AI in sports and AI agents, the game behind the game: PwC

Artificial intelligence isn’t merely crunching numbers behind the scenes in sports. It’s supporting important decisions once made solely by coaches, scouts, and strategists. AI and agentic systems can recommend next moves, make more objective calls, act on context, and deliver real-time insights that can change the course of games and reshape the business of sports.

From tactical decisions to sponsorships and fan engagement, teams and leagues are using AI and AI agents to extend human capabilities to create an augmented intelligence that can help them gain a competitive edge.

This isn’t disruption. It’s evolution. Technological disruption in sports isn’t new. Take film study, instant replay, GPS wearables—what was once controversial is now commonplace. Deploying AI is a natural next step that can help raise the bar for what people can achieve.

From dugouts to decision makers

In PwC's AI Agent Survey from May 2025, 75% of executives agree that AI agents will reshape the workplace more than the internet did. And we’re already seeing this play out in the business of sports. AI and AI agents already influence how decisions are made on and off the field. The Oakland Ballers recently became the first professional baseball team to have AI support most of its game management decisions like setting lineups and making in-game substitutions. Meanwhile, Norway’s HamKam FC ran a similar experiment with an AI head coach. Both projects revealed a core insight, that AI can process data faster and more effectively than people in many situations, even if emotional leadership, motivation, and nuance still require a human touch. Ultimately, these projects reinforce that AI delivers more value when acting as a collaborator. And AI in general will always require human oversight.

Embedded intelligence means faster outcomes

In the NFL, AI is now an embedded asset. With Microsoft Copilot-enabled Surface tablets on the sidelines, coaches receive auto-filtered footage of relevant plays based on live game conditions like down, distance, and field position, without having to manually search. These decision-support tools save time while elevating game-time strategy.

In scouting and player development, AI is transforming how talent is discovered and evaluated. Autonomous systems can now assess player performance across thousands of variables, including biomechanics, game footage, and even patterns from social media and fan sentiment data. Instead of gut-feel scouting, AI offers a layered, predictive view of a prospect’s long-term value and chemistry with a team. The result? Better drafts, smarter trades, and fewer misses.

Behind the scenes, AI is accelerating operations. The San Antonio Spurs now use AI to create their full season travel logistics in 20 minutes—a task that once took three weeks. MLB franchises already use AI to enhance pitching rotations, while name, image, and likeness (NIL) platforms like MOGL¹ match athletes with brands automatically, accelerating sponsorship campaigns that once took days into minutes. As a firm, we’re seeing this kind of scaling across industries, as platforms like PwC’s agent OS enable organizations to go beyond simple automation—creating agent-based processes that think, act, and improve over time.

Winning fans—and market share—with AI at the core

AI is changing how fans experience the game—and the way teams run it. The Cleveland Cavaliers are tasking AI agents with delivering personalized emails that adapt content, tone, emojis, and even color schemes tailored to individual fan behavior and preferences. The Indiana Fever use AI to segment audiences, using dynamic marketing to trigger in-the-moment offers. This is hyper-personalization at scale, and it’s moving fan engagement from broadcast to bespoke.

In media, AI is becoming a co-narrator. At the Australian Open, AI generates live commentary that shares real-time insights² as the match unfolds. Minute Media’s acquisition of VideoVerse is bringing instant, personalized highlight reels to fans across the globe. A user can now request “every dunk by my favorite player from last night” and get a fully produced highlight reel within seconds. Sports content is no longer one-size-fits-all. It’s becoming on-demand, customized, and interactive.

Teams like the Cavaliers and Spurs are deploying AI across their front and back offices, embedding it into operations, marketing, and coaching infrastructure. They’re evolving from reactive analysis to predictive and prescriptive insights, using AI to sharpen decisions and future-proof performance.

The payoff? Greater efficiency, sharper insights, and brand credibility rooted in innovation. Organizations that delay adoption could miss opportunities and get left behind. In a market moving fast, early adopters can dominate the leaderboard.

Guardrails for the game

As AI continues to move from experiment to game day, sports organizations will likely need more than bold vision. They’ll need governance. The same systems that can improve scouting, strategy, or fan engagement can also introduce risks around bias, data privacy, and fairness. To balance innovation with integrity, organizations should adopt a risk-based intake process and Responsible AI initiatives up front, weighing business gains against ethical and operational risks.

A well-structured framework should also include a “fast lane” for low-risk but high-impact use cases, allowing innovation to move quickly where the stakes are lower. When done right, Responsible AI doesn’t slow progress—it empowers it, making sure the benefits of AI are realized without compromising trust in the integrity of the game.

Keeping the soul of sports intact

But even with all its benefits, the rise of autonomous AI does raise real concerns. Will AI dull the emotional drama of sports? Does it unfairly tilt the playing field toward wealthier teams with better tech? Who gets the credit—or the blame—for an AI-generated decision?

These are fair questions, and many sports organizations have faced them before. Whether through replay rules, performance standards, or salary caps, the business has found ways to regulate innovation while preserving the spirit of the game. AI is further testing that balance, bringing both opportunity and risk to the core of competition.

The goal isn’t to replace the roar of the crowd or the instincts of a great coach. It’s to refocus people on what they do best—inspire, lead, and connect. Far from destroying the magic of sports, AI can add to it. By offloading complexity and scaling decision intelligence, AI agents allow coaches, players, and executives to elevate their performance and storytelling.

The game behind the game is changing fast. And the most forward-thinking teams aren’t resisting the future. They’re competing in it.

_{¹ “MOGL Accelerates NIL Sponsorships with Launch of iOS App for Athlete Influencers.” Globe Newswire. March 20, 2024. (Accessed via Factiva November 3, 2025).}

_{² “Infosys and Tennis Australia Create New Generative AI Innovations at the Australian Open 2025.” Entertainment Newsweekly. January 31, 2025. (Accessed via Factiva, November 3, 2025).}