Genius Sports (NYSE:GENI) used its NewFronts Week presentation to outline a new approach to sports advertising built around real-time data, fan intelligence, and programmatic activation. Executives and partners argued that while many platforms can “reach sports fans,” few can reach them “when it actually matters,” emphasizing that timing—and the live moments that drive emotion—are central to sports media effectiveness.
Launching the “Moment Engine” for real-time sports marketing
Company leaders formally introduced the Genius Sports Moment Engine, describing it as “critical ad tech infrastructure for sports media” that connects official live game signals, predictive modeling, and Genius’ audience graph to enable planning and activation around specific in-game and season-long moments.
Linforth highlighted the company’s in-venue optical tracking, which he said captures “every moment of every player with sub-second latency,” and described GeniusIQ predictive analytics operating across leagues including the NFL, NCAA, Premier League, and NBA. He framed the goal as not just detecting moments but predicting when shifts in probability, momentum, or history are forming in real time.
Fan targeting built around “deterministic” data
A recurring theme was that game context alone is insufficient without a strong understanding of the fan. Genius Sports said its Moment Engine connects directly to the Genius Fan Graph, which Linforth described as covering 250 million U.S. consumers using “deterministic transaction-based data,” rather than cookies or modeled lookalikes. He said the graph includes signals such as teams followed, games streamed, bets placed, and brands purchased.
The company also referenced additions to its data capabilities through “the addition of Legends and Covers,” which it said strengthens the Fan Graph with additional search, betting, and intent signals. Earlier in the event, executives noted that the Genius Fan Graph was further established through the prior-year addition of Sports Innovation Lab, which helped expand the company’s deterministic view of sports fans beyond demographics into behaviors, passions, and intent.
Partnerships and ecosystem integrations
Genius Sports said it is integrating the Moment Engine into multiple supply-side platforms (SSPs) and premium publishers to make moment-based activation available natively in the ad ecosystem. Linforth listed partners including:
- Magnite
- DIRECTV
- FreeWheel
- Equativ
- The Weather Company
- Index Exchange
- OpenX
- PubMatic
He also said Publicis would integrate the Moment Engine into Epsilon, giving Publicis clients early access.
In addition, Genius Sports pointed to rights-based and owned environments enhanced by real-time data, naming BetVision, NBC and FanDuel Sports Network, and Covers. The company also announced a partnership with Univision to introduce “moment-driven in-game ads” across Liga MX, which was described as the most-watched soccer league in the U.S.
Industry panels: NFL narrative building and the “365-day” season
In a panel moderated by Genius Sports EVP of North America Sean Conroy, NFL SVP of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing Marissa Solis said fan engagement with the league extends far beyond game day. She cited over 15 billion conversations about the NFL in 2025, describing year-round storylines spanning drafts, stadium developments, trades, and cultural moments.
Lowe’s Chief Creative Officer Kyle McCarthy said the NFL’s appeal for brands comes from scale, audience composition, and the “behavior around the game,” citing 180 million fans and adding that 100 million of those are Millennials and Gen Z. He described Lowe’s “Earn Your Sunday” campaign as rooted in the idea that fans want Sundays for football, while home projects happen throughout the week—allowing the brand to show up along the full lead-up journey rather than only during the game.
Publicis Sports CEO Suzy Deering emphasized that data must be “actionable” and connected to lifestyle-driven fandom that now runs year-round. She argued that marketers historically overestimated how well they understood their audiences and said richer signals across digital touchpoints allow brands to find customers they previously missed.
Research findings cited on ad performance during emotional moments
Genius Sports presenters cited third-party and partner research to support the value of moment-based advertising. Gina Waldhorn, the company’s SVP of Marketing, said Genius Sports worked with MediaScience to study the impact of placing ads adjacent to intense live moments. According to Waldhorn, the study found brand recall was 2x higher when an ad followed an emotional “moment that mattered.”
She also referenced a separate study conducted with Omnicom examining in-game augmented ads. Waldhorn said 83% of fans are already using second screens to search for information about the game they are watching, and reported that 82% of fans “liked or loved” the augmented experiences tested. She added that pairing video ads with Genius’ in-game augmentation produced 5x stronger brand lift in recall and favorability, and more than 3x higher lift in search and purchase intent for distinct audiences.
Closing the presentation, Waldhorn said Genius Sports has packaged “Genius Moments” into thematic, deal-ID-based buying products designed to scale across a season and beyond a single match. She said a portal would be made available for NewFront packages tied to the World Cup, and that the broader 2026/2027 sports calendar would be offered with moment-based deal IDs and packages intended to “see the game, know the fan, and win the moments that matter.”
About Genius Sports (NYSE:GENI)
Genius Sports is a global sports technology company that specializes in collecting, analyzing and distributing real-time sports data and video streams. The firm provides official data feeds, live video streaming solutions and digital engagement tools to sports leagues, federations, broadcasters and betting operators. By integrating data directly from sporting events through its network of field officials and proprietary technology, Genius Sports ensures accuracy and integrity for partners who rely on up-to-the-second information.
The company’s product suite includes a cloud-based platform for data capture and distribution, an integrity services offering designed to identify and mitigate match-fixing risks, and a suite of commercial products that power odds creation, in-game betting markets and fan engagement experiences.
