The future of sports is generative AI. Are you ready?
By Connie Jeske Crane
IN SPORTS, AI seems to be accelerating beyond hype to experimentation, and for some groups, being intricately woven into operations.
Think NBA fans swiping through personalized highlight reels on their smartphones, analytics warning management that a high-paid baseball reliever is at risk for injury, or a Spanish speaker hearing soccer match commentary translated in real time.
In a recent report, Deloitte says three factors have helped get us here: an explosion of data from smart devices, advances in computing power and deepening industry expertise.
While agreeing AI is a game changer, Keyur Shah, who leads Deloitte Canada’s AI and product, sports and entertainment division, stresses, “To capture that value, it really does require us thinking about our organization differently.”
As AI explodes, how can Canada’s sport organizations ply it effectively?
HOW RECEPTIVE ARE CANADIAN SPORT ORGANIZATIONS TO AI?
In the last year and a half, Shah has seen many organizations ramp up from considering AI to actively seeking out capabilities. “It’s now come down to ‘What’s the biggest bang for the buck? What are the ROI opportunities for organizations that adopt AI and how does that provide the least amount of disruption?’”
Correspondingly, Canadian startups are seeing sales jump. “It’s probably been the busiest year of our lives,” says Quin Sandler, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Plantiga, which counts NBA and NCAA teams among those snapping up its smart insole sensors.
HOW ARE SPORT ORGANIZATIONS APPLYING AI?
Business Operations
“From that sports organization perspective,” Shah says, “there are definitely the corporate functions… finance, marketing, event operations, branding and HR.” First steps can be modest. The National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) Canada just announced a partnership with Guelph, ON-based AceCall.ai’s tool targeted to golf facilities. Leveraging AI-powered receptionists, chat agents and email, NGCOA Canada hopes to “reduce daily pressures on staff and maximize profitability.”
Fan Engagement
“Marketing fandom is very different in sports than it is for banking or other industries,” says Shah. At venues, he sees more groups leveraging AI to engage fans in fresh ways. “How do we actually create unique experiences for certain characteristics of fans, whether that’s a fan coming to a ball game with their children or their co-workers?”
Media Content
In broadcasting too, Laurel Walzak, associate professor of sport media at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), says AI has exciting potential to personalize viewer engagement. With CAMB.AI for example, a tool that’s attracted MLS and NASCAR, Walzak says, “You’re able to, in real time, have voice translations,” and notes the fantastic engagement potential given Canada’s multicultural context.
Sponsorship
Using AI’s data and predictive properties, Shah says, “How do we think about new partnerships in different ways to create that kind of value based on what fans are actually walking in the door?”
Sports Operations
On the field, Shah sees AI enhancing “sport performance, player health, player safety, even player development, which is fascinating.” This includes scouting methods too. In a recent study, Walzak and TMU’s Dr. Louis-Étienne Dubois worked with a professional North American soccer team to explore AI’s ability to reduce bias in professional scouting. “The technology shows a lot of promise, and reminds us at the same time, still, there’s a need for the human eye as well,” Walzak says.
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL AI ADOPTION
Break it Down and Start Small
Walzak says it’s key for organizations to analyze operations and “look at each of those categories and types of AI technology tools you could use.” She advocates trials when introducing fans, athletes and other stakeholders to new technology, and even informing them AI is involved “so that people are aware, that they don’t think ‘This is strange.’”
Engage the Right Partners
Given how quickly AI is evolving, Shah says outside expertise is key and helps mitigate risk. “Organizations that are making an impact are really leaning into their partners that have those skill sets.”
How to choose between vendors? Adam Nathwani, chief operating officer of Drive Hockey Analytics in Coquitlam, BC, says, with sport analytics, for example, it’s about clarity on organizational needs and “what kind of data and analytics you’re looking for. It can be a crowded space, but everybody is doing something a bit differently.”
Test Rigorously
John Zelek, professor and co-director of the Vision, Image Processing Lab at the University of Waterloo, advises rigorous processes. “There are certain gains with AI technology but the problem with AI is… You can have an anomaly as a result of the system, so it still requires a lot of testing.”
Guard Data Privacy
Canadian organizations, Shah says, “are, naturally, a bit more pragmatic and risk focused around AI and data and technology. And that’s good, right?” Partners can help establish AI governance and cybersecurity frameworks and ensure AI won’t “cause undue risk to the organization, while also protecting fans and athletes and others that may be at risk.”
Take a People-led Approach
Finally, Shah says humans are integral to success. “It’s really about making sure there’s an awareness, a culture, a people-led process for how AI gets deployed, used, invested in. That will help lead to scaling that capability more effectively.”
GENERATIVE AI IN SPORTS IS EXPECTED TO HAVE A CUMULATIVE GLOBAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF $19.9 TRILLION THROUGH 2030 AND DRIVE 3.5% OF GLOBAL GDP IN 2030.
—DELOITTE, THE FUTURE OF GENAI IN SPORTS
How wearables deliver actionable insights
Quin Sandler, founder and CEO, Plantiga
Notable clients: NBA; WNBA; NCAA teams.
The tech: By embedding sensors in shoes or orthotics, “We measure all of this high-quality data, and then machine learning comes in.” Via movement detection and activity recognition, AI builds an athlete’s movement profile.
Application: Delivers insights for individuals or teams around performance optimization, injury prevention and rehab; applies to many sports, including basketball, tennis and golf.
Cool feature: Is on the NBA’s approved wearables list.
Takeaway: Data accuracy makes the tool. “The reason why all these groups trust us is because our data is really good.”
How AI’s ‘Cool Factor’ Elevates Events
Adam Nathwani, COO, Drive Hockey Analytics
Notable clients: Ontario Hockey League; BC Hockey League; Canlan Sports.
The tech: Sensor-based technology for amateur hockey, combining affordability and easy setup. Arena tech and player sensors deliver performance analytics that’s been primarily “available to pro-level athletes and teams due to high cost and complexity.”
Application: Analytics for players, parents, coaches and scouts; helping organizers elevate tournaments, tryouts and camps.
Cool feature: At events, you can display player stats on a Jumbotron in real time.
Takeaway: Analytics enhance coaching, scouting, events and player development. “Players need to know, are they getting stronger? Are they getting fitter? Are they getting faster? Is their skating improving? More so than ‘Hey, you had five shots on goal last game.’”
How Partnerships Improve Affordability
John Zelek, professor; Jerrin Bright, PhD student, University of Waterloo
Notable partner: MLB Baltimore Orioles.
The tech: After being approached by the Orioles, researchers developed AI technology called PitcherNet to analyze a pitcher’s performance using smartphone video.
Application: “It’s mostly used as a scouting tool when the scouts go to minor league levels or college level games” where venues don’t have the same tech infrastructure present in MLB parks. Biomechanics data can also help improve pitcher performance and injury recovery.
Cool feature: PhD student Bright spent weeks in Baltimore working with the Orioles.
Takeaway: Via relatively inexpensive smartphone technology, venues and organizations with modest infrastructure and budgets have access to powerful AI analytics.
Published October 2025
