'I think this is the next wave of how people consume content.'Įarlier in December, before I requested this interview, I heard Bornstein speak at a Sports Business Journal conference in New York City. 'What we're doing at Genius and Second Spectrum is taking big data and artificial intelligence in sports and applying it to practical applications that make the consumption of games more compelling,' said Bornstein.

'Your destiny wasn't clear at the point, but you were able to influence it.' 'I look at Genius Sports, and I see ESPN in 1981 or 1982,' said Bornstein. So Genius, which joined the New York Stock Exchange this year after a $1.5 billion merger, hired Bornstein to help it expand. In 2021, it landed an exclusive data rights deal with the NFL valued at roughly $1 billion and acquired Second Spectrum, which uses cameras to collect data on players in real-time, for $200 million.Ĭompanies are spending billions on sports league data rights and using the information to increase fan engagement. The firm offers data to create next-generation stats for on-screen graphics during sporting events. Genius provides data to set betting lines to sports gambling services, such as DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars. In August, Bornstein, 69, joined London-based data and technology company Genius Sports as president of North America operations.

He joined the National Football League in 2002 and was vital in launching the NFL's in-house network, which he publicly fought to place within the cable ecosystem, and the RedZone channel. During his tenure, the network launched SportsCenter, NFL Primetime, and channels such as ESPN2. Bornstein joined ESPN in 1980 as a programming executive and eventually served as its president.

Sports on tv today 2021