Leveraging SGAI for Longtail Live Sports
With sports that aren’t orchestrated for built-in TV ad breaks and a traditional broadcast run of show, SGAI provides critical advantages for monetizing sports content without pulling fans out of the action and causing them to miss key moments in the game. FloSports Product Manager, Ad Tech Adair Lyden explains these and other reasons why FloSports is embracing server-guided ad insertion (SGAI) as a good fit for their content and programming model and provides an early look at how it’s working for them in this conversation with Ring Digital's Brian Ring at Streaming Media Connect 2026.
Why FloSports Is Embracing SGAI
Ring kicks off the discussion by asking Lyden to recap FloSports’ experience so far and describe the benefits of SGAI for channels like theirs: “describe a little bit about the motivations that led you down this path of SGAI, and then describe the experience to date, how it's gone, what you're looking for next, and what you're most excited about.”
"We are in the longtail sports," Lyden begins. "We are not the NBA or the NFL. This is grassroots motorsports, wrestling, track and field, cycling. These events don't have curated event run of shows designed for television and designed for ad breaks. And so that puts us in a really tough spot with traditional ad insertion. So you're either interrupting the live action, you're damaging the user experience, or you're leaving revenue on the table. And none of that works for us as we think about the future."
SGAI, she goes on to say, is a technology FloSports is "approaching as our big bet" because it addresses two key challenges they face with the types of sports programming they deliver and the fan bases they serve. "Our first priority as a company is to create an excellent video experience for our customers. And SGAI gives us this blast to glass observability across all of our streaming pipeline so that we can monitor and maintain quality at every stage without blind spots. That's really important for us as we look to improve our video experience and helps us deliver the standards that our customers need and then our distribution partners expect."
The second challenge, she continues, "is monetization without disruption. Our primary use case for SGAI is potted programmatic side-by-side ads. So rather than cutting away from live action, the action keeps going, fans stay engaged, and we're delivering real programmatic inventory to advertisers on CTV. For a passionate audience, the viewing experience is the product. SGAI gives us a path forward to improve our video experience, but it doesn't ask our customers to trade away the thing that they came for."
Potted Programmatic, SGAI, and Ad Duration Flexibility
Following up on Lyden’s reference to “potted programmatic,” Ring prompts, “Tell us what potted SGAI looks like.”
"Probably a better way of describing it is 'ad durations,'" she says. SGAI "allows us the flexibility for different ad durations programmatically within the stream."
"15, 30, two minutes," Ring replies. "You're able to do all of those different durations. Is that right?"
"We are a subscription-based business and ads are a part of that," Lyden explains. "This gives us the flexibility within a run of show for us to insert a 15-second programmatic side-by-side ad versus a 30-second or 60 seconds."
How to Get Started with SGAI
Recognizing FloSports as being a bit ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing SGAI, Ring asks Lyden if she has any recommendations for other publishers who might be exploring SGAI for the first time. “What do they need to do to get started, and what are the kind of hiccups that they might expect?”
Lyden cautions that FloSports might not be quite as far along that curve as he might imagine. "I'm going to be super up-front here that we are really early, and I think authenticity is really important when we're talking about SGAI and this thing that's ever-evolving. So we don't know what we don't know, and we're actively in the development phase and in testing."
Expectations level-set, she continues, "I think it's important to have some of the right video experts in-house, but then also consult externally. And we found some good specialty consultants in this space that have helped us navigate SGAI in a new enough space. We have several different native out-of-the-box players that we work with. And so I'm hoping in a few months here when we get this thing up and running, that I have more answers for you there."
Join us May 12-14, 2026 for more thought leadership, actionable insights, and lively debate at Streaming Media Connect 2026! Registration is open!
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