from observation to participation. Today, fans expect a level of immersion that rivals premium concert venues and broadcast environments, regardless of where they are in the building.”

Of course there is always the temptation that ‘more is better’, leading to a pile of additional features – graphics, insights, clips, second screen materials, and brand integrations – without coordination.

“In the digital age, fans don’t want more content, they want better, more contextual content,” says Teague. “They respond most strongly when technology enhances atmosphere, emotion, and shared moments rather than distracting from the live action.”

Inevitably, what distinguishes a fan experience, will be the care and skill of the storytellers. Giving the audience the best thing at the best time will win out over giving them everything and expecting them to sort it out themselves. Broadcasters are never free of the responsibility of careful curation and today this needs to incorporate data literacy, real-time engine and graphics proficiency, and being able to think how content is going to play across multiple platforms.

“In the digital age, fans don’t want more content, they want better, more contextual content. They respond most strongly when technology enhances atmosphere, emotion, and shared moments rather than distracting from the live action”

Disguise helps broadcasters to bridge the gap between physical sets and digital data by enabling XR, virtual studios and live AR overlays, and leveraging cloud-based production for greater flexibility across multiple locations.

“The modern sports storyteller is no longer just a ‘producer’. They are an experience designer,” says Teague. “It requires a blend of creative, technical, and operational fluency. Content teams must think beyond linear broadcast and understand how stories unfold across dozens, or hundreds, of synchronised displays.”

Mobile first and mobile often

wTVision is doubling down on the idea that broadcasters who want to stay relevant will need to think not only about broadcasting to mobile, but using mobile to create greater fan engagement and monetisation.

“The next phase of immersive sports viewing is mobile first, data driven and operationally controlled,” says Paulo Ferreira, CCO and board member, at wTVision. “Broadcasters and right holders are thinking: How do we keep the attention of the viewer when the phone is the first screen for a lot of them? The answer isn’t just adding more graphics at the main screen.”

HoloGfx is the company’s new augmented reality solution that allows broadcasters to create rich graphics and content overlayed onto live broadcast. HoloGfx operates directly in a browser, using the WebAR standard, eliminating the need for any additional downloads or hardware.

Again, boosted engagement doesn’t come from the technology, but from how the technology is employed to present a tailored experience to the viewer. wTVision’s customers are working on the assumption that these mobile first audiences are often experiencing sports content in a non-linear way, bouncing from live stream, to highlights, to clips on social media.

“It’s not about replacing the broadcast. It’s about adding a parallel layer where the viewer can lean in when they want”

“We perceive this shifting of viewer behaviour, as an opportunity to keep the story moving, even when the attention of the viewer is fragmented,” says Ferreira. “The opportunity is to turn the second screen that was a distraction into a meaningful interaction, a meaningful engagement.”

Using HoloGfx, the viewer, using their mobile device – or AR glasses – can experience anything from player stats and visualisations to brand activations and e-commerce as part of their regular fan experience. It’s designed to be a repeatable format, something that teams can run across the entire season, and something which can become a familiar intrinsic part of the fan experience.

“It’s not about replacing the broadcast. It’s about adding a parallel layer where the viewer can lean in when they want. And that’s where our monetisation comes in. A lot of our customers are under pressure to create a new revenue without damaging the viewing experience. HoloGfx helps create an inventory that is experiential with sponsored AR moments, branded interactive segments, shareable activation, and things that can live across social and mobile, not only inside the linear broadcast.”