Itai Epstein, who has been with WSC Sports for nearly five years and recently served as Director of Business Development and Head of EMEA and China, now assumes the role of Director of Gen AI.
WSC Sports, a pioneer in AI-powered sports content technology, has announced its evolution into a comprehensive AI content management, creation, and distribution solution. This development will empower sports media rights holders to engage with fans through more personalised content, formats, and viewing channels.
As part of this growth phase, WSC Sports is introducing three new solutions: Around the Game, In-App Stories, and Discovery Network. These solutions enable sports media organisations to better connect with fans, expand their reach, grow their fan bases, and explore new revenue opportunities across digital platforms.
Itai Epstein has been named WSC Sports’ Director of Gen AI and will lead the team. Epstein has been with the company for nearly five years, most recently serving as the Director of Business Development and Head of EMEA and China. The current team consists of 22 full-time Gen AI engineers and business executives, with plans to more than double in size within the year. This expansion aims to enhance collaboration with existing and new partners to drive value in this burgeoning area.
Speaking about the new division, Itai Epstein said: “WSC Sports’ Gen AI offering is a game-changer. At the technology level, we’re pioneering the world’s first sports-dedicated multimodal large language model (LLM) called the Large Sport Model (LSM). This approach enables a suite of cutting-edge pre-trained and fine-tuned proprietary Gen AI models for multiple formats coupled with optimized techniques. It kicks off an industry revolution that allows sports organizations to deploy this new technology in a way that is customized to the entity’s specific owned IP and fanbase interests.”
Daniel Shichman, CEO and Co-Founder of WSC Sports, added: “Since our inception, we have aimed to redefine the sports media landscape with our AI-powered technology. Over the last decade, we have consistently grown and demonstrated the value of AI content generation and automation, with our solution becoming an industry standard. Today, we work with more than 450 sports organisations worldwide, a source of immense pride for our company and a list that continues to expand. However, this is just the beginning. We are excited to announce the next phase of WSC Sports.
“We see a future where sports fans get only the content they want – content that is of personal interest to them, content that our technology helps them discover, and content that will deepen relationships between fans and sports entities on a one-to-one level. With the launch of three new solutions, the inspiration for our new tagline, ‘Fuel the Fandom,’ we are transitioning to a full AI content solution, helping our clients provide the best-personalised content experience to sports fans across all platforms while generating new revenue streams.”
WSC Sports’ Around The Game product expands the company’s AI capabilities from in-game content to indexing and automating every aspect of the game, including fan reactions, player arrivals, sponsor logos, interviews, press conferences, and studio shows. This enables sports organisations to centralise all assets in one platform, easily search for and identify interesting storylines, and automatically curate content that fans desire, instantly creating new content combinations.
Furthermore, WSC Sports is taking a significant step toward providing direct-to-fan experiences with its In-App Stories product. This product allows sports organisations to insert a vertical video experience within their digital platforms, where fans can engage with content similarly to popular social media platforms. In-App Stories empowers organisations to automate the creation and delivery of vertical content in formats such as stories, vertical swipeable video feeds, polls, and quizzes, enabling customised content for every fan and enhancing first-party data on fan preferences and consumption habits.
Finally, WSC Sports’ Discovery Network increases rights holders’ content exposure by reaching fans on pre-agreed third-party sports properties. This approach provides avenues to reach new fans and explore monetisation opportunities. Discovery Network gives rights holders full control to manage content distribution, generate exposure, drive traffic, and maximise monetisation opportunities.
WSC Sports’ new product line and updated visual identity follow the company’s recent announcement of forming a dedicated Gen AI group. The refreshed visual identity includes a new company logo and a redesigned website.
