Artificial Intelligence is transforming club operations and fan engagement, and to deliver true value, the technology must be used to strengthen the emotional core of sport. That’s a key message of this high-profile DLD Sports expert discussion with Thomas Ehemann (FC Bayern München), Paulius Motiejunas (BC Zalgiris Kaunas) and Dominik Schreyer (WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management), moderated by Eva Lihotzky (raidiant).
Football club FC Bayern uses AI to personalize content, remove hate speech from social media channels, refine its business models, and support employees through an in-house platform. “AI can help us to be more efficient, to put up new revenue streams”, Ehemann says. “We do that with a human-centered AI approach. We need to take our fans with us.”
Digital devices are key to reaching younger fans, making content and experience central to the future, Ehemann explains. “In the past, the first touch point in a club was a stadium or a local fan club”, he says. “Now it’s a smartphone or a gaming console.”
Dominik Schreyer presents findings from a survey of 70 experts who were asked how AI will change the business of Germany’s Bundesliga football league by 2030. “These experts are super bullish on everything that augments decision-making”, Schreyer says. “Augmented coaching decisions, giving them information for training schedules, things like that” are seen as benefits. But “they are very cautious about real transformation”, Schreyer adds. “And this makes sense because these clubs are operating under a lot of constraints.”
Paulius Motiejunas argues that clubs should “follow the fans” when they develop an AI strategy. “We have to make apps and all the AI tools, everything, not to be used on the couch”, he says, “but to be used in the arena to enhance the experience.”
Watch the video to explore the discussion in detail.
