Gap Between Live Sports and Gaming Nears Primetime
The ability to stream alternative animated and video game versions of a live sports event have taken a step closer with tests involving EA Sports, broadcaster Sky, and German premier soccer league Bundesliga.
The Bundesliga is exploring ways of flowing match data directly into gaming engines, where fans can replay a goal as freely as they would inside EA Sports FC and where there are serious discussions about streaming alternative broadcasts of the match itself.
“Once match data is transported from the physical world into the digital world everything becomes possible,” said Hendrik Weber, Director of Sports Technology & Innovation at the Bundesliga in a showcase of innovation at the home of Bundesliga team Borussia Dortmund last week. “Now, with 3D data, low latency, and gaming engines powered by AI, we can create things we simply couldn’t before.”
The league’s data system is routinely captures between 21 and 30 skeletal points per player at 50 frames per second, generating roughly 200 million data points per match. It is based on TRACAB’s optical tracking infrastructure, now installed league-wide, which uses 12 synchronized 4K cameras to deliver volumetric positional data with the accuracy required for advanced media applications. Hawk-eye officiating data that determines offside decisions is also incorporated.
Weber explained, “It’s the same pipeline we use in all 36 stadiums every weekend. Now we can run it through EAFC and instantly generate a virtual version of the match.”
Virtualising live matches
EA Sports acquired TRACAB in 2025, bringing data capture and gaming technology under one roof. The acquisition has accelerated experimentation, allowing EA and the Bundesliga to test new workflows that merge live match data with gaming-engine rendering.
Oskar Norrman, Senior Director of Business Development at TRACAB and EA Sports emphasized that the demo in Dortmund was “a special version of the game” in which the EA engine is fed with the same 3D tracking data generated for broadcast.
This is an extension of a 2023 trial made by Sky Sports with the English Premier League of a Game Mode camera angle which simulated the perspective found in EA Sports FC.
For the Bundesliga the tie-up with EA Sports is not purely about potential revenue stream but extending the league’s brand to the game’s 300 million players globally. Some two billion virtual matches featuring Bundesliga clubs are played every season.
“You can use the highlight tool inside the EA SPORTS FC environment to create a fully immersive replay,” Norrman said. “You can control the camera, move through the scene, and select the exact angle you want. If I want to look at a goal from Der Klassiker [any Bayern Vs Dortmund match] I can simply use the joystick to find the perfect perspective.”
User customization and personalization
Users can also recreate a moment from scratch, choosing either custom angles or standard broadcast views. “This opens up huge possibilities for creators, broadcasters, and ultimately consumers,” Norrman said. “Our goal is to make a tool so easy to use that if you can play the game, you can create your own content.”
Bundesliga execs agreed that this level of interactivity is now in play. “We’re not far from a use case where a kid watches a live match, pauses it, switches to the gaming engine, rewinds 20 minutes, and replays the scenario themselves,” Weber said. “Maybe they even insert their own avatar. That level of personalization is coming.”
Sky Deutschland, which since June is part of Germany’s RTL Group, is reportedly exploring ‘alt’ broadcasts of live events for distribution on its digital channels.
Sky’s SVP of Sports Production, Alessandro Reitano believes gaming-style experiences will soon play a major role. “Some fans grew up with EA Sports and want the same dynamics they play with: static angles, point-of-view shots, hypermotion, graphics, stats,” he said. “We can’t translate that into a traditional broadcast—but with these tools, we can.”
He sees potential for recreating stadium atmospheres for remote fans. “Yes, 100 percent,” he said. “This is my personal North Star. Some fans want analysis. Some want gamification. Some want the feeling of being in the stands. The more toolboxes you have, the better you can serve your audience.”
Playmobil soccer activation
The same data was also being converted on-the-fly into an animated version of the Super Cup for toy brand Playmobil. British AR specialist Trickshot was behind this trial. It has built its own games engine - a blend of Unreal and Unity - to turn the raw match data into Playmobil figures.
Founder Simon Thompson explained, “We take the 3D data captured by the cameras around the stadium and feed it into our game engine. That allows us to generate completely different camera angles and perspectives you could never achieve in a traditional broadcast. The delay in rendering is just 1.5 seconds.”
Last year, Trickshot partnered with Manchester City and Etihad Airways for a video series united augmented highlights and match footage in a virtual world. The series featured Omar Marmoush’s Premier League Goal of the Season and Ilkay Gündogan’s overhead kick with cityscapes of Abu Dhabi, Hanoi, Hong Kong and Krabi and generated over 80 million views on social.
“There’s huge potential here,” Thompson says. “Imagine a completely different broadcast designed for a different age group. With this approach, you can do fun, creative things—changing hair colors, turning Harry Kane into a golden Ballon d’Or figure, transforming players into stylized characters. You can stream on Twitch and have Twitch commentators gamify the action. All of that becomes possible when you work through the game engine.”
Dominik Scholler, SVP Management & Innovation at Bundesliga Media, sees the convergence as part of a broader shift. “3D data lets us understand exactly where a player is, how their body is positioned, whether they’re using their left or right foot, and how they move dynamically,” he said. “It’s all about enrichment. We’re not creating something entirely new; we’re adding meaningful layers on top of the core match.”
Reitano emphasizes that football’s cultural sensitivity requires careful integration. “The how is the complex part,” he said. “Using 3D data in the best possible way—without disrupting the core 90-minute football experience—is the challenge. Football has a very sensitive audience. Some fans simply aren’t interested in graphics or data. You can’t overwhelm viewers or change the feel of the match.”
At the same time, he sees significant potential for new formats aimed at younger audiences. “When you dive deeper into 3D data, you realize you can overlay real players with other bodies—something we’ve already seen tested in the U.S. This is about attracting new demographics. Linear TV is plateauing, and younger audiences consume sports differently.”
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