It’s no secret that AI is reshaping industries at a catastrophic pace and the impact is being felt across all industries including live sports production in New Zealand. In 2025 alone, over 91,000 tech workers have lost their jobs and this will very quickly trickle down through other industries. It’s not all doom and gloom: AI is expected to create up to 170 million new roles globally by 2030.
At the StreamShop we celebrate innovation and advancement in technology, and we should be excited about AI being used for live sports streaming in New Zealand. However, when the camera is busy tracking the dog chasing a ball or the small child on the sideline instead of the game coverage, there’s not a lot to celebrate.
The Appeal of AI for Live Sports Production
So many New Zealand Sporting Organisations (NSO’s), are strapped financially and are always looking for ways to save money. Using AI technology brings with it substantial cost savings doing away with the need for camera operators and production crews and the scalability means that covering multiple fields is now an option. AI tracks ball movements, switches angles and generates highlights easily. Sounds perfect right?
Reality Check – What’s Going Wrong?
Overall, there is a lack of context, AI does not understand the game like a human does – it can’t anticipate plays or focus on key movements. In addition, AI often struggles with fast-paced, unpredictable sports and this can spell trouble for the experience that viewers are getting at home.
Capturing ‘Celebs’ or Celebrations
AI most definitely does not understand human emotion and is not capable of storytelling in the way a human director or camera operator can. Human operators will zoom in on emotion, drama and the tension – all key reasons why many of us love watching sports on ‘TV’.
There is often a feeling of motion sickness as you watch AI coverage as the cameras are jittery and disorienting, not quite sure what to focus on when there is a lot happening during game play on the sports field.
What AI Needs to get Right First
It’s just not quite there yet – AI needs to learn from high-quality; human directed footage and needs to be tailored to the nuances of individual sports – it’s most certainly not one size fits all!
The coverage of live sport goes way beyond watching a ball move from side to side – it’s about the emotion, the storytelling and the human connection. AI should be there to assist but right now it should not be used to replace the human eye bringing the drama, the detail, and the human intelligence and intuition to our viewing experience.
The StreamShop – For the Best in Human Intelligence
At the StreamShop we’re strong believers in using technology to enhance the viewing experience, not compromise it. If you’re looking for reliable, human-led broadcast quality livestreaming that captures all the energy, emotion and crucial storytelling get in touch and we can help you add a sprinkle of fairy dust to what you’re doing so that your fans and community don’t just ‘tune’ in but enjoy every moment while they’re there.
https://thestreamshop.live/ and find out what a difference human-led production makes.