The 2023 shortlist includes a diverse mix of market-leading brands and innovative up-and-coming organisations in the sports broadcast space. Read a short summary of each shortlisted entry across our 18 categories by clicking more details…
Platform of the Year - Network

discovery+


discovery+
discovery+
discovery+ from Warner Bros. Discovery is the most comprehensive and differentiated combined sports and entertainment streaming platform in Europe that connects millions of users in 10 markets across Europe with the world’s biggest events, live and on-demand. These include Grand Tour cycling, tennis Grand Slams, World Snooker Championships, winter sports World Cups, a wide range of motorsport and locally relevant events in each market.
In the last 12 months discovery+ has launched in new markets (Austria and Germany) while becoming the streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK & Ireland, offering an unrivalled combination of live sports – including Eurosport – and entertainment.
Its premium plan provides even greater value proposition for the entire household as sports fans also have access to something for everyone with a huge variety of exclusive, original entertainment series across Reality, True Crime, Paranormal, Documentaries, Food and more as part of the largest content offering of any streaming platform at launch.
This approach is successfully engaging new viewers for sports Warner Bros. Discovery promotes, including the UCI Mountain Bike World Series and the FIM Speedway GP, helping to grow the fanbase of these championships.
discovery+ brings a sports-first experience packed with features, including the recently launched popular interactive timeline markers. This enables fans to easily replay live video or skip through key points in the action to relive the best moments such as key moments, athletes interviews and expert analysis, putting users in full control of their experience.
Since August 2022, discovery+ has:
Significantly Increased unique users (+51%) and video views (+49%)
Grown its number of minutes streamed by nearly two thirds (+63%)
Vastly increased its streaming audiences around its flagship sporting events of the year including:
Cycling – Giro d’Italia (+46%); Tour de France (+36%)
Tennis – Australian Open (+67%); Roland-Garros (+12%); Wimbledon (+7%)
Motorsport – 24 Hours of Le Mans (+31%)

Prime Video


Prime Video
Prime Video supports a growing lineup of live sports globally, including Thursday Night Football. When Prime Video launched its 11-year relationship with the NFL in 2022 as the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football, a new era of live sports coverage was unleashed and the breakthrough story of the past year began to unfold. More than 15 million fans answered the call on September 15, signing on and experiencing brilliant 720p picture quality, unprecedented options to personalize their viewing experience, and an all-star cast featuring legendary voices and players with fresh-off-the-field perspectives. Thursday Night Football’s inaugural season of TNF on Prime Video featured the most-streamed NFL contests ever, several of the top 100 most-watched prime time shows in all of television throughout 2022, and attracted audiences that were considerably younger, watched more minutes of the game and commanded higher household incomes than NFL viewers on broadcast and cable platforms. Additionally, throughout the 2022 season, fans watching TNF on Prime Video held a median age of 47 years old, which is seven years younger than the average median age of viewers watching the NFL on linear TV. TNF on Prime Video finished the season with the lowest median age for a full season slate of games since 2013, and registered the largest median age gap on record between a stand-alone NFL package and the rest of the NFL packages. The historic and industry-shaping nature of the debut of TNF makes it a strong choice to be named Platform of the Year – D2C.

Optus Sport


Optus Sport
The strategy behind Optus Sport delivering the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023TM has been to focus on a premium viewing experience across the Optus Sport OTT platform with extensive and inclusive coverage that customers will love.
The premium coverage was hosted by a diverse team of ex-players, coaches and experts in the field who appeared in Optus Sport’s freshly redesigned studio for pre-match, halftime, post-match coverage, alongside pitch-side coverage, a one-hour morning show, and exclusive digital-only shows on Snap, Tiktok and YouTube.
The Optus Sport OTT product delivered viewers a best-in-class experience by making content available how and when fans wanted to watch it. Six Smart TVswent through a user experience overhaul bringing it in line with Optus Sport’s flagship platforms with features like spoiler alert, favorite teams, data-overlay streams and five different length VOD formats to enjoy each match.
Optus Sport articles were syndicated to Google News and Apples News and Optus Sport also launched Google Web Stories to dominate Google Onebox.
Optus Sport enabled easy access to the tournament for both locals and international visitors via:
• a Tournament Pass where visitors could subscribe easily,
• accessibility across pubs, clubs and casinos across Australia, and
• public viewing event licences for councils and sporting clubs to bring the event to life in communities.
Optus Sport published content faster than ever with an accelerated VOD encoding pipeline and new localised CDN. Optus Sport also upgraded its anti-piracy strategy to use cutting edge hardware DRM technology, CMAF (Mixed HEVC & AVC), to secure high quality streams with premium anti-piracy techniques all while reducing costs.
Optus Sport has seen extensive customer love for the coverage and quality of experience across WWC2023 and will continue its omnichannel approach for Premier League and LALIGA season launch in August.

ESPN+


ESPN+
ESPN App
ESPN+ is the No. 1 sports streaming platform, serving fans in the U.S. with exclusive access to more than 27,000 live sports events each year, an unmatched library of on-demand replays and acclaimed original content, and premium written articles by the top reporters and analysts from ESPN.com. To date, the ESPN App continued its growth as the undisputed No. 1 sports app, while ESPN+ announced long-term, marquee sports rights deals, including the National Hockey League, LaLiga, PGA TOUR LIVE, Wimbledon and more. ESPN+ and the ESPN App are far and away the clear choice for Platform of the Year from the leading sports’ network, ESPN. ESPN+ allows targeted audiences to experience and interact with the ESPN brand and industry-leading live sports offerings without a cable subscription.

DAZN Group


DAZN Group
DAZN is a leading sports streaming service in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, the US and UK.  Its wide range of content includes top-flight football from the world’s most popular competitions. DAZN is building the ultimate sports entertainment business where fans from across the globe can watch, read, bet, play, share, socialise, buy tickets and merchandise, all in one place, with one account, one wallet and on one app. 2022/23 has been a seminal period for DAZN, where the vision is beginning to be realised. DAZN is the only true pure sports platform that is delivering as a platform should, creating an environment that can showcase the best sport across multiple smart devices, adding value through innovative products and services, and pursuing a distribution and accessibility strategy that builds audience and revenue. It’s through this approach that next phase of sports media entertainment will continue to grow in popularity and value.

Platform of the Year - D2C

YES Network


YES Network
Direct-to-Consumer with single-screen user driven content
The YES Network continues to lead the industry in innovative firsts for its users and fans. The Emmy® award winning YES App has been a success from its launch in 2021. YES has seen increased unique Yankees viewership of 34% (year-over-year through the first half of baseball season) and a 35% increase in time spent per unique viewer over the same period. Meanwhile, since the end of 2021 the YES App has grown its registration base by 97%.
Building on the success of the YES App, YES Network became the first sports network – regional or national – to provide single-screen user-driven overlay of live statistics for connected TV including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Google TV. This new feature coupled with the launch of its direct-to-consumer subscription product allows YES to grow its audience and enhance the user experience across all platforms – from mobile devices to large TVs in the home. Weeks after its launch, there has been up to 36% adoption of overlays by users on connected TVs.
Fans can control the YES App Live Stats experience via either their TV remotes or their phones. More than ever, YES is giving their fans the ability to watch the game how and where they want to watch it. Fans, in essence, are in the director’s chair. In the process, YES is providing popular content that enhances engagement and a sense of community across all screens.

Pixellot


Pixellot
Realizing the potential of African sports – on screen
Pixellot’s OTT platform has revolutionized sports consumption by providing live and on-demand content to fans anywhere, anytime, and on any device. Their automated sports production solutions utilize AI and computer vision, eliminating the need for human operators and expensive equipment. This cost-effective approach has attracted thousands of sports organizations, from professional leagues to schools.
SuperSports, a leading sports broadcaster in Africa partnered with Pixellot to launch a new OTT service called SuperSports Schools which aimed to make live school sports content available and accessible throughout South Africa. The idea was to provide an all-in-one solution for democratizing and aggregating school sports events and competitions and attract sponsors and commercial partners for monetization. Pixellot provided the camera systems to produce the games, built the OTT, and provided the user management platform for analytics and team optimization.
Despite challenges in internet coverage, SuperSport Schools has connected people across vast geographical areas. The initiative has not only brought people together but also provided exposure for young athletes and future opportunities. The vision is to expand the initiative across Africa, attracting more sponsors and partners to support the development of African sporting nations.
The impact of SuperSport Schools has been measured through Nielsen reports, which recorded over 500,000 unique subscribers and 33 million views to date. Additionally, user activity on the platform has translated into increased exposure for young athletes, which led to new and exciting opportunities for these athletes’ future abroad.

NHL.tv


NHL.tv
Sportradar Group AG, founded in 2001, is a leading global sports technology company creating immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors.
The National Hockey League (NHL®), founded in 1917, consists of 32 Member Clubs. Each team roster reflects the League’s international makeup with players from more than 20 countries represented, all vying for the most cherished and historic trophy in professional sports – the Stanley Cup®.
NHL.TV brings the world’s best and well-known ice hockey league direct to its international fanbase.
Built and supported by Sportradar, the slick, easy-to-use OTT platform is home to all NHL games, both live and on-demand for fans in countries outside the US and Canada.
With a number of leading OTT features, NHL.TV offers hockey fans a best-in-class experience such as the latest goal and highlight notifications on the stream timeline, for easy navigation to the key moments in a game, and its innovative spoiler prevention feature.
NHL.TV is entered into the Platform of the Year – D2C award category, offering partisan viewing experiences, VIP access, and seeing both audience and engagement growth throughout the 22/23 season.

MLB


MLB
Major League Baseball continues to prioritize enhancing fan experiences and implementing new ways of enjoying baseball by introducing new features and products. MLB made history over 20 years ago when it livestreamed a regular season game for the first time on August 26, 2002. In 2003, MLB became the first professional sports league to stream a full season of games. Since then, MLB.TV has streamed more than 40,000 games with more than 8.8 billion minutes watched this season. Fans streamed MLB.TV in 229 countries and territories around the world with 12% more international fans watching than years prior. With fans top of mind, this platform has serviced millions of fans to date, providing a watch-from-anywhere experience so fans can access their favorite teams wherever they may be. With the goal to provide the best baseball streaming experience in the world, MLB.TV provides exclusive access to out-of-market live games, presented in a way that is unique to and aware of baseball, and personalized to the preferences of the subscriber. This platform has an ever-expanding portfolio of complementary live and on-demand video content that tells the story of baseball throughout the year.

Mediapro


Mediapro
Gol Mundial OTT platform
MEDIAPRO secured the Spanish rights to the World Cup in 2019. With the aim of making the tournament accessible to all football fans, the company launched the Gol Mundial OTT to air the cup’s 64 matches, with 44 of them shown exclusively. The streaming service made the entire World Cup available at the affordable price of €19.99 (€0.31 per game), revolutionizing the way football is consumed and making the competition accessible to all fans. Gol Mundial created a 24/7 channel dedicated to the World Cup with more than 14 hours of live streaming daily and crosses to special correspondents in Qatar.

LIV Golf


LIV Golf
The LIV Golf is a professional tour whose mission has been to modernize and supercharge the sport, including the way it reaches consumers. Its D2C OTT streaming platform is built on ViewLift, a full-service digital content distribution platform empowering sports leagues, clubs, federations, rightsholders, and others worldwide to monetize their content through native branded apps on web and mobile devices, smart TVs, and gaming consoles. ViewLift offers clients a range of monetization models on a proprietary platform with advanced analytics, tracking performance in real-time.
ViewLift has established itself as a global leader in building innovative and scalable video streaming experiences through its end-to-end video platform, which powers live, video-on-demand, and 24/7 linear content. As a proprietary SaaS platform, ViewLift offers industry-leading functionality and scalability, along with the company’s deep streaming experience. ViewLift owns its entire technology stack from ingest to playout, offering a single integrated system that facilitated the development of LIV Golf’s D2C services.
This end-to-end ownership of OTT streaming technology gives ViewLift the industry’s shortest time to market and the ability to react quickly to new requirements, which has been hugely beneficial to LIV Golf. The integrated nature of ViewLift’s platform helps generate better subscriber insights, driving acquisition, upsell, and retention campaigns.
What makes LIV Golf, as delivered by ViewLift, the D2C Platform of the Year is the fact that, after deploying so rapidly, it can keep up the pace in developing new features on a global scale and adding new devices and apps that can use it as the market evolves – earning its reputation as a disruptor within the sports streaming marketplace. The metrics around its successes include over 2 million subscribers across 180 countries, along with unparalleled reliability – a testament to the quality of the fan engagement offered by the platform.

Best Tech Company

ViewLift


ViewLift
Delivering end-to-end SaaS streaming for Sports OTT
ViewLift is a full-service digital content distribution platform empowering sports leagues, clubs, federations, rightsholders, and others to monetise their content through native branded apps on major OTT devices, including web and mobile devices, Smart TVs, and gaming consoles. ViewLift offers clients a range of monetisation models on a proprietary platform with advanced analytics, tracking performance in real time.
ViewLift has established itself as a global leader in building innovative and scalable video streaming experiences through its end-to-end video platform, which powers live, video on demand, and 24/7 linear content. As a proprietary SaaS platform, it offers industry-leading functionality, scalability, and deep streaming experience. ViewLift owns its entire technology stack from ingest to playout, with support for multiple integrations with payment gateways, ad networks, and marketing CRM systems such as Mailchimp and HubSpot.
This end-to-end ownership of OTT streaming technology gives ViewLift the industry’s shortest time to market and the ability to react quickly to new requirements. The integrated nature of ViewLift’s platform helps generate better subscriber insights, driving acquisition, upsell, and retention campaigns. These capabilities are highlighted by a client list that includes LIV Golf, NHL, Monumental Sports, The Rugby Network, NBCUniversal, MotoAmerica, TEGNA, Nexstar, and many others.
What makes ViewLift the Best Tech Company in the Sports OTT sector is its ability to deploy rapidly, across every platform, with global scale, while meeting the distinctive needs of sports companies ranging from top professional leagues to regional sports networks to global sports start-ups aiming to hit the ground running at launch. Its capabilities and expertise offer enormous value to the sports OTT industry during a period of disruptive change. The result is ViewLift empowers clients to monetise audiences effectively while pivoting quickly to new demands from rightsholders, technology platforms, and fans.
Contact

Spiideo


Spiideo
Spiideo, a trailblazing tech company in the sports industry, is vying for recognition at the SportsPro Media OTT Awards. Having won the Bronze Award last year for Best Emerging Tech Company and the prestigious Tech Solution of the Year, Spiideo stands out as a legitimate player in the automatic production space. Their mission is to revolutionize sports video production, analysis, and consumption worldwide.
At the heart of Spiideo’s innovative solutions lies their automatic production and autocasting capabilities. Through their seamless integration of fixed and mobile camera systems, Spiideo has eliminated the need for laborious manual filming processes. Their AutoFollow™ technology ensures that every moment of the action is captured dynamically and professionally without human intervention. Additionally, their pioneering autocasting technology automates broadcasting, significantly improving content delivery efficiency and global reach.
Spiideo’s comprehensive toolset includes cutting-edge video analysis features that empower coaches, players, and performance analysts. Real-time and post-game analysis provide valuable insights, enabling data-driven decision-making, tactical enhancements, and overall performance improvement.
What sets Spiideo apart is its versatility in catering to a wide range of sports industry stakeholders. From media rights-holders to professional leagues, clubs, and teams, Spiideo’s complete solution addresses the diverse needs of the sports community. The platform’s reach extends to prestigious teams in major leagues such as Premier League, NHL, Serie A, MLS, NBA, Ligue 1, NCAA, and Bundesliga, along with numerous other partnerships across Europe and North America.
With a vision to revolutionize sports video production and consumption, Spiideo remains at the forefront of driving innovation in the industry. Their relentless commitment to excellence and ongoing partnerships with top-tier clubs and leagues exemplify their dominance.
Spiideo’s revolutionary technology, focusing on automatic production, autocasting, and video analysis, has reshaped the sports video landscape. Their impact is felt throughout the sports ecosystem, making them a strong contender for the Best Tech Company award at the SportsPro Media OTT Awards. With over 2,000+ organizations benefiting from their solutions, Spiideo is truly shaping the future of sports video technology.

LiveLike


LiveLike
Empowering digital experiences and building fan communities
LiveLike’s platform transforms passive audiences into engaged communities. Through its industry-leading audience engagement solutions, LiveLike provides interactive and social tools that allow sports and media organizations to create fan experiences that are at the forefront of emerging trends.
The Company’s 360° audience engagement solution fosters deeper and more meaningful connections with fans, but beyond being a technology provider, LiveLike also acts as a dedicated partner and advisor, working closely with its clients from ideation to integration, through launch and beyond, iterating as needed. This approach ensures partners get the most value out of the comprehensive solution and saves them from developing digital experiences from scratch.
What’s more, LiveLike’s engagement suite grants partners access to valuable first and zero-party data by enabling personalized experiences based on user behavior. The result is increased user registration, higher subscriber retention, reduced churn, and the opportunity to monetize digital experiences through branded content, e-commerce, and, where applicable, wagering. All this can be achieved within mere weeks and at a fraction of the cost of custom development. Companies that have worked with LiveLike have seen faster time-to-value due to a shorter launch time period, and higher ROI as a benefit of fan engagement.
Overall, LiveLike empowers sports organizations and media companies to create engaging communities, turning passive viewers into active participants. With a focus on collaboration, innovation, and seamless integration, LiveLike enables partners to maximize the value of their digital experiences and foster lasting connections with their fan base.

Endeavor Streaming


Endeavor Streaming
Endeavor Streaming is a subsidiary of Endeavor, the sports, music, film, television, theater, art, fashion, literary, culinary powerhouse, and a global leader in premium video distribution and monetization for live and on-demand content across sports, entertainment, media and lifestyle. Serving as a true 360-degree digital transformation partner, Endeavor Streaming supports every phase of the direct-to-consumer journey for content creators, brands and rights holders. Sitting at the core of its business is Vesper, a cloud-agnostic platform with a leading global infrastructure network and multiple layers of stream security, flexible content management tools and an award-winning data and analytics dashboard that empowers clients to create and deliver high-quality, engaging OTT user experiences.
In parallel to its technology offerings, Endeavor Streaming has a portfolio of services that includes business advisory, growth marketing, and custom application development. Clients have the ability to partner with a team of industry experts who hold over two decades of experience to help them shape, grow and redefine their D2C strategy as their businesses and audiences evolve in the ever-changing OTT landscape.
As a trusted partner for leading global sports and media brands, Endeavor Streaming delivers tens-of-thousands of major tentpole live events annually like WrestleMania and UFC fight cards, and powers D2C streaming services including WNBA League Pass, UFC FIGHT PASS, WWE Network, Tottenham Hotspurs’ SPURSPLAY, Sky Sport Now, Oilers+ and others.

Deltatre


Deltatre
Deltatre is the global leader in sport data, digital and streaming technology for sport and media.
Over the past year, Deltatre has been a leading player in the OTT industry, partnering with major sports names to revolutionize streaming platforms and broadcast graphics, transforming how fans engage with sports. Deltatre stands out in the Best Technology Company category due to its work with MLS and Dyn Media.
In collaboration with MLS, Deltatre and Sportec Solutions (STS) formed a groundbreaking partnership to create enhanced data feeds from all MLS matches, powering Apple’s MLS Season Pass. This new technology offers fans a range of stats and visualizations, enhancing their viewing experience. Deltatre handles data processing and presents next-gen metrics through advanced graphics.
Deltatre was also selected by Dyn Media to build an end-to-end OTT platform for German sports fans. The platform features various sports beyond soccer, such as handball, table tennis, basketball, and volleyball, offering live games, highlights, and on-demand content. Deltatre’s award-winning products, including FORGE, AXIS, and DIVA, were implemented to provide an exceptional user experience with fan interactivity as a key focus.
Dyn Media is set to launch this month (August 2023), aiming to become the go-to streaming service for sports fans across Germany and the DACH region.
This entry is for the Best Tech Company category. Deltatre has been a leading company in the OTT, data and broadcast graphics space for over 37 years and has worked with many of the world’s leading sports leagues, teams and federations in that time.

Cleeng


Cleeng
Seasonal Subscriptions
Cleeng is a multi-tenant SaaS platform designed to help direct-to-consumer video services boost their ROI using Subscriber Retention Management™ (SRM™). SRM™ empowers broadcasters to launch and scale streaming services quickly with a robust Subscriber Management System and retain subscribers for years with actionable analytics.
Operating at the heart of the Media & Entertainment industry, leading sports broadcasters like the NFL, SBG, Optus Sport, NHL and Big Ten Network depend on Cleeng.
Cleeng’s latest release, “Seasonal Subscriptions” is a game changer for seasonal churn and an excellent fit for the Tech Solution of the Year award. It is the first-ever native and comprehensive solution to successfully address the churn concerns created by the seasonality of sports.
Traditional monetization methods for seasonal sports content include season passes, annual subscriptions and short-duration products. Each of these has its own costly challenges such as expensive re-acquisition or 100% churn after every season; poor value for customers outside the early season; or the cannibalization of season-length offers. The Seasonal Subscriptions feature overcomes all of these by aligning subscription cycles with the exact cycle of a broadcaster’s sports season.
The technology empowers the broadcasters to:
1) Customize offers to the exact date of seasons to represent enhanced value to customers.
2) Offer dynamic pricing such as Early Bird, mid-season, or play-offs deals to encourage sign-ups throughout the season.
3) Automatically renew customers at the start of each season, thereby reducing churn and reacquisition costs while enhancing the customer experience.
In short, this technology simplifies product management for sports OTT platforms while raising revenues significantly. This improvement represents recurring revenue with a compounding financial impact in the long term as more of the acquired subscribers sign on to recurring offers.

Tech Solution of the Year

EaseLive


EaseLive
Powering interactive overlays for the leading sports leagues, broadcasters and content providers
Ease Live AS, an Evertz company, is the global leader for interactive graphics platform, powering sports leagues, broadcasters, and content creators. Ease Live is a SaaS service for creating and distributing digital overlays to millions of end users on mobile and connected devices in real time. The platform enables the ultimate viewing experience for the audience, all frame accurately synchronised with the live streams. Ease Live unlocks new OTT monetisation with interactive ads, prediction games, celebrity watch parties, betting affiliate fees and more.
Ease Live has recently expanded it’s capabilities beyond publishing overlays for web, iOS and Android, and now supports connected TVs such as AppleTV, Roku, Android TV, Google TV and FireTV as well as 2nd screen experiences. With more connected devices coming soon, the new expansions allows our customers to reach all of their audiences with interactive content and new monetisation features.

HiWay Media


HiWay Media
HiWay Media PIVOT: a unique solution for end-to-end digital management
HiWay Media is a digital tailor lab where innovation meets simplicity.
We offer solutions to manage the entire digital experience with a big focus on video delivery: from production to connectivity, transcoding, Digital Assets Management, FAST channels, OTT platforms, web, mobile and Smart TV apps.
The innovation of merging a Video Management System (VMS), a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, and a Content Management System (CMS) into a unified platform called PIVOT has the potential for significant long-term impact on the industry.
Thanks to PIVOT, with its flexible and modular API system architecture made of multiple microservices, we can easily and quickly build up innovative integrated digital ecosystems, creating a unique aggregated touching point between fans and content owners.
The challenges faced by organizations when launching an OTT platform, a website and apps, using multiple vendors, such as increase of costs, lack of interoperability across the platforms and poor fan experience, can be addressed effectively with this unified approach.
PIVOT offers centralized control, seamless asset integration, consistent branding, and efficient content distribution. Its enhanced analytics capabilities and cost-saving benefits make it a practical and flexible solution. The platform’s modular API system allows controlled access and fosters interaction between different software applications, promoting collaboration and growth.
Several successful case studies, including S.S. Lazio and Serie A, demonstrate the opportunities and growth generated by PIVOT. Overall, the long-term impact of this innovation is expected to contribute to a more mature, efficient, and dynamic industry, leading to sustained growth, increased audience engagement, and greater success for content creators and organizations in the OTT space.

Zixi


Zixi
Zixi as a Service (ZaaS)
Zixi-as-a-Service (ZaaS) is a complete solution for enabling live video distribution from any location, in any format, delivered over any protocol, to any destination. ZaaS provides everything needed to receive contribution feeds and process, transcode, package and deliver them to any target location. It orchestrates cloud ingress into geographically distributed cloud operating environments, And for customers that require live transcoding or other processing support, ZaaS provisions the necessary cloud infrastructure and automates distribution of low-latency broadcast -quality live video to any number of targets and end points.

Sportradar


Sportradar
emBET
Sportradar Group AG, founded in 2001, is a leading global sports technology company creating immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors. Positioned at the intersection of the sports, media and betting industries, the company provides sports federations, news media, consumer platforms and sports betting operators with a best-in-class range of solutions to help grow their business.
Sportradar has developed emBET, a unique OTT integration product bringing betting content to streaming in a way that is naturally part of the viewing experience and thus highly engaging.
emBET integrates live betting content into streams in real time. This not only offers the OTT platform an opportunity to create a highly effective new revenue stream, but it also provides viewers with compelling content that will help keep them entertained and engaged for longer. There will no longer be a need to look elsewhere for stats and betting info.
emBET is entered into the Tech Solution of the Year, as the only solution that is productising betting content integration into OTT streaming at scale with a solution that comes in two parts: 1. Backend 2. SDK.

NPAW


NPAW
CDN BALANCER – Active Switching
NPAW is introducing CDN Balancer, a revolutionary smart system to balance loads between content delivery networks (CDNs) based on quality of experience insights.
Leading streaming service providers rely on more than one content delivery network (CDN) to improve their quality of service, reduce costs, and avoid outages. But, in a multi-CDN environment, streaming services need to switch between CDNs in a way that takes into account both your streaming quality and business goals.
To meet the needs of the global audience and improve QoE and QoS, organizations need to engage multiple CDNs to ensure against any risk of poor performance, or worse, complete downtime. Although adding multiple CDNs can reduce the risk of downtime and can improve the end user experience, a more intelligent and data-driven approach can truly secure the best
end-user experience possible.
Switching between CDNs results in more reliable availability and higher video quality — major drivers for higher viewer engagement and lower churn.
But how that switching is made is important as well. A smart, data-based balancing tool can greatly increase performance, reduce delivery costs, and lead to greater user satisfaction.
Powered by AI and NPAW’s extensive video streaming analytics insights, CDN Balancer lets services automatically select the right CDN based on the end user’s perceived quality of experience. Thanks to real-time video insights, the tool can detect performance issues and consumption patterns to optimize video delivery for each user, region, and device.

Multicasting


Multicasting
Multicasting.io real time video platform
Multicasting.io enables the next generation of wireless real-time video sharing and content creation. We leverage the power of wireless infrastructure to create a new viewing experience in and out of the stadium. Multicasting.io provides a truly unique experience to sports leagues, venues, and fans. Our real-time multi-angle live video feed can connect the fan’s view directly to the stadium infrastructure for display or broadcast, social media, and content creation. Using this technology, the NBA was able to add an additional 18 camera angles to the NBA All-Star game and provide these live video feeds to the jumbo tron. The extra cameras were provided to entertainment staff and installed in all areas of the arena, including the Baskets and places you cant put cameras, such as the scorer’s table. With these new angles, the leagues were able to generate hundreds of real-time video highlights of the event from all the cameras simultaneously, share them with the video boards, and share them on social media.
No such technology has existed in such a unique and simple way to deploy inside an arena and through mobile devices. The setup of our platform takes only a few minutes and requires no additional hardware. Our platform is all cloud-based and runs off of all devices. Our technology is game-changing for the arenas, as it reduces costs and increases the capabilities of all arenas.
We are usually up and running in an arena in under 5 minutes. We have a simple Android/iOS application with a cloud-based production management system that allows the venue’s content to be remotely managed from any location.
Content creation can be done with stationary, mobile devices, fan mobile devices, and influencer mobile devices. The content is all Synced and available for display on the Jumbotron, Broadcast, or social media, all in real-time. Our time based highlight technology is patent pending.

Best New Platform

WNBA


WNBA
WNBA Mobile App
WNBA fans traditionally have faced multiple barriers commensurated by being a young league when compared to others like the NBA or NFL, compounded by the deep-seated effects of inequality in women’s sports. The WNBA app relaunch is first of its kind in women sports and a direct response to fan demand and investment. While some of the developments may exist for mens’ leagues, they have had years and millions more to make those platforms a reality. The WNBA has only been around for 27 years and built the same app level of standard in 6 months lead by an all-female leadership team.
By revamping the entire UX experience, app-exclusive content, and a plethora of streaming options; the WNBA mobile app transformed for the 2023 season as a foundational “one-stop-shop”.
Upon launching the app, every fan is given instant access to highlights, behind-the-scenes, off-the-court, and on-court content consumable in an Instagram or tik-tok like format. Fans can watch WNBA games on the app as the League partnered with Endeavor Streaming to relaunch their direct-to-consumer (D2C) OTT streaming platform, WNBA League Pass. Powered by Endeavor Streaming’s Vesper Platform, WNBA League Pass offers fans a high-quality streaming experience to watch various new short form content, and live/on-demand games.
Game schedule and standings have also been modernized. iPhone users can add live updates to games directly on their lock screens and real time stats are available for every app user. The platform includes a “No Spoilers” feature, which allows fans to hide stats and standings from previous games so they can watch on-demand content and still experience the thrill of seeing how a game plays out.

Roku


Roku
Sports experience
As America’s #1 TV streaming platform, Roku offers a wide range of streaming devices and an extensive content library, with diverse entertainment preferences. Roku’s mission is to be the streaming platform that connects and benefits the entire TV ecosystem around the world. Leading the industry forward by providing users with simplicity, affordability, and innovation, Roku also connects users to the streaming content they love, enables content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and it provides advertisers with sophisticated tools to reach and engage consumers.
Originally launched in November 2022, the Roku Sports experience is designed to give easy access to live and upcoming sport across the Roku platform. It introduced a centralized location for browsing sports content and seeing where it’s available to watch.
Roku’s Sports experience includes pro and college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, baseball, golf and soccer from Apple TV, DIRECTV, FOX Sports, FuboTV, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, Sling, The Roku Channel, TNT, TBS, and truTV, as well as games coming over the air through an antenna connected to Roku TV models, with more sports and viewing options.
Roku’s Sports experience is a great contender for the “Best User Experience” category. As a customer-focused brand, Roku is constantly evolving the sports experience, continually adding features that users are looking for. Roku’s Sports experience is a testament to its dedication to delivering the best user experience, allowing their viewers to access their preferred sports content effortlessly in one location, and boost exciting games based on external data sources, making it the best user experience platform.

Origins Digital


Origins Digital
HandballTV: Where Passion Meets Play!
Origins Digital, a leading agency specializing in web platforms, mobile applications, and OTT solutions, collaborated with the French Handball Federation, the National Handball League, and the Women’s Handball League to create Handball TV, an innovative OTT platform.
Born from our passion for enhancing fan experiences, Handball TV is designed to deliver personalized, immersive handball content. It features flexible subscription models, including pay-per-view options. The collaboration with BeIN Sports has provided broader exposure and contributed to the success of this OTT platform Handball TV, which has garnered more than 3 million views and 50,000 subscribers since its launch in 2022. The platform has boosted our reputation and promoted collaboration within the handball community. With its unique features, strategic partnerships, and significant impact, Handball TV presents a compelling case for the “New Best Platform” award, exemplifying the success of a well-executed OTT platform in the sports domain.

Motorsport UK TV


Motorsport UK TV
Motorsport UK TV, launched in April 2023, has revolutionised the world of motorsport with its unique OTT content hub offering. Catering to the UK motorsport community and fans, the platform offers a comprehensive and engaging streaming experience. The aim is to create a dedicated internet video portal that serves as a one-stop-shop for all UK motorsports content, providing diverse video offerings to enhance fans’ enjoyment of the sport.
Setting itself apart from competitors, Motorsport UK TV boasts over 400 video uploads on its free-to-access platform. The content covers all motorsport disciplines, allowing audiences to access a wide variety of cross-discipline and multiformat videos. By catering to different interests and expertise levels within the fan base, the platform ensures a loyal and engaged viewership. Moreover, the platform encourages user-generated content, fostering a sense of community and participation among motorsport enthusiasts.
The success of Motorsport UK TV lies in its ability to connect with the audience and attract new participants to the sport. With over 100,000 views, 14,000 hours of watch time, and 1.5 million impressions, the platform has rapidly grown its subscriber base, reaching around 10,000 motorsport fans within four months of launch. By drawing in a younger and more diverse audience, Motorsport UK TV aligns with its mission to increase diversity and inclusion within UK motorsports events.
The impact of Motorsport UK TV on the market has been positive, providing a central platform for motorsport enthusiasts to access diverse content. The platform strengthens audience connections, fosters loyalty, and drives sport participation through clear calls to action and trackable advertising banners that enhance brand partnerships and sponsor value.
Overall, Motorsport UK TV has emerged as a ground-breaking and award-worthy platform, transforming the consumption of motorsport content and engaging fans like never before. Its impressive subscriber growth, disruptive impact on the market, and positive influence on business performance make it a deserving candidate for the esteemed recognition of Best New Platform at the SportsPro OTT Awards.

HiWay Media


HiWay Media
S.S. Lazio Digital Ecosystem
HiWay Media is a digital tailor lab where innovation meets simplicity.
We offer solutions to manage the entire digital experience with a big focus on video delivery: from production to connectivity, transcoding, Digital Assets Management, FAST channels, OTT platforms, web, mobile and Smart TV apps.
Founded in July 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, our disruptive approach allowed us to grow very fast. Today HiWay Media has 50+ employees in Italy, Austria, Spain and India, and can proudly list industry leaders such as LaLiga, Italian Serie A and Serie B, Ferrari, S.S. Lazio, FIBA, Sky, and Infront amongst its partners.
The football industry, with its long history, faces the challenge of globalizing its fanbase and engaging with younger generations who seek dynamic and interactive content. To achieve this, digital interaction has become essential. By merging a VMS, DAM, and CMS into one unified platform, football clubs can efficiently manage news, articles, stats, media galleries, ticketing, merchandising, live streaming, VOD, podcasts, live radio, FAST Channels, and more from a single dashboard.
S.S. Lazio, an Italian Serie A football club, recognized the importance of this evolution and partnered with HiWay Media and its one-stop solution, PIVOT. The result was a massive boost in visits and registrations, reaching fans worldwide. PIVOT offers a unique platform combining the functionalities of a traditional website with the personalized OTT trend, providing a seamless user experience.
PIVOT’s VMS allows Lazio to manage video content with cloud-based editing and AI-based peak recognition. The integrated DAM handles media processing tasks, including categorization and content embedding, while the CMS empowers easy content creation and organization.
This disruptive approach solves common platform problems, such as traffic loss between platforms, technical costs, and multiple providers, offering S.S. Lazio an efficient, cost-effective, and user-friendly digital ecosystem.

Blast.tv


Blast.tv
BLAST is here to champion and elevate esports, taking it to the next level of global entertainment. We create live and digital experiences. From tournaments that pack out major arenas to content that will blow your socks off.
Whether it’s through whitelabel collaboration on industry-leading titles or our in-house series’ like BLAST Premier, our live events and broadcasts ultimately put fans first and bring them closer to the action than ever before.
To take the next step in our evolution, we’ve created BLAST.tv, the ultimate platform for esports fans. Launched in November 2022, BLAST.tv puts fans at the heart of the platform bringing millions together to watch, chat and be entertained. It’s totally flexible platform allowing fans to customise their viewing experience, showcasing maximum excitement and elevating the user experience.
Launching in November, BLAST.tv has now amassed over 120,000 registered users and broken several key viewership targets outlined at the conceptualisation. With exclusive content, 4k60fps viewing capabilities and a moderated and community-welcoming chat, users experience our live events at home and are more engaged than ever before. BLAST.tv users can even directly impact our live stage events from their own homes with showmatch integration and inclusion in broadcast segments with votes and polls.
We’ve entered “Best New Platform” with BLAST.tv being 9 months old and already growing into an industry-revered site. Growing from a userbase of 0 to over 120,000, the site now has a dedicated, welcoming community, different to many other streaming platforms for live events where users are at the heart of our innovation.

Innovation of the Year

YES Network


YES Network
Single-screen user driven content on Connected TVs
The YES Network continues to lead the industry in innovative firsts for its users and fans. The Emmy® award winning YES App has been a success from its launch in 2021. YES has seen increased unique Yankees viewership of 34% (year-over-year through the first half of baseball season) and a 35% increase in time spent per unique viewer over the same period. Meanwhile, since the end of 2021 the YES App has grown its registration base by 97%.
Building on the success of the YES App, YES Network became the first sports network – regional or national – to provide single-screen user driven overlay of live statistics for connected TV including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Google TV. This new feature coupled with the launch of its direct-to-consumer subscription product allows YES to grow its audience and enhance the user experience across all platforms – from mobile devices to large TVs in the home. For the YES App on mobile devices, up to 20.8% of audience engages with the overlays during live games and spent up to 66% longer viewing duration times. Weeks after its launch, there has been up to 36% adoption of overlays by users on connected TVs.
Fans can control the YES App Live Stats experience via either their TV remotes or their phones. More than ever, YES is giving their fans the ability to watch the game how and where they want to watch it. Fans, in essence, are in the director’s chair.
The YES App has a complete eco-system for the fan experience. The YES App now provides content to a fully engaged fan community that is first of its kind in the live sports streaming with continuing opportunities for content monetization.

Videocites


Videocites
Fueling Creator Networks of Leagues and Teams
Over the last year, the NFL have been using Videocites to fuel their own Creator Program. This program is aimed to collaborate with social fan-creators with the purpose of increasing the cultivate brand awareness and loyalty through collaborations with multicultural content creators, and to expand the reach of the NFL content, tentpole events, and league initiatives.
The problem was as follows: How to leverage Videocites’ innovative AI technology to identify new content creators and super fans to accelerate brand and audience growth. Doing so was and remains mission critical for the NFL – and all other leagues, teams, brands – to remain relevant in today’s intensely competitive sports industry where everyone is vying for a finite set of users and eyeballs.
With the use of Videocites’ technology, the NFL was able to identify super fans and organic creators throughout the season, to then strategically partner with them both before and during the Super Bowl to create an impact and reach that the league had never seen before in the history of its time – all made possible by Videocites advanced AI technology. In this past year’s Super Bowl, Videocites captured a 260% increase in non-affiliated NFL Super Bowl video views, from 2 billion views in 2022 to 5.4 billion views in 2023. That number may sound amazing, but the most insightful statistic of all is that over half of these posts, 53%, were organic posts from content creators and super fans. Normally, nearly 100% of these posts would go unseen if it weren’t for Videocites advanced abilities to identify user-generated content (UGC) across social media.

Play Anywhere


Play Anywhere
Play Anywhere has built a patented platform that enables consumers to watch, play, bet and buy while watching live and VOD content, and enables full monetization of consumer interactivity. The platform tracks all viewer activity and collects revenues associated with advertising, sponsorships, e-commerce and gaming. An interactive rights and clearinghouse engine clears and disburses interactivity revenue to all stakeholders. Play Anywhere creates new revenue streams and a new value proposition for everyone in the media value chain, from sports leagues and clubs to content creators, rightsholders, and distributors.
One of Play Anywhere’s biggest innovations has been the creation of a new rights category: “Interactive Rights.” These rights extend traditional media rights, allowing rightsholders to provide interactivity to viewers without rights ambiguities or conflicts. By securing Interactive Rights with leagues and content owners, and by pre-defining revenue splits for the newly generated revenue between each stakeholder in the value chain, Play Anywhere enables rightsholders and Pay TV / OTT service providers to roll out interactivity to the mass consumer market. Our partners benefit from enahnced viewer engagement and new revenue streams, with no setup costs or license fees. Play Anywhere is a profit center rather than a cost center and benefits everyone in the media ecosystem.
The Play Anywhere Interactive Panel works across all viewing platforms, including connected TVs, set-top boxes, mobile phones, PCs, and tablets, for both digital and linear broadcasts and streams. The Panel is easily integrated with just a few lines of code.
Founded in 2021 by a team of serial media-tech entrepreneurs with over a century of combined experience, Play Anywhere has already signed exclusive Interactive Rights deals with major sports leagues, agencies, and distributors. Our media-tech + fintech platform has launched interactive services in multiple territories, and is in the process of rolling out worldwide.

Multicasting


Multicasting
Multicasting.io real time video platform
Multicasting.io enables the next generation of wireless real-time video sharing and content creation. We leverage the power of wireless infrastructure to create a new viewing experience in and out of the stadium. Multicasting.io provides a truly unique experience to sports leagues, venues, and fans. Our real-time multi-angle live video feed can connect the fan’s view directly to the stadium infrastructure for display or broadcast, social media, and content creation. Using this technology, the NBA was able to add an additional 18 camera angles to the NBA All-Star game and provide these live video feeds to the jumbo tron. The extra cameras were provided to entertainment staff and installed in all areas of the arena, including the Baskets and places you cant put cameras, such as the scorer’s table. With these new angles, the leagues were able to generate hundreds of real-time video highlights of the event from all the cameras simultaneously, share them with the video boards, and share them on social media.
No such technology has existed in such a unique and simple way to deploy inside an arena and through mobile devices. The setup of our platform takes only a few minutes and requires no additional hardware. Our platform is all cloud-based and runs off of all devices. Our technology is game-changing for the arenas, as it reduces costs and increases the capabilities of all arenas.
We are usually up and running in an arena in under 5 minutes. We have a simple Android/iOS application with a cloud-based production management system that allows the venue’s content to be remotely managed from any location.
Content creation can be done with stationary, mobile devices, fan mobile devices, and influencer mobile devices. The content is all Synced and available for display on the Jumbotron, Broadcast, or social media, all in real-time. Our time based highlight technology is patent pending.

DFL


DFL
Bundesliga In-Car Stadium
DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH is a renowned organization responsible for managing and marketing German professional football on behalf of DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga e.V., which represents the 36 clubs of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. Established in 2000, DFL has consistently pushed the boundaries of sports innovation, transforming content consumption and fan engagement in the football industry.
Our revolutionary project “Bundesliga In-Car Stadium” seamlessly integrates football content into car interiors, offering an immersive experience for fans on the move. Collaborating with BMW, we successfully implemented a pilot case in select BMW 7 and BMW 5 models, transcending global markets.
“Bundesliga In-Car Stadium” embodies true innovation and creativity, delivering highly valuable Bundesliga live and on-demand content tailored to every driving situation while ensuring safety regulations are observed. From live matches with dedicated commentary during longer stops to AI-generated highlight clips during shorter stops, the in-car entertainment is upgraded, connecting content even with a car’s interior features such as light, seats or audio systems. Driving turns into an immersive experience transforming ordinary car journeys into captivating Bundesliga spectacles, allowing football enthusiasts worldwide to bring their passion along the road.
By introducing an unparalleled “In-Car Entertainment Package” to the market, the initiative sets new standards for sports media rights and in-car entertainment, entering an untapped monetization avenue. This pioneering product provides benefits to the automotive industry by attracting customers seeking innovative and digitally enhanced experiences. OEMs awarded the right will stand out in the contested market, boost sales and promote their brand.
“Bundesliga In-Car Stadium” fits perfectly in the “Innovation of the Year” category due to its transformative impact on content delivery and user experience. Through a cross-industry collaboration and the ability to create new revenue streams, it epitomizes DFL’s unwavering commitment to innovation, making it a deserving candidate for the award.

Cleeng


Cleeng
Seasonal Subscriptions
Cleeng is a multi-tenant SaaS platform designed to help direct-to-consumer video services boost their ROI using Subscriber Retention Management™ (SRM™). Operating at the heart of the Media & Entertainment industry, leading sports broadcasters like the NFL, SBG, Optus Sport, NHL and Big Ten Network use SRM™ to launch their platforms quickly and retain subscribers for years.
The latest SRM™ upgrade, “Seasonal Subscriptions”, is a game changer for seasonal churn and an excellent fit for the Innovation of the Year award. It is the first-ever native and comprehensive solution to successfully address the concerns created by the seasonality of sports.
Traditional monetization methods for seasonal sports content include season passes, annual subscriptions and short-duration products. Each of these bring about challenges for broadcasters such as expensive re-acquisition or 100% churn after every season or the cannibalization of season-length offers. These models also hinder the customer experience by offering little flexibility on how much customers pay in relation to how much they watch – and requiring repeated sign-ups with every season. Seasonal Subscriptions overcome all of these by aligning subscription cycles with the exact cycle of a broadcaster’s sports season.
This innovation offers broadcasters the chance to:
Offer dynamic pricing options like Early Bird or mid-season – to amplify acquisition year-round.
Automatically renew customers at the start of each season – reducing churn and reacquisition costs.
Plus, sports fans are now able to start watching later in the season without paying the full price. And enjoy an uninterrupted consumption experience by not having to manually re-sign up for their favorite sport with every new season.
In short, this innovation simplifies product management for sports OTT platforms while significantly raising revenues – and reshapes the seasonal consumption patterns for sports fans to offer them better value for money.

Best User Experience

YES Network


YES Network
Single-screen user driven content on Connected TV
The YES Network continues to lead the industry in innovative firsts for its users and fans. The Emmy® award winning YES App has been a success from its launch in 2021. YES has seen increased unique Yankees viewership of 34% (year-over-year through the first half of baseball season) and a 35% increase in time spent per unique viewer over the same period. Meanwhile, since the end of 2021 the YES App has grown its registration base by 97%.
Building on the success of the YES App, YES Network became the first sports network – regional or national – to provide single-screen user driven overlays of live statistics for connected TV including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Google TV. This new feature coupled with the launch of its direct-to-consumer subscription product allows YES to grow its audience and enhance the user experience across all platforms – from mobile devices to large TVs in the home. For the YES App on mobile devices, up to 20.8% of audience engages with the overlays during live games and spent up to 66% longer viewing duration times. Weeks after its launch, there has been up to 36% adoption of overlays by users on connected TVs.
Fans can control the YES App Live Stats experience via either their TV remotes or their phones. More than ever, YES is giving their fans the ability to watch the game how and where they want to watch it. Fans, in essence, are in the director’s chair.
The new YES Rewards initiative, the first app-based loyalty program for live sports streaming, provides prizes for fans who engage with YES App content and features. Fans earn points based on the number of games and other YES App programs they watch, the amount of time spent engaged with content and how frequently they engage with the YES App’s innovative features such as Pick-N-Play and Pick-N-Play Live.
YES Network is an innovator. From user experience for viewers and fans, YES is the industry leader that the other regional and national sports networks are measuring themselves against.

WSC Sports


WSC Sports
Delivering Exceptional User Experiences With AI Generated Vertical Video
WSC Sports automates the creation and distribution of highlights for teams, leagues, and broadcast partners. Using advanced AI and Machine Learning technologies, WSC Sports’ platform is able to analyze live sports broadcasts, identify events that occur in-game, and create real-time customized short-form videos that can be published on multiple different platforms.
A new addition to WSC Sports’ technology is ‘WSC Stories,’ a game-changer when it comes to benefiting both rights holders and sports fans. It allows for the seamless creation of vertical videos in 9:16 format content that can be shared on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. WSC Sports has even enhanced this technology through integration with Google, giving clients an opportunity to have their real-time highlights published at the top of search rankings during live events.
Multiple OTT platforms have been using this technology as a way to make their content more accessible to fans on different devices. The NBA app, for example, was one of the first platforms to adopt a vertical video centric design, causing a record-breaking spike of over 1.1 billion views in one week. Similarly, the ICC app saw a surge of 57% in visitors when using vertical video during the Men’s T20 World Cup, totaling 78.4 million views.
Leveraging WSC Sports’ technology, rights holders can improve the user experience by creating game-changing content for their digital channels. WSC Stories has seen a significant impact on engagement levels with a 15% CTR for its partners, almost double the industry average.
Ultimately, fans are able to interact with their favorite players and teams, when, how and where they want, in their preferred ratio. WSC Sports real-time vertical videos, for OTTs, apps, Google Web Stories and more are truly revolutionizing the fan user experience when it comes to sport content.

Roku


Roku
Sports experience
As America’s #1 TV streaming platform, Roku offers a wide range of streaming devices and an extensive content library, with diverse entertainment preferences. Roku’s mission is to be the streaming platform that connects and benefits the entire TV ecosystem around the world. Leading the industry forward by providing users with simplicity, affordability, and innovation, Roku also connects users to the streaming content they love, enables content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and it provides advertisers with sophisticated tools to reach and engage consumers.
Originally launched in November 2022, the Roku Sports experience is designed to give easy access to live and upcoming sport across the Roku platform. It introduced a centralized location for browsing sports content and seeing where it’s available to watch.
Roku’s Sports experience includes pro and college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, baseball, golf and soccer from Apple TV, DIRECTV, FOX Sports, FuboTV, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, Sling, The Roku Channel, TNT, TBS, and truTV, as well as games coming over the air through an antenna connected to Roku TV models, with more sports and viewing options.
Roku’s Sports experience is a great contender for the “Best User Experience” category. As a customer-focused brand, Roku is constantly evolving the sports experience, continually adding features that users are looking for. Roku’s Sports experience is a testament to its dedication to delivering the best user experience, allowing their viewers to access their preferred sports content effortlessly in one location, and boost exciting games based on external data sources, making it the best user experience platform.

Motorsport UK TV


Motorsport UK TV
Motorsport UK TV, an innovative OTT content hub accessible at https://motorsportuk.tv, has revolutionized the world of motorsport by providing an unparalleled user experience. With a strong focus on user-centric design, intuitive navigation, personalised content, and innovative features, the platform has redefined how the motorsport community, including competitors, clubs, volunteers, and millions of fans, engages with the sport.
At the heart of Motorsport UK TV’s success is its user-centric design, prioritising ease of use and seamless navigation. From the moment they visit our platform, motorsport enthusiasts are greeted by a visually appealing and clutter-free interface, ensuring a stress-free interaction. Well-organised content categories enable fans to swiftly access tutorials, all British Championships in a single location, live broadcasts, and behind-the-scenes footage, from a wide array of disciplines, with just a few clicks. We empower our audience to focus on what matters most: the exhilarating world of motorsport.
The platform’s commitment to delivering a personalized experience sets it apart. Utilizing advanced algorithms and data-driven insights, Motorsport UK TV curates tailored content recommendations for each fan based on their preferred disciplines and events. This personalized approach fosters a stronger emotional connection between fans and the sport, enhancing their overall user experience.
Trackable branded advertising banners strategically placed on Motorsport UK TV have proven to be effective in increasing revenue streams without compromising user experience. By using data analytics and user behaviour insights, the platform delivers relevant and non-intrusive advertisements to viewers, aligning them with their interests and preferences. The trackability of these banners enables accurate measurement of campaign effectiveness, leading to improved value and increased spend within brand partnerships.
With its personalized content offerings, responsive approach to reliability issues, and successful engagement strategies, Motorsport UK TV has become a groundbreaking platform that engages motorsport fans like never before.

Best Digital First Production

WNBA


WNBA
WNBA fans traditionally have faced multiple barriers commensurated by being a young league when compared to others like the NBA or NFL, compounded by the deep-seated effects of inequality in women’s sports. The WNBA app relaunch is first of its kind in women sports and a direct response to fan demand and investment. While some of the developments may exist for mens’ leagues, they have had years and millions more to make those platforms a reality. The WNBA has only been around for 27 years and built the same app level of standard in 6 months lead by an all-female leadership team.
By revamping the entire UX experience, app-exclusive content, and a plethora of streaming options; the WNBA mobile app transformed for the 2023 season as a foundational “one-stop-shop”.
Upon launching the app, every fan is given instant access to highlights, behind-the-scenes, off-the-court, and on-court content consumable in an Instagram or tik-tok like format. Fans can watch WNBA games on the app as the League partnered with Endeavor Streaming to relaunch their direct-to-consumer (D2C) OTT streaming platform, WNBA League Pass. Powered by Endeavor Streaming’s Vesper Platform, WNBA League Pass offers fans a high-quality streaming experience to watch various new short form content, and live/on-demand games.
Game schedule and standings have also been modernized. iPhone users can add live updates to games directly on their lock screens and real time stats are available for every app user. The platform includes a “No Spoilers” feature, which allows fans to hide stats and standings from previous games so they can watch on-demand content and still experience the thrill of seeing how a game plays out.

The NFL Channel


The NFL Channel
The NFL Channel, a product of the National Football League, has emerged as a trailblazer in the ever-evolving world of sports broadcasting within the FAST industry. Since its inception in 2019, the channel has redefined the way football fanatics engage with the #1 Sport in America. With a captivating array of content, it provides an unrivaled fan experience that caters to the modern viewer’s preferences and demands. Its live game updates, bringing real-time action straight to fans’ screens, have set a new standard for sports coverage. Through our intentional programming slate inclusive of NFL Games, throwback content highlighting Football legends, riveting docuseries like A Football Life and Hard Knocks, live digital shows featuring charismatic hosts and analysts on Around The NFL and Power Rankings, as well as live coverage of major events like the NFL Draft, Super Bowl, and Schedule Release, the NFL Channel has captured the hearts of millions.

Kayo Sports


Kayo Sports
Kayo Sports is an Australian based streaming service, offering sports live and on demand from Fox Sports, ESPN, WWE and Racing.com.
Companion viewing and alternate commentaries are being produced more and more often in this landscape of consumers wanting more options for watching their sport. But what if we took that companion viewing experience, and coupled it with the real world experience of watching the game at a bar full of fans? Kayo took the hosts of the wildly popular “Hello Sport Podcast”, dropped them at a bar mere minutes away from Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, which was hosting the NRL’s yearly “Magic Round”, and captured a one of a kind companion viewing experience for the Brisbane Broncos v Manly Sea Eagles NRL game! The result was a live, funny, unpredictable night of Rugby League commentary, with the crowd taking on a persona of their own, and allowing the viewer to feel like they were in a Brisbane pub in the thick of the fun, while also taking in the game and enjoying the hilarious commentary from hosts Tom Birmingham & Eddy Simpson. The production utilised picture in picture, so the viewer could watch the game, and at the same time watch the hosts deliver their unique brand of comedy. We utilised the combined social media presence of Kayo, Hello Sport and Caxton St Brewing Co (the venue) to promote the event on various fronts, to get not only a great viewing audience, but also a great crowd at the venue. Our aim was to create something different from the usual studio based companion viewing experiences, by adding the element of a live event atmosphere.
Best Digital First Production
This production was only available on our OTT platform and was created as a digital viewing companion for a live fixture.

DFL


DFL
DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH is a renowned organization responsible for managing and marketing German professional football on behalf of DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga e.V., which represents the 36 clubs of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. Established in 2000, DFL has consistently pushed the boundaries of sports innovation, transforming content consumption and fan engagement in the football industry.
Our project “Bundesliga In-Car Stadium” seamlessly integrates football content into car interiors, offering an immersive experience for fans on the move. Collaborating with BMW, we successfully implemented a pilot case in select BMW 7 and BMW 5 models, transcending global markets.
“Bundesliga In-Car Stadium” embodies true innovation and creativity, delivering highly valuable Bundesliga live and on-demand content tailored to every driving situation while ensuring safety regulations are observed. From live matches with dedicated commentary during longer stops to AI-generated highlight clips during shorter stops, the in-car entertainment is upgraded, connecting content even with a car’s interior features such as light, seats or audio systems. Driving turns into an immersive experience transforming ordinary car journeys into captivating Bundesliga spectacles that go far beyond traditional (linear) broadcasts, allowing football enthusiasts worldwide to bring their passion along the road.
By introducing an unparalleled “In-Car Entertainment Package” to the market, the initiative sets new standards for sports media rights holders and in-car entertainment, entering an untapped monetization avenue. This pioneering product provides benefits to the automotive industry by attracting customers seeking innovative and digitally enhanced experiences. OEMs awarded the right will stand out in the contested market, boost sales and promote their brand.
We believe “Bundesliga In-Car Stadium” to be a deserving candidate for the Best Digital First Production award as it embodies digital transformation excellence in the way fans experience Bundesliga content, tapping into the growing importance of in-car entertainment and the emergence of autonomous driving.

BLAST.tv


BLAST.tv
Paris Major 2023
The BLAST.tv Paris Major was announced to the world by French President Emanuel Macron in August 2022. A clear showcase of France’s support for the event and esports.
In May this year, BLAST.tv Paris Major took place, the most popular and prestigious esports event of the calendar year. 24 of the world’s best teams descended onto the French capital to compete for a $1.25 million prize pool and a chance at claiming the title of the world’s best Counter-Strike team.
The Paris Major became the biggest esports event in France’s history, drawing over 50,000 fans to the Accor Arena across four days of action packed esports, posted the third highest Counter-Strike peak viewership of all time at 1.5 million viewers and was broadcast globally in more than 100+ territories and in 24 different languages.
To take the digital viewing experience one step further, BLAST created the BLAST.tv platform, a tailored made destination for the competitive esports audience that allowed fans to get closer to the action than ever before. A number of fan-focussed integrations brought fans watching at home to the heart of the broadcast with live polls, the ability to control the showmatch, an interactive timeline feature, a built in 4K video player and a moderated live chat feature that enabled fans to connect with a like-minded community.
