The following is a guest post and opinion from Mitch Liu, CEO at Theta Lab.
The debate around artificial intelligence often focuses on “knowledge workers” and creative professionals, but there’s a compelling case that sports fans may be the ideal early adopters of AI technology. While industries like real estate, e-commerce, and education lead current chatbot adoption, professional sports present a unique opportunity for AI to enhance rather than simply automate the user experience.
Sports naturally generate the kind of structured information that current AI systems handle best: statistics, schedules, historical data, and clear performance metrics. Unlike more nebulous domains, sports provide concrete data points and clear outcomes that AI can analyze effectively. The predictable cadence of games and seasons also creates natural cycles for gathering data and testing new features.
But the real advantage lies in how sports fans already consume information. They’re used to engaging with multiple data streams simultaneously—watching games while checking stats, following social media commentary, placing hopeful sports bets, and engaging in real-time discussions. This behavior aligns perfectly with AI’s ability to process and synthesize information from various sources.
Following the Numbers and Creating Experiences
Recent academic research supports this potential. An October 2024 review published in AI and Tech in Behavioral and Social Sciences found that AI is already transforming sports through enhanced analytics, predictive modeling, and personalized fan experiences. The key is that these use cases don’t replace the core emotional experience of being a fan—they augment it.
Consider how the NFL has integrated AI into its operations. The league’s Digital Athlete program, launched in 2024, uses machine learning to analyze player data and predict injury risks. While primarily focused on player safety, this same tech could help fans understand the game at a deeper level and provide insights into player performance and team dynamics that weren’t previously accessible. FIFA Manager might never be the same again!
More direct applications are emerging in fan engagement. The NHL teams, the Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils, for instance, recently partnered with our team at Theta Labs to develop an AI-powered chatbot that assists fans with inquiries about upcoming games, tickets, broadcasts, statistics, merchandise, and other curated team news and information. These interactive tools, named Sir Lancelbot and Bott Stevens, are available 24/7 on the teams’ official websites, enhancing the fan experience by providing timely and accurate responses through a customized and branded AI agent.
With a strong foothold being carved out in traditional sports, this technology is proving to click with fandoms and communities looking for ways to digitally interact with their favorite teams. It is going exceptionally well with traditional sports, but esports—with top games like Valorant, League of Legends, Rocket League, and CS—offers an even more incredible opportunity, potentially with a higher ceiling. With digitally native games, leagues, teams, and fandoms, it is an incredibly tailored use case for agentic AI.
This type of real-time proactive technology is capable of adding an interactive and life-like experience seamlessly into a digitally native environment, and some teams are already creating these experiences. Remember seeing your local club’s mascot on the sidelines at games? With agentic AI agents, those mascots can be created to have the same team spirit and aesthetics with the added benefit of infinite team and league knowledge and 24/7 interactivity. Missed a play? Just ask your team’s agent and get a recap in real time.
The Personalization Opportunity
This points to a broader opportunity: using AI to create more personalized and interactive fan experiences. Traditional sports media follows a one-size-fits-all model, but AI enables customization at scale and hyper-personalization. A casual fan might receive basic strategy explanations, while a dedicated follower gets advanced tactical analysis—all generated in real time from the same underlying game data.
This tech is particularly suited to addressing common fan pain points. Want to understand why your team’s defense collapsed in the fourth quarter? AI can analyze tactical patterns and explain the breakdown. Wondering about the historical context of a player’s performance? AI can instantly surface relevant comparisons and trends. These capabilities don’t diminish the emotional core of fandom—they enhance it by adding layers of understanding and engagement.
AI With Purpose
However, sports organizations need to approach this thoughtfully. The goal isn’t to replace traditional fan experiences but to augment them. The best implementations will feel natural and intuitive, adding value without forcing technology into places where it doesn’t belong. The human elements of sports—the community, the drama, the unexpected moments—must remain central.
The infrastructure for this transformation is already emerging. Decentralized blockchain platforms like Theta EdgeCloud are making high-performance AI computing more accessible, while advances in natural language processing are enabling more natural fan interactions. The key is applying these capabilities in ways that genuinely enhance the fan experience rather than simply chasing technological novelty.
Sports fans may not fit the typical early adopter profile, but as a group, they are shaping up to be the next frontier for driving AI adoption: regular engagement with structured data, comfort with multiple information streams, a desire for deeper understanding of their passion, and a willingness to spend a lot of time on it. As AI continues to evolve, the sports industry has an opportunity to lead rather than follow—creating experiences that demonstrate how technology can enhance rather than replace human connection.
The real question isn’t whether AI will transform the sports fan experience, but whether sports and esports organizations will seize the opportunity to shape that transformation thoughtfully and purposefully. Those that do may find themselves not just improving fan engagement, but helping to define how AI technology can enhance human experiences more broadly.
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