AI Sports Stats 2025

The AI in sports industry is set to hit a $29.7 billion market size by 2032.

So what are the new ways AI is augmenting the sports world?

Let’s find out by delving into some interesting AI sports stats in the report!

The Global Artificial Intelligence in Sports Market Size Is Projected to Reach $29.7 Billion by 2032

It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.1% from 2023 to 2032. (Allied Market Research, 2032)

There is Demand for Data Analytics, but Growth Is Limited Due to a Lack of Skilled Professionals

According to Mordor Intelligence, the need for real-time data analytics is increasing, yet this growth requires data experts to fuel it. (Mordor Intelligence, 2025)

How Can Generative AI Impact The Sports Industry?

Generative AI can impact the sports industry by providing live updates on important matches, creating virtual reality environments, and personalized training programs.

Live Updates on Important Matches in Sports

Everyone loves to have the thrill that updates give during an ongoing live match.

Short reels or summarized content are also what fans seem to be looking for, which AI can help with. (Morning Consult For IBM, 2024)

AI Can Be Used to Create Virtual Reality Environments for Training

Opponents’ movements can be recorded and reproduced in a virtual environment so that athletes can practice against them virtually. (Science Direct, 2024)

Human Action Recognition Helps Improve Player Performance

Action recognition, along with analysis of how the action the player made can be improved, is another interesting use-case of ML algorithms. (Springer, 2021)

LiDAR Provided Accurate Measures of Velocity and Acceleration in Football-Specific Tasks

With this, keeping track of players on the field, along with other player performance metrics, becomes very easy. (ResearchGate, 2022)

AI Is Impacting Almost Every Professional Sport

From players to coaches and sports consumers as well, AI is ubiquitous in how it can impact sports. (PWC, 2019)

The Top Priorities for Generative AI Improvements Were Real-Time Updates and Personalized Content

Here is the breakdown of priorities, along with a few more stats, according to Morning Consult For IBM :

• Real-time updates: 36%

• Personalized content: 31%

• Unique insights: 30%

• Meaningful predictions: 26%

• Voice interfaces: 26%

• Engagement opportunities: 21%

Sports Fans Aged 55+ Were Less Enthusiastic About the Impact of Technology in Sports

This was particularly noticeable in the UAE and SA.

Golf and Rugby Fans Feel Most Optimistic About the Impact of AI Analytics

Cricket too, was seen to benefit from this, along with Hawk-Eye technology.

The Global Wearable Technology Market Size Was Valued at $120.54 Billion in 2023

This is set to propel the demand for AI in the sports industry going by historical data, according to Fortune Business Insights.

The market is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 31.5% during the forecast period of 2024-2032.

Let’s look at a few more stats from their report.

VR Headsets Segment Is Expected To Lead the Market

In 2022, VR headsets made up 30% of the market share for wearable tech.

Health and Fitness accounted for 25% of the Market Share, by End Use.

This was closely followed by the gaming/entertainment, and fashion sector.

North America Had the Largest Market Share at Around 50.76 Billion

There is a rising trend of health and fitness in North America as well, propelling the need for fitness trackers like Fitbits.

In 2022, the IoT-Based Segment Accounted for Over 43.2% of the Market Share

The advances in technologies that can fit smaller and more energy-efficient chips into wearable devices helped this industry grow.

67% Believe Wearable Tech Has a Positive Effect on Sports

Most sports fans were optimistic about wearable devices. (Morning Consult For IBM, 2024)

Some Examples of Practical Usage of AI in The Sports Industry

Let’s get a clearer view on how AI is currently being implemented in major sporting events.

AI Integration During the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris

Accoridng to Ruby Labs, AI was used in at least four spheres during the Paris Olympics. They are:

1. Tracking the performance of the Olympic athletes.

2. Show higher quality replays with AI-backed cloud systems, as well as ai technologies that create 3D model systems.

3. AI can directly report offensive comments under top athletes’ social media pages, shielding them from negative comments.

4. AI algorithms can automatically detect the most interesting or crucial points of a game and put them in a highlight reel.

What Is Stats Perform and How Is It Currently Being Used?

Statsperform is a widely known pioneer in using AI capabilities to enhance the experience of sports.

Here are some quick snippets from Stats Perform and how it’s being used, starting with its Opta engine for real-time sports data:

• Opta has 500k matches covered annually

• It has 3900 Global Competitions covered

• It has more than 14 billion-plus unique event data points

• Opta is well connected as well, with around 100+ global partnerships

Statsperform also has more features like:

• A richer analysis of media

• Improving on-Field Success

• Making sports betting a more reliable and safe enterprise

Cricket South Africa Employs StatsPerform to Collect and Analyze Ball-by-Ball Event Data

One of the major cricket leagues- Cricket South Africa, has employed StatsPerform for its sports events.

It’s used for features such as enhancing sports commentaries and player selection. (AP News, 2020)

AI-Assisted Referees Ensured Fairness During the November 2022 FIFA World Cup

Referees have a tough time in fast-paced matches to give a verdict that is completely fair.

In 2022, Fifa employed AI tools to assist decision-making. One such tool was a Video Assistant Referee or VAR.

VAR is a system that combines AI and video technology to assist referees in live matches. (Fifa, 2022)

Wimbledon Uses AI for Video Highlight Commentary

Wimbledon has begun using AI for tennis commentary for game highlights.

Yet, AI isn’t set to replace really good commentators such as John McEnroe.

IBM’s sports partnerships leader, Kevin Farrar, emphasizes this point.

“You can’t replace John McEnroe doing commentary, that human element always needs to be there,” said Farrar, according to The Telegraph. “It’s very much supplementing and complementing.”

Wimbledon is set to continue using commentators like John as of now. (The Telegraph, 2023)

Demand For AI in Sports Betting

Predictive analytics is also being used to evaluate athletes’ performance, which can influence sports betting.

It can also be used to predict game outcomes.

This is done with technologies such as human-pose estimation. (Allied Market Research, 2024)

AI in Game Strategy Analysis

AI/ML is used in game strategy analysis in two ways: to identify patterns and to evaluate the effectiveness of tactics. (IJERT, 2024)

AI Model Achieves ROC AUC Score of 0.73 in Predicting Player Performance Over the Next 240 Seconds

This could be used as a learning tool by players. (Springer, 2022)

Final Thoughts: Be Mindful of Ethical Considerations While Leveraging AI in Sports

Some of the new arenas where AI can be used in the future that could be ethically worrisome, according to PWC, are:

• Models can use athletes’ performance data to see if they have deliberately thrown the game

• Talent selection to minimize corruption or nepotism, without the algorithm being biased itself

• Drone surveillance becoming compromised

• Data leak concerns

In the future, a single AI technology likely won’t be enough. Coaches, teams, and individual sportspersons benefit from a collection of AI tools at their service.

Yet, of course, care must be taken to ensure AI is used ethically.