Using advanced replays and analysis to keep today’s sports fans locked in

With countless online, cable, and streaming options, today’s media landscape offers sports fans more choice and higher viewing expectations than ever before. In this environment, traditional sports broadcasters face a clear challenge: adapt to new viewing habits or risk falling behind.

This shift is especially clear in the realm of game highlights and replays. Viewers once satisfied with basic replays now expect much more.

As reported by the International Trade Association for Broadcast & Media Technology (IABM), a new study shows that exceptional game highlights and replays are becoming increasingly important in sports. After polling thousands of sports content consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom, this study found that 79% of respondents said that they were more likely to watch a sports broadcast if relevant 3D telestration and other advanced graphics are used for replay and analysis. 

This preference for enhanced game highlights and replays is particularly prevalent among younger sports fans, who are looking for viewing experiences that can mirror, augment, or replace their preferred method of sports content consumption on their cell phones and other digital devices. In fact, the IABM reports a sharp decline in full-game viewership as new generations are gravitating toward “catch-up options” such as highlights to stay up to date with their favorite athletes and teams. “Only 58% of Gen Z watch sports live from start to finish, emphasizing the need for shorter, more condensed content,” reports the IABM. “And many participants concluded that even though live is their preferred method of consuming sports, they are watching full matches and games less often.”

By enhancing your highlight and replay capabilities as a sports broadcaster, you can also give your home viewers all the visual evidence they need to make the right call and feel more invested in the game.

“In or out?” “Fair or foul?” “First or second?” With high-quality highlights and replays, broadcasters can give their audience the accurate answers to these and many other critical questions by literally showing them the results. Because seeing is believing, the average viewer will appreciate the immediate, “firsthand” nature of a good replay. This viewer appreciation leads to greater satisfaction, which significantly boosts engagement and, in turn, improves retention and loyalty.

In sports broadcasting, maintaining viewer engagement relies on delivering impactful replays and game highlights. Without the ability to break down key moments in a compelling way, broadcasters risk losing their audience to digital platforms that offer more engaging sports analysis and highlight content. 

Rather than splitting their attention between two or more screens to get the in-depth information and captivating experiences that they crave, modern viewers appreciate getting multifaceted input and immersive coverage from their primary media source. After all, most sports fans who can’t make it to an event in person still prefer to watch live coverage of that event using traditional or streaming TV. By providing enhanced game highlights and replays of this coverage, broadcasters can communicate more clearly, immerse viewers in the action, and significantly improve their ability to tell detailed, nuanced sports stories.

The ability of technology to improve replays was on full display at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. A computer engineer who formerly directed Azure and O365 operations for Microsoft, Marc Israel, singled out automated multi-angle replays as the top technological advancement for Olympic coverage. “AI technology enables the automatic generation of multi-angle replays, providing fans with a dynamic viewing experience,” Israel writes. “By analyzing the game in real-time, AI can switch between different camera angles to highlight the most exciting moments, ensuring that no key play goes unnoticed.” 

This push toward smarter, more efficient replay aligns closely with advances we’re delivering through our PIERO sports analysis tool. In the latest release, PIERO uses AI to automatically understand camera position, orientation, and zoom, and to fully automate player tracking. The result is the same goal highlighted in Paris: giving operators more time to focus on storytelling while ensuring audiences receive richer, more dynamic multi-angle insights.

Multi-angle viewing is only one of many advantages of using technology to augment your game highlight and replay capabilities. As they look toward the future of game highlights and replays, most sports broadcasters are keeping a particularly close eye on technological advancements in two key areas: 

1. State-of-the-art analysis: It’s hard to compare a simple single-angle replay with enhanced sports analysis that adds tactical breakdowns, data-driven graphics, and clearer visual context. For real-time analysis and commentary in the studio, you can employ telestration technology, such as PIERO, which allows on-air talent to control graphics elements and make live adjustments using a tablet or touchscreen monitor.
2. Augmented reality: Advanced graphical sports analysis, supported by AR elements, can elevate game highlights and replays. Today’s most sophisticated sports broadcast graphics systems can use optical camera head tracking to visualize game data directly on the field or even on a studio floor. Beyond strategically placing important content for easy viewer consumption, AR tools like Voyager can place on-air talent and, by extension, the viewers at home directly in the action.

Although the technology behind enhanced game highlights and replays can be quite dazzling, even the most highly refined and visually captivating replay tactics will inevitably fall flat without the critical human element. In other words, reporters and commentators still reign supreme when it comes to sports reporting and analysis. 

The key to driving viewer engagement in sports broadcasting is the ability to deliver high-quality game highlights and replays that leverage the on-air talent’s expertise. By incorporating easy to use advanced replay and analysis systems, broadcasters can offer insightful breakdowns of key moments, keeping fans engaged and enhancing the viewing experience. This approach allows broadcasters to continuously connect with viewers, even outside live games, by offering in-depth, expert-driven examination.