Possible 2025: How Fan Engagement in Programmatic Is Redefining Live Sports Streaming

Magnite Team

May 15, 2025 | 5 min read

Live sports streaming is rewriting the playbook for how fans watch, cheer, and connect with their favorite teams and events. As viewers lean into digital-first experiences, leagues and platforms are racing to keep up. For advertisers, it's a front-row seat to reach passionate fans in the moment, with everything from exclusive stream-only rights to dynamic, in-game ad tech pushing the boundaries of engagement.

At Possible 2025 in Miami Beach, Magnite invited top leaders from NBCUniversal, Disney, Roku, and DISH Media to dig into how the ecosystem is shifting to meet the demands of both fans and advertisers in real time.

1. From One-Size-Fits-All to Tailored and Tactical

Advertisers no longer have to rely on generic sports buys. Programmatic is helping brands move from broad reach to precision engagement by packaging inventory around specific sports, devices, and audience segments. This level of granularity allows buyers to align their messaging with both the context of the event and the behaviors of their target audience.

Tailored packages also allow for more effective performance tracking and frequency management across devices. For example, a brand advertising around college football can now extend that campaign to streaming-only fans, with the same reach and efficiency they'd expect from digital.

"Advertisers are looking for simplicity and efficiency," said Tom Fochetta, senior vice president, DISH Media. "We've unlocked the value of audiences through partners like Magnite, and by combining linear on DISH with Sling, we offer a streamlined solution called DISH Connected™. It brings together linear and OTT live sports, whether it's golf or football, in a single, flexible package."

2. Protecting the Viewer Experience with Smarter Ad Delivery

Live sports don't pause for ad tech glitches. When the game breaks, the ad break happens whether there's demand or not. That makes delivering the right ad at the right moment critical.

"We've got to make sure that viewer experience is paramount," said Matt Barnes, vice president of automated sales, Disney Advertising. "You can't just collapse a pod if there's not enough demand. And what we can't have is the 'I'll be right back' slate. The consumer, the publisher, and the advertiser don't want to see that."

Enter Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), the technology that enables advertisers to serve ads in real time during live streams, making it possible to personalize the experience and improve monetization. However, adoption across major events has been limited. To maintain reliability, many publishers still insert ads manually to prevent interruptions caused by ad delivery failures.

As the industry pushes forward, building the infrastructure to support seamless, scaled DAI will be crucial, not just to improve monetization, but to uphold the premium viewing experience that keeps fans coming back.

3. Real-Time Relevance: Planning for Spikes Before They Happen

Sports stakes are high, and so are the viewership surges that follow a game-winning shot or an unexpected upset. Being able to capitalize on those moments means anticipating demand, not just reacting to it.

"Programmatic is built to capture lightning-in-a-bottle moments," said Mike Laband, group senior vice president, revenue, Magnite. "The key is not waiting for spikes to happen but planning with the flexibility to activate in real time."

Advertisers need systems in place that can anticipate surges in viewership and shift spend accordingly. These shifts require collaboration across the buy and sell side, and more agile strategies with real-time signals and pre-planned flexibility baked into programmatic deals. This allows brands to show up in the moments that matter most, when fan attention is at its peak.

4. Creative That Doesn't Break the Game

Sports fans have come to expect immersive, dynamic experiences, and the creative should reflect that.

James Kreckler, SVP, streaming & data products, advertising and partnerships, NBCUniversal, suggested creative like an L-wrap, a format where the live video is resized and shifted to the center of the screen, while a sponsor's message appears along the top and left sides, creating an "L"-shaped frame around the content.

During the Olympics, NBCUniversal also debuted a new e-commerce ad tool, called Virtual Concessions, where users could order food and drinks through on-screen QR codes and have them delivered to their homes.

The goal should be to reduce friction and keep fans in the moment, making creative feel like part of the experience rather than an interruption. While a cinematic ad might work well during a movie stream, it could fall flat in a sports game where something "fast and integrated" fits better.

5. Fragmentation Is Still the Elephant in the Room

Navigating the complexity of rights and distribution can be tricky. From a Yankees fan trying to find the latest game to media buyers attempting to navigate overlapping content rights, it's a maze.

For buyers, that fragmentation creates a chaotic planning environment. Instead of a unified marketplace, advertisers must navigate different taxonomies, packages, and naming conventions depending on the publisher. Without centralized tools, transparency, or scheduling standards, advertisers may struggle to understand what they're buying, and where their ads are showing up.

"If every platform does it differently, that's really hard," said Sarah Harms, VP, ads marketing and measurement, Roku. She noted that buyers need consistency, and publishers should be able to fit into their platforms, not make buyers adapt.

The fan experience can also be impacted. While streaming unlocks new audiences, not all sports fans can find their team's games. Better discovery tools and more unified access points will be essential to keeping fans engaged and advertisers aligned.

The Final Buzzer

As streaming habits evolve and audiences fragment, programmatic has become the connective tissue that brings together traditional sports buying with the future of fan engagement in programmatic.

From delivering tailored creative to reacting in real time, programmatic gives brands a front-row seat to the most important moments in sports.

Tags: live