How New Technology Will Change Summer Sport Coverage

Sport has been one of the most significant areas of innovation in television broadcasting. From the original black and white pictures seen in the 19^th century to the modern HD with masses of graphics and advertising, as modern commercial TV production brings constant change, the images presented to viewers have become ever more sophisticated.

Alongside this has been the sheer volume of coverage available. Back in the days of the black-and-white Pathe newsreels, even grand footballing occasions like the FA Cup final gained just a few minutes of coverage, less than many news items might on today’s wall-to-wall rolling news channels.

Changes down the years included the arrival of colour TV and, eventually, live cup final coverage, something that did not extend to league matches until the 1980s.

However, the sport did not have an avalanche of graphics or stats attached until much more recently, partly because it wasn’t until the last 30 years that analysis has started to include measurements of possession, passing accuracy percentages and increasingly arcane metrics like ‘expected goals’.

Why Football Trails Behind Tennis And Cricket

Summer sports like cricket and tennis, however, have been subject to much more analysis for longer. This is partly because they are (at least in the case of cricket) more complex, but also because the interaction with TV has been greater and started sooner.

For instance, the first live broadcast of a Test match took place at Lor

d’s in 1938, while the inaugural live coverage of Wimbledon took place the previous year.

These sports were also faster to adopt technology such as Hawkeye for decisions, with tennis in particular producing some thrilling animated moments as balls have been seen to land millimetres outside the line or fractionally on it, while lbw decisions in cricket have often been equally tight. Replays for line decisions in Tests date back further, to the 1990s.

What Is New In 2025?

At the turn of this year, questions were asked about what the next innovation in sports broadcasting would be. For sports in mid-season like football and rugby union, that was not an ideal time to bring in anything novel, which would not be an issue when the summer came around.

Despite that, some elements have come into play in-season, not least the semi-automated offside judgements that have just begun to be used in VAR in the English Premier League, which has had the benefit for players, spectators and TV viewers alike of reducing delays when tight decisions need to be made.

Using ball tracking through a chip in the ball (used in goal-line technology) and Hawkeye-style multiple camera tracking to establish player positions, it takes around 50 frames a second, ensuring that AI combines with other modern tech to produce fast and accurate results.

Semi-automated offsides first featured in the 2022 World Cup and are now also used in the Champions League, so the use of this system in the Premier League is not before time.

AI, AR and VR To Play A Role

Writing in January for Broadcast Now, global head of media and entertainment services at Tata Communications, Daval Ponda highlighted the role that AI could play in broadcasting innovation, but also virtual reality and augmented reality.

The latter two factors are being cited as having the capacity to produce immersive experiences, enabling people to feel as if they are actually in the venue, he observed.

This will form an important part of how some people consume sports coverage, alongside other changes that show younger audiences demanding more streaming services while older viewers are happy with traditional TV.

Virtual and augmented reality may be especially desirable for events in which demand for tickets may be a great deal larger than the number available, such as the FA Cup final or, indeed, Wimbledon, with Centre Court holding just under 15,000 fans.

This sort of experience could be especially desirable if, for instance, a Briton like Jack Draper or Emma Raducanu reach the final. But it could also be attractive for the sheer novelty of it, whoever is playing.

Other innovations may include the use of even clearer and better camera shots, with more frames per second being produced than ever. However, some issues may remain a challenge to be solved.

A Problem Not Yet Solved

In cricket, a key issue is the absence of a 3d image to match that of the naked eye when using slow motion in determining whether a low catch has been taken cleanly, or the ball has hit the ground just before lodging in a fielder’s hands.

This has led to much controversy, with many batters remaining at the crease thanks to the doubt over whether a catch carried, when in reality they probably should have been given out.

As broadcast technology becomes increasingly part of sport itself in helping with adjudication, finding a solution could be the next leap forward.