Destination Viewing in the Short-Form Era: How Sports and Influencers are Shaping the Future of Media
- Skyrim.AI Expert Series
- Aug 6
- 26 min read
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The media landscape is experiencing a tug-of-war between short-form, on-demand content and traditional “destination viewing”, the kind of content audiences plan to watch live or at release. On one side, Gen Z and younger audiences increasingly consume quick, personalized videos on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, often curated by influencers or algorithms. On the other side, live sports have remained a resilient pillar of appointment viewing, routinely drawing millions for real-time broadcasts even as general TV audiences fragment. This report explores how sports and the influencer-driven streaming industry are influencing each other: short-form content and community-centric engagement are reshaping sports media, while the concept of large-scale communal viewing (“destination viewing”) is being reinvented by online creators. We also examine how emerging technologies, particularly spatial sports media, may bridge these worlds by enabling personalized yet shared viewing experiences. The insights herein are geared toward media industry professionals across sports, television, and film, to underscore that destination viewing is not dead, it’s evolving.
The Impact of Short-Form Content on Sports Consumption
Younger audiences have fundamentally different content habits, gravitating toward snackable, on-demand videos and interactive media. Recent surveys confirm that Gen Z’s attention is often captured by short-form highlights and social media content rather than full live games. In one study, 23% of Gen Z respondents said they prefer shorter sports content, with another 17% opting to watch games via catch-up recordings instead of live[1]. This indicates that about 40% of young viewers intentionally avoid live broadcasts in favor of condensed or delayed formats. Moreover, short-form sports video consumption is projected to double within a year, outpacing the growth of live sports viewership, a stark illustration of the generational shift away from sitting through full games[2]. As Cate Hefele of Kayo Sports noted, sometimes “short-form content even outperforms live events” in terms of engagement, especially among younger fans drawn to quick highlights[3].
Compounding the challenge for sports leagues, Gen Z simply isn’t as tuned into sports as previous generations. Research by Morning Consult found that 33% of Gen Zers say they don’t watch live sports on TV at all, compared to only 22% of Millennials who say the same[5]. They also attend fewer games in person (only 18% of Gen Z attended a live sporting event in the past year, vs. 25% for Millennials)[5]. Traditional fandom is less entrenched, over a third of Gen Z have no favorite sports team[5]. Instead, their sports engagement often comes via social media and short clips. Notably, 90% of Gen Z sports fans use social media to consume sports content[6], and content directly from athletes is a huge draw. In fact, 63% of Gen Z say that social media posts from their favorite athletes boost their engagement with sports, far more than older fans[7]. This explains why leagues are now aggressively pushing short videos, highlights, and behind-the-scenes snippets on social platforms.
Sports broadcasters and streamers are adapting their strategies in response to these trends. Offering bite-sized content and interactive features has become crucial to retain younger viewers[8]. For example, the Australian streaming service Kayo Sports pioneered “Minis”, condensed game highlights packages, along with ultra-short recaps like 2–5 minute “Top Plays” and single-moment clips[9][10]. These products acknowledge that Gen Z’s attention is harder to capture with full games, and instead aim to meet them where they are: scrolling a feed for quick entertainment. The approach has paid off: Kayo reports that these short-form offerings have been very successful with younger fans, even leading to higher-than-average view durations for 15-second social videos (7–8 seconds vs the 2–3 second industry norm)[6]. In other words, if content is punchy and platform-native, young audiences will watch and share sports moments in huge numbers. An executive at Kayo confirmed that “the success of our short-form content...carried over on social media, where almost half of our 800,000 followers are 18–24”, demonstrating how strategic highlights can sustain youth interest[6].
Importantly, short-form sports content today is more than just raw highlight clips, it’s packaged as entertainment with personality and context. Teams and leagues are increasingly creating “original” short videos that have color and a viewpoint, not just a linear play replay[11]. This might mean a TikTok of players celebrating in the locker room, a mic’d-up moment on the sidelines, or a humorous edit set to music. Such content is highly engaging and shareable, and it’s driving a boom in consumption of sports media on mobile. As one industry analysis put it, short-form videos aren’t merely news, they’re entertainment, which is why their viewership is “going through the roof”[11]. By incorporating exclusive angles, like a player’s eye view, behind-the-scenes access, or personal interviews, these snippets give fans a taste of authenticity that traditional broadcasts often lack. In effect, the sports industry is learning to speak the native language of Gen Z’s digital media.
![Younger fans increasingly watch sports with a second screen in hand. It’s common to see viewers following a live game on TV while scrolling related content or social feeds on their phones. In fact, 94% of Gen Z sports fans report using two screens at once when watching games[12] – illustrating the modern demand for interactive, multitask-friendly viewing experiences.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/fcebf9_3b314319cb00423695b9f6ed02db1ca1~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_515,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/fcebf9_3b314319cb00423695b9f6ed02db1ca1~mv2.png)
The rise of second-screen behavior underscores that community and interaction are integral to how Gen Z enjoys sports. Social media has become the new sports bar or living room, a place where fans gather (virtually) to react to big plays and share memes in real time. Rather than passively consuming a 3-hour telecast, young fans might catch key moments via Twitter clips, chat with friends on Discord during the game, or watch a YouTuber’s reaction video afterward. The implication for sports rights holders is clear: to capture and hold young audiences, they must supplement the main broadcast with omnipresent digital content, highlights optimized for mobile, social media engagement, and on-demand access that fits into a fast-paced content diet. The good news is that short-form content can actually funnel fans into deeper consumption: Google reports that 59% of Gen Z who find highlights on short-form apps will later watch longer versions of those videos[13]. In other words, a TikTok clip can pique interest in an entire game. The playbook for sports fan engagement is being rewritten to combine the instant gratification of short videos with pathways to longer viewing. Sports isn’t fading from youth culture – but it must now earn attention in 15-second increments.
Sports: Still the King of Destination Viewing
Amid the explosion of bite-sized content, live sports stands out as the last bastion of large-scale “destination viewing” on television. In an era when few people tune into TV at a scheduled time, sports events continue to command huge real-time audiences. The dominance of sports, American football in particular, in TV ratings is striking. More Americans watched NFL games in 2023 than anything else on television. In fact, NFL broadcasts accounted for 93 of the top 100 highest-rated TV programs in the U.S. for the year 2023[14]. (This share has grown each year, up from 82 of the top 100 in 2022, and 75 in 2021[14].) At a time when overall linear TV viewership is eroding, the NFL has remained an outlier, even increasing its audience. During the 2023 season, NFL games averaged 17.5 million viewers, an 8% year-over-year jump, partly aided by the lack of new primetime entertainment content during Hollywood’s strikes[15]. Marquee live games now routinely outdraw all other programming on a given night, Amazon’s Thursday Night Football streams in 2023 beat every broadcast and cable show in viewership on the evenings they aired[16]. The Super Bowl continues to be the single biggest TV event (Super Bowl LVII hit 115 million viewers, the most-watched U.S. program ever[17]), and even regular season NFL games on holidays like Thanksgiving are breaking records (e.g. 34 million average viewers across Thanksgiving games)[18].
This “destination viewing” power of sports extends globally as well. Major live sports tournaments, the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics, March Madness, cricket finals, etc., are among the very few events that can still glue tens or hundreds of millions of people to their screens simultaneously worldwide. For example, the 2023 Women’s World Cup semi-final between Australia and England drew a record 7.13 million TV viewers in Australia alone (and over 60 million globally)[19], showing that a compelling live sports moment can still command mass attention. In the streaming era, where content is often consumed individually and asynchronously, sports provide that collective “big event” experience. The concept of “appointment television”, thought to be dying, is alive and well in sports, as fans prioritize watching in real time to avoid spoilers and to be part of the communal buzz.
Aside from sports, only a few outlier events and releases manage to create comparable destination viewing. Big awards broadcasts (like the Oscars) and the finales of certain hit TV series can draw large live audiences, but these are increasingly rare and usually pale next to big games. Interestingly, the movie theater has remained a destination viewing venue for blockbuster films, evidenced by phenomena like the dual-release excitement of “Barbenheimer” in 2023, when social media turned the act of going to theaters for Barbie and Oppenheimer into a cultural event. Those instances show that people will still gather for content they deem special and timely. However, when it comes to at-home content on TV or devices, sports reign supreme. A Nielsen analysis noted that in 2023, fans in the U.S. spent over 887 billion minutes watching games from just the five most-watched sports leagues, with NFL games alone making up 55% of that time[20]. This dwarfs the engagement levels of even the most binged fictional series. Sports’ ability to deliver consistent, repeatable live audiences is precisely why tech giants (Amazon, Apple, YouTube, etc.) and TV networks are willing to pay astronomical sums for sports rights.
Despite younger generations’ shift to digital platforms, they too can be drawn into live sports when the stakes or social context are high. For instance, college football saw a boost when an exciting rivalry game (Michigan vs. Ohio State 2023) drew 19 million viewers, including many younger fans, ranking among the top broadcasts of the year[21]. And certain pop culture crossovers, like music superstar Taylor Swift’s much-publicized appearances at NFL games supporting Travis Kelce, have actually brought new demographics (young female viewers, in Swift’s case) to live sports telecasts[22][23]. These examples underscore that destination viewing is not dead at all; audiences still crave shared real-time experiences. What is changing is the form these experiences take and the expectations around them. Traditional sports broadcasts are increasingly supplemented by digital fan communities and alternate feeds (more on that below), and non-sports content creators are learning to produce their own live “must-watch” moments. But in terms of reliable large-scale viewership, sports remain the gold standard. For media executives, the lesson is that live events, especially sports, are invaluable for capturing audience attention en masse, and that investing in them (and innovating around them) is key to staying relevant in a fragmented media environment.
Community at Scale: Lessons from the Influencer World
While sports has long provided a sense of community, city-wide celebrations, school pride, stadiums full of cheering fans, the streaming and influencer industry has cultivated new kinds of communities online. Popular creators on YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch build highly engaged followings who feel a personal connection to the content and to each other. Unconstrained by TV schedules, these digital-native content stars are now experimenting with creating destination viewing events of their own, often with tremendous success. A hallmark of influencer content is that it fosters interactivity and a feeling of participation, even at large scale. Live chat rooms, comment sections, Discord servers, and interactive polls allow creators to maintain a “small community” vibe even when millions are watching. This is something traditional media can struggle with, but influencers excel at making each viewer feel included in a shared experience.
A great example of an influencer-driven event that became appointment viewing is Ryan Trahan’s “50 States in 50 Days” YouTube series in 2025. Ryan Trahan, a popular YouTuber, decided to vlog a journey to visit every U.S. state in 50 days, but it evolved far beyond a personal travelogue. He and his wife Haley turned it into a nationwide fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, rallying their online community behind a charitable mission[24][25]. Each day, millions of fans tuned in to see that day’s adventures, challenges, and heartfelt moments, effectively making it a daily live-ish show. In just the first two weeks, their series hit the initial goal of $1 million raised for St. Jude, and they repeatedly raised the target as donations poured in from individuals, families, and even 115+ brands that jumped onboard as sponsors[26]. By late in the 50-day journey, Trahan had raised well over $3 million for charity[27], an astonishing achievement driven largely by community engagement and word-of-mouth. Viewers didn’t just passively watch; they actively donated, left supportive comments, and shared the story, creating a virtuous cycle of more people tuning in. Other YouTube personalities joined the cause too: Trahan’s videos featured cameos from fellow creators like MrBeast and Dhar Mann (who donated), and even got a shout-out from Survivor host Jeff Probst[28]. This fusion of daily content, real-world impact, and community involvement turned Trahan’s series into a cultural moment in the YouTube sphere. It illustrates how influencer content can replicate and even rival the communal excitement of live TV events, people couldn’t wait to see the next “episode” each day and felt part of something bigger by participating in the charity drive.
![YouTube stars MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson, left) and Ben Azelart (right) activating a new well in Malawi as part of the #TeamWater campaign (July 2025). This massive influencer-led initiative – launched by MrBeast and Mark Rober – rallied creators and fans across 84 countries to raise $40 million for global clean water projects[29][30]. It exemplifies how online creators are leveraging their communities to drive destination-worthy events and real-world impact.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/fcebf9_ca2393a76a3f430398b54376ac016a07~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_800,h_600,al_c,q_90,enc_avif,quality_auto/fcebf9_ca2393a76a3f430398b54376ac016a07~mv2.png)
Another groundbreaking example of influencer-driven destination viewing is the recently launched #TeamWater campaign. In August 2025, YouTube megastars MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) and Mark Rober teamed up with the nonprofit WaterAid to kick off a global month-long clean water fundraiser evocative of a massive online telethon. Branded as Team Water, it’s touted as possibly the biggest YouTube collaboration ever, uniting content creators from 84+ countries with a combined reach of 2 billion subscribers[29][31]. The goal: raise $40 million by the end of August to fund safe water access for 2 million people worldwide[32]. This campaign builds on the success of MrBeast and Rober’s prior viral fundraisers (#TeamTrees in 2019 and #TeamSeas in 2021), which together raised over $50 million for environmental causes[30]. What’s remarkable is how #TeamWater is engineered as a destination event across social platforms. On launch day (Aug 1, 2025), MrBeast and Mark Rober released call-to-action videos and even coordinated a live kickoff stream at a set time (promoted for 5pm BST)[33], drawing their huge fanbases to tune in simultaneously. From there, creators of all sizes began posting their own water-related content, some doing serious explainers, others fun water challenges, all encouraging donations and using the same hashtag[34]. It’s a decentralized yet massively coordinated media event: millions of fans are following along daily, tracking the fundraising progress, and feeling part of a global community working toward a concrete goal. In essence, #TeamWater is the influencer world’s version of the Olympics or World Cup, a time-bound, shared mission that captures attention and unites viewers worldwide. Notably, it also merged with traditional institutions (like partnering with a decades-old NGO, WaterAid) to lend credibility and execution muscle[35]. The early response was huge: within the first 24 hours, mainstream press from AP to Yahoo News covered the campaign[36][37], and celebrities and large brands began chiming in. By blending online community culture with real-world impact, TeamWater demonstrates how influencers can create must-watch moments that transcend entertainment and drive social change.
The influencer sphere has delivered other community-centric live hits as well. Live streaming platform Twitch has seen record-breaking audience participation events, like crowd-controlled gameplay (e.g. the famed “Twitch Plays Pokémon” where hundreds of thousands of users played a game together in 2014) and huge streamer collaboration streams. Individual streamers like Kai Cenat (one of the biggest Twitch personalities) routinely draw hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers during special event streams, effectively rivaling small TV networks in audience. And we’ve witnessed YouTube groups like the Sidemen turn an annual charity soccer match into a massive live spectacle: the 2023 Sidemen Charity Match (featuring UK influencers playing football) peaked at over 2.5 million concurrent YouTube viewers and filled a 60,000-seat stadium, a viewership and attendance that many pro sports teams would envy. All these examples hammer home a key point: the influencer and creator community has learned how to muster “event TV” numbers by fostering a sense of community and interactivity that makes fans want to be there live. Whether it’s a daily vlog series, a charity drive, or a fan-fueled competition, these digital-native events succeed by giving audiences not just content to consume, but a cause or community to belong to.
Media companies can learn from this. The influencer approach to destination viewing is about inclusivity and participation: viewers are encouraged to comment, to contribute (financially or creatively), to feel like they have a stake in what’s happening. Even at scale, top creators manage to make their audience feel like a tight-knit community, for example, by using inside jokes, naming their fanbases, reading viewer messages, and acknowledging individual contributions in real time. This community-building yields intense loyalty and turnout when an event happens. Traditional sports and entertainment have begun to take notice, integrating some of these tactics (like incorporating live tweets or fan cams during broadcasts). As we’ll discuss next, sports broadcasters are increasingly merging influencer-style engagement with their live coverage to enhance the communal experience.
Cross-Pollination: Sports and Influencers Adapting Each Other’s Tactics
With sports being the paragon of live destination content and influencers being masters of engagement and personalization, it’s natural that the two spheres are borrowing ideas from each other. We are now seeing a convergence of strategies: sports leagues are infusing broadcasts with community and customization elements that mirror the influencer approach, while influencers are adopting more polished production and schedule tactics to create big viewing “events” like sports do. The result is a new hybrid model of content that aims to deliver both massive scale and personal relevance.
How Sports Media is Evolving: To appeal to younger, digitally native fans, sports organizations are embracing influencer-style content and voices. A clear trend is the rise of alternate broadcasts and commentary streams for live games. Instead of a one-size-fits-all broadcast, networks now offer multiple simultaneous ways to watch a game, often featuring popular personalities or unique perspectives. For example, ESPN’s “ManningCast” has NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning casually commentating Monday Night Football on a secondary channel, drawing viewers who want a more relaxed, interactive feel (and this feed thrives on social media buzz each week). Amazon Prime Video, which carries Thursday Night Football, launched several alternate streams aimed at younger audiences. One notable experiment was “TNF with Dude Perfect,” where the five-member YouTube comedy group Dude Perfect provided a lighthearted companion broadcast full of trick-shot attempts and humor alongside the live game[38][39]. As Amazon’s VP of global sports video Marie Donoghue explained, “It was essential we differentiated ourselves” with such multi-feed offerings[40]. The idea is to capture different audience segments, maybe a family that enjoys Dude Perfect’s antics, or fans who want deeper analysis, or those who prefer the traditional call. In 2022 and 2023, Amazon’s NFL coverage included not just Dude Perfect’s stream but also options like a scouting-focused broadcast and a stats-heavy stream (branded “Prime Vision”) with on-screen data and alternate camera angles[41]. This echoes the Twitch/YouTube approach of letting viewers choose the style of commentary or presentation they enjoy, effectively building micro-communities around each stream. Early results show these alternates can draw solid viewership and generate social media conversation, complementing the main telecast.
Sports leagues are also directly partnering with social media influencers to expand their reach. The NFL hired over 1,200 influencers on TikTok, Instagram, etc. to create content around football, aiming to spark fandom among young people who might not watch full games[42]. Major League Baseball, recognizing TikTok’s power, launched a “creator class” program to supply popular TikTokers with behind-the-scenes access and content opportunities to promote MLB storylines[42]. These initiatives essentially treat influencers as a new type of distributed marketing channel, one that comes with built-in trust from their followers. By having charismatic young creators translate sports action into platform-friendly content (memes, challenges, reaction videos), leagues hope to seed a sense of community and excitement for their sport in demographics that are otherwise tuning out. It’s a tactic straight from the influencer playbook: speak the audience’s language and appear in the spaces they already occupy. Early evidence suggests it can work; for instance, the NFL’s official TikTok and YouTube accounts (and those of teams and players) have seen explosive growth, with youth-oriented content like end zone dances or player vlogs going viral and reinforcing the cultural relevance of watching the games.
Another area of cross-pollination is interactive and personalized features in sports streaming, taking cues from video games and social platforms. Sports broadcasters are experimenting with features like live polls (e.g., pick the player of the game), real-time Q&A with commentators via Twitter, multi-angle replay selection for users, and integrated social feeds. The Deloitte “Immersive Sports” report notes that younger fans “welcome streaming features that allow more integrated social capabilities, like co-viewing with friends and a live social feed on screen”, and about one-third of Gen Z fans say they’d like to watch games from an athlete’s point of view or see more behind-the-scenes content during live streams[43]. Broadcasters have taken that to heart: some platforms now enable watch parties where friends’ video or chat can appear alongside the game, or they provide a steady stream of Twitter commentary as part of the interface. For example, Amazon’s Twitch integration allows Thursday Night Football viewers to chat in real time, and some NBA streaming apps have offered “friends mode” where you can invite others to a synced stream. These steps mirror the community interactivity of a Twitch stream or YouTube live chat, making the viewing experience more social and sticky for younger fans who crave connection[44]. In effect, sports networks are trying to ensure that watching a game at home can feel as communal as watching with a group, or at least as engaging as discussing it on social media.
From the influencer side, many top creators are incorporating more structure and spectacle into their content, which are hallmarks of sports events. We’ve already seen how creators schedule big premieres or coordinated events like #TeamWater to concentrate viewership. In addition, some influencers are literally blending into sports entertainment: e.g., YouTubers training for boxing matches or MMA fights (think Logan Paul, KSI and others) have turned what used to be pure internet drama into real-world pay-per-view sporting events, drawing huge combined online and live audiences. These influencer boxing events have sold out arenas and garnered millions of buys/streams, showing that creators can generate anticipation akin to a title fight by leveraging their online rivalries and fanbases. It’s a formula familiar to sports promoters, build a narrative, schedule a showdown, hype it across channels, and an audience will gather at a fixed time. Similarly, gaming and esports streamers frequently organize tournaments or competitions (sometimes multi-day affairs) that rally their fans much like a sports playoff, complete with brackets, live commentary, and a championship atmosphere. Influencers are effectively learning to be programmers and producers, not just uploading spontaneous videos. They tease content drops, create seasons of content, and use cliffhangers and trailers to keep viewers invested and waiting for the next installment or live event. This adoption of traditional media techniques has elevated the professionalism and impact of creator content, making it easier for fans to consider it a destination not to be missed.
Both worlds are learning that the future of destination viewing is interactive, multiplatform, and user-centric. The lines are blurring: Sports leagues now talk about “fan engagement” in a way that sounds like a YouTube strategist, and influencers now plan mega-events with the coordination of a sports league. The result is more options for viewers: A football fan today might watch the big game on TV, and follow their favorite player’s vlog on YouTube, and join a live watch party hosted by a Twitch streamer. The content ecosystem around a live event becomes richer and more personalized. For the media industry, this cross-pollination means that success will come from combining strengths, the scale and excitement of live events with the authenticity and interactivity of social media. When done right, it’s a win-win: sports broadcasts become more compelling to younger audiences, and influencer content gains the gravitas and broad appeal traditionally reserved for TV events.
Spatial Media and Personalized Viewing: The Next Frontier
Looking ahead, one of the most exciting developments that could merge the sports and digital community experiences is the advent of spatial sports media. Spatial media refers to capturing live events (like sports games) in three dimensions, enabling content that can be experienced from any angle or perspective with rich interactivity[45]. In simpler terms, it’s like turning a sports match into a virtual environment (a sort of holodeck) where the viewer is no longer locked to the camera angles the broadcaster chooses. Instead, each fan can choose how they watch the action, whether on a VR headset or, more practically in the near-term, on a normal 2D screen with interactive controls. Crucially, this technology allows for multiple simultaneous personalized experiences of the same live event. Every fan could be seeing the play from a different vantage point, focusing on different players, and even hearing different commentators, yet all are watching the same game and sharing in the overall moment. This is precisely the kind of evolution that could keep destination viewing alive by making it more engaging and customizable for the new generation.
At its core, spatial sports media is an evolution of innovations like 360-degree replays and multi-angle cameras that sports have flirted with in recent years. The difference is the degree of control and immersion given to fans. Imagine being able to pause a live football game and virtually fly around the field to see how a play develops from the quarterback’s eyes or from a bird’s-eye tactical view. Then you could hit play and watch the rest of the play unfold from that perspective. This isn’t science fiction, prototypes already exist. One expert describes it as “transforming traditional one-to-many broadcasts into dynamic 1:1 viewing experiences” where an AI-driven virtual camera lets each fan effectively be their own director[46]. A definition from a tech firm Skyrim.AI’s report states: “Spatial Sports Media refers to capturing sports action in 3D, allowing fans to experience content from any angle with rich interactivity… viewers can move freely within the scene, as if they were on the field alongside the players.”[45][47]. In practice, a fan on a tablet could pinch, zoom, and rotate their view of a live play, or select a “player cam” to see what the goalkeeper saw as the penalty kick was coming in. Broadcasters, too, gain new storytelling superpowers, they can generate angles that no physical camera could (say, a virtual floating cam above the goalie’s glove) to enhance analysis[48]. This level of interactivity blurs the line between watching and participating; viewers become active explorers of the content[47][49].
Importantly, spatial media doesn’t require everyone to have a VR headset (though VR or AR goggles could provide the most immersive version). These 3D captures can be rendered into dynamic 2D video on the fly, meaning a regular streaming app or smart TV could let viewers click to switch angles or even handle some 3D manipulation via a remote. It’s about providing the same event in many forms simultaneously. Deloitte describes this future as one where “every fan won’t have the same experience, even if they’re watching the same live event.” Fans will dictate what they want to see, when and where (device/platform), who they want to watch with, and how the content is presented[50][51]. For example, Fan A might watch on her phone focusing on her favorite player’s highlights, with an overlay of live stats and a chat with friends on-screen. Fan B might watch the TV broadcast angle on a big screen with traditional commentary. Fan C might be toggling through multiple camera angles on a tablet, while listening to an alternate commentary from an influencer. They’re all watching the same match, but each through a personalized lens. The community aspect isn’t lost, they can still all react together on social media or in-app chat about the big goal, but each fan feels more in control of their viewing experience, which is exactly what Gen Z audiences crave[49][52].
The technology to enable spatial sports media is quickly advancing. Early volumetric video trials (like the NBA’s 360° replay “freeD” or the NFL’s Intel True View system) required dozens of high-end cameras and tons of processing to stitch together a 3D moment[53]. They were limited to highlights and replays due to complexity. Now, AI-driven approaches promise to drastically reduce the hardware needed and do the 3D reconstruction in real time[54][55]. Companies in this space report that instead of 50-100 cameras, they can capture a whole field with ~30 cameras and generate interactive 3D video nearly live[56]. This is opening the door for actual live spatial broadcasts in the next couple of years. As one industry report noted, sports audiences are driving these innovations more than any other category, because the demand is there and the payoff (in terms of fan engagement and new monetization) is huge[57][58]. Executives recognize that to keep fickle young viewers, they need to offer an experience “undeniably better than 2D, more immersive, more interactive”, and spatial media might be that hook[58]. We’re already seeing steps: some NBA and NFL teams have experimented with AR mobile apps that let fans project a highlight in 3D on their table and walk around it, or interact with a hologram of a player. While niche now, these are pilots for the mainstream rollout of spatial capture.
From a content standpoint, spatial media will enable sports to produce endless personalized clips and angles, perfect for short-form content and influencers. For example, instead of the league churning out one highlight reel of the game, they could algorithmically generate a custom highlight reel for every player (so every fan can follow “their player’s” game), or for every angle (e.g. “relive the dunk from the courtside seat view”). Those could then be shared on social media, effectively multiplying the content generated from one live event and tailoring it to different interests. A fan on TikTok might see a highlight of a goal from the striker’s perspective, which is far more engaging than the standard TV angle, it feels like you are the player scoring. Another TikTok might show the same goal but from behind the net in slow-motion 3D, appealing to those who love cinematic visuals. This ability to repackage the same moment in many forms, “stylizing it, personalizing it, making the short more than just the highlight” to quote the prompt, is exactly what spatial media offers. It can bring out the athletes’ perspectives, show context that the main broadcast missed, and incorporate additional storytelling voices. For instance, an influencer could virtually “step into” a play and do a quick breakdown for their followers using the 3D replay, essentially becoming a commentator with their own custom camera. Indeed, spatial media could enable a whole new creator ecosystem: imagine fans or independent creators creating their own highlight compilations or analysis by choosing angles and moments in a spatial capture, then sharing that video. This is a natural extension of what fans already do (remix content, make highlight edits), but with far richer source material.
Another exciting aspect is the potential for alternative commentary and audio to be seamlessly integrated. If every viewer can have their own feed, they could also choose their audio. Want to listen to the official announcers? Sure. Prefer your favorite YouTuber’s take on the game? Maybe the platform lets that creator overlay their commentary on the spatial feed. Or perhaps you and a few friends want to voice chat while watching, effectively creating your own private commentary channel, spatial media could sync that with the action easily. The additional voices in the experience become a feature, not a disruption. This is already hinted at in current media: for example, some fans today mute the TV and listen to a radio announcer they prefer, or join a Twitter Space where someone is talking about the game. In the future, the interface might let you click “Hear analysis from [influencer name]” and you’re in their audio room while the game plays. Sports networks could even offer a selection of commentary streams (a duo of former players for hardcore analysis, a pair of comedians for laughs, a Spanish-language team, etc.) and each viewer picks. We see early versions of this with ESPN’s multi-cast (like college football national championship offering different commentary feeds) and Amazon’s alternate streams. With spatial broadcasts, it could become far more modular and user-driven, essentially mix-and-match your ideal viewing experience (video angle, data overlays, commentary, co-viewers, etc.), all synchronized to the live event[52].
For media businesses, spatial sports media could unlock new revenue streams, premium personalized experiences. Fans might pay extra for a “Spatial Season Pass” to have full control of angles and interactive replays on demand[59][60]. Or charge for VIP influencer commentary experiences (imagine paying to watch the NBA Finals “with” a famous ex-player breaking it down just for your small group). At the very least, it keeps audiences more deeply engaged, which yields more opportunities for advertising and sponsorship (e.g. branded 3D replays, immersive ads in the 3D environment, etc.). Crucially, it addresses the risk of young fans drifting away, by meeting their expectations for interactivity and personalization, spatial media can make live sports feel as cutting-edge as video games or as personalized as their social feeds[58]. In the words of one Nvidia case study cited in the Skyrim report, the vision is that “every major sporting event is captured spatially in 3D, so fans worldwide can enjoy a unique perspective of each game in a personalized manner.”[61][62]. The technology and the demand are aligning: as cloud computing, AI, and graphics improve, and as fans demand more control, the stage is set for a revolution in how we watch sports.
In summary, spatial media could be the lever that sports pulls to adapt to the short-form, personalized content era without losing what makes it powerful. It preserves the live, communal nature of sports, everyone still cares about the same game outcome, but allows infinite customization in viewing. It’s the convergence of destination viewing and user-centric content. Sports remains the grand event, but each fan’s journey through that event can be unique and enriched. And by facilitating new voices and perspectives (from athletes themselves to influencers to the fans), it turns the viewing experience into a participatory community endeavor at scale. This echoes what the influencer industry has shown: people value content more when they can engage with it actively and socially. Spatial sports experiences would embody that principle on top of the biggest live content we have. It’s a space the media industry is actively exploring, and we will likely see early mainstream implementations within the next couple of years.
Summary
In the battle for audience attention, the dynamics of sports and short-form digital content are not oppositional but increasingly synergistic. Destination viewing is far from dead, it’s evolving into new forms that blend the live, collective excitement of traditional broadcasts with the interactive, personalized engagement of the social media age. Sports, as a content genre, continues to dominate live viewership and capture cultural moments in a way few other things can. At the same time, the rise of influencers and short-form platforms has fundamentally changed how especially young audiences consume and relate to content. The future of media will not be about one defeating the other, but about cross-pollination and innovation that leverages the strengths of both.
For media industry stakeholders, whether in sports, TV, or film, several takeaways are clear. First, community matters. People still seek communal experiences around content, but the community might gather on Discord or YouTube rather than in front of a cable TV. Fostering that sense of belonging and real-time interaction (through alternate streams, social features, etc.) is crucial to keep audiences invested. Second, personalization is key. One-size-fits-all content is losing ground to content that adapts to individual preferences, be it customized highlights, chosen camera angles, or favorite commentators. Embracing technologies like spatial media and AI-driven content curation will be vital to meet these expectations at scale. Third, collaboration with creators is a winning strategy. The influencer ecosystem isn’t a threat to sports and media, it’s an enhancement and a new distribution channel. When a sports league empowers creators to tell its stories or a streaming platform recruits internet personalities for live events, they are effectively supercharging their reach and relevance. The result can be a bigger, younger, and more global audience than traditional marketing alone could achieve.
Finally, this convergence underscores a broader point: the definition of “broadcasting” is expanding. It’s no longer just TV networks sending out a feed to passive viewers. It’s now a multi-channel, many-to-many conversation, where fans might be broadcasters themselves (repackaging content), and professionals curate experiences that feel bespoke. Yet, amid all this change, the human desire to share in an exciting moment, to have “I was there, we all watched it happen” experiences, remains constant. Sports provided that in the 20th century through radio and TV; now sports, along with forward-thinking creators, will continue to provide that through the internet and emerging media. By learning from each other, they are ensuring that even in an age of endless distractions, there will still be occasions when millions come together, in real time, to be part of a story as it unfolds. And whether that’s cheering a game-winning goal or donating en masse in a livestream for charity, those destination moments will be all the more powerful for having been reimagined for a new era.
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What It Is and Why It Matters
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