- AI chatbots are scaling fast and becoming platforms
- Sponsorship is a new way for AI to stand out in sport
- Sports properties gain a powerful new commercial category
AI chatbots have quickly become indispensable for millions of users.
Processing 2.5 billion prompts every day, the chatbot market is expected to grow by 30% per year until 2029 (Business Research).
Today, ChatGPT leads the market (82%), followed by Perplexity (11%), Microsoft Copilot (3%) and Google Gemini (3%).
Will AI platforms invest in sponsorship?
They already are.
Earlier this year, Perplexity announced a partnership with Lewis Hamilton.
The Premier League (Adobe), the NFL (Microsoft) and the ATP (Sony) have also signed AI-related deals.
To get the most out of this new category, sports properties are smartly splitting AI sponsorship into different use cases.
Some partners focus on fan activation.
Others on performance, data analytics or stadium operations.
As AI chatbot usage continues its rapid growth, platforms will need to differentiate in order to stay relevant.
Sponsorship can play a big role in that.
Today, ChatGPT dominates the market, while Perplexity has made the boldest move into sport so far.
This new category represents a big opportunity for sports properties.
Not just to generate new revenue, but also to improve fan engagement and sporting performance.
What can happen to clubs, athletes or competitions not embracing AI?
Not meeting fans’ expectations and, ultimately, being out of the game.
Welcome, AI chatbots.
Receive my weekly post