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This article was first published in <a class="QKwVMNcugJZCSCraHfEjkhgrjQqBBdvPIrI " href="https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Native/Genius/2025/January.aspx" target="_self" data-test-app-aware-link="">Sports Business Journal.</a> 
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes frequently makes the impossible look routine or like a play out of a video game: those “no look” dimes for a touchdown, spin move escapes that leave defensive linemen grasping at thin air or throwing bombs impossibly across and deep down the field — while he’s on the move. So it’s only fitting that the NFL decided to broadcast Mahomes and his Chiefs teammates literally “in the game” of EA Sports’ Madden 25 against the Houston Texans in Week 16.
Technology from Genius Sports, the NFL’s Next Gen Stats and Electronic Arts made the magic happen: blending live action with video game elements as the real Chiefs and Texans appeared as their avatars from the popular EA Sports title on the field. The Dec. 21 “Madden NFL Cast” stream on Peacock featured immersive, data-centric and animated overlays creating the virtual clash.
The graphics were familiar to many gamers, including Madden NFL 25 pass route trees, play cards, and player ratings — there were a combined 11 players from both teams with a rating of 90 or higher. Mahomes and his favorite weapon, tight end Travis Kelce, were the only two members of the “Madden 99 Club” in the game, as they each sported the highest overall rating of  99. Houston tackle Laremy Tunsil (95) and running back Joe Mixon (93) were the highest rated Texans.
The “Madden NFL Cast” was made possible by GeniusIQ, the next generation data and AI platform created by Genius Sports. It applies powerful machine learning to the Next Gen Stats data feed to deliver real-time statistical insights alongside fully branded animations, creating the immersive viewing experience.
These types of alternative broadcasts have kicked off a new era of broadcasting, according to pioneering TV sports producer Steve Bornstein, who is now president, North America, at Genius Sports.
“This is an opportunity for us to show what the next generation of product is and how it’s going to be consumed, how it can be different, and most importantly, how it can be customized to the consumer’s interest,” said Bornstein, who was CEO at both ESPN and the NFL Network during his storied career. “That’s what’s most exciting, because we haven’t done a whole lot of new innovation in sports broadcasting.”
Bornstein mentioned the virtual yellow first down line and the sky cam, “an angle that came out of video games before it was deployed on broadcast” as two significant innovations of the past few decades, but he said the Madden stream and other recent NFL initiatives (animated versions of games set in “Toy Story” and “The Simpsons”) aimed at younger viewers are the future of watching sports. “What we&#8217;re on the cusp of — and what I think all these different efforts have been demonstrating, is what the future is going to look like. It will be customized content that will enhance engagement and enhance the experience of consuming that content. It&#8217;s going to start in live sports because live sports have a lot of characteristics that lend themselves to being deployed that way, but it won&#8217;t stop there,  it will involve all the media you consume and it will evolve.”
<h3 id="ember2371" class="ember-view reader-text-block__heading-3">High Football IQ</h3>
In addition to the “Madden NFL Cast,” GeniusIQ is powering augmented viewing experiences across the NBA, English Premier League and other leading European soccer leagues.
Bornstein said the nascent technology will be deployed to college football and international sports. He also said the coolest feature (so far) to him is the ability for Genius Sports’ technology to identify all the players on the field, just like in Madden. “That’s incredibly valuable,” he said, then chuckled. “My sons probably don’t think that’s particularly cool, but that’s the beauty of it, it will customize for your needs.”
The company is in the fourth season of its partnership with the NFL and has quickly become central to the league’s fan-facing initiatives.
Genius Sports already is changing the way fans watch football. After its rookie season with the NFL, Genius and broadcast partner CBS <a class="QKwVMNcugJZCSCraHfEjkhgrjQqBBdvPIrI " href="https://www.geniussports.com/customer-stories/cbs-and-genius-win-sports-emmy-for-romovision/" target="_self" data-test-app-aware-link="">won a Sports Emmy for RomoVision</a>—the live tracking data and video graphics technology that sportscaster Tony Romo uses to diagram and break down plays.
GeniusIQ’s integration of sports data and deep learning also powers BetVision, the world’s first immersive sports wagering platform. BetVision integrates live NFL streams with interactive bet slips, statistical insights and real-time augmentations. It features data-driven insights, graphic overlays and visualizations tailored to user preferences.
NFL teams also are tapping into Genius Sports’ technology including sponsored highlights and brand activations at every L.A. Rams home game. The company uses the NFL’s proprietary Next Gen Stats data on SoFi Stadium’s Infinity Screen. The GeniusIQ platform also creates what it calls augmented advertising inventory for team partner Verizon that integrates Rams partner advertising on the screen during the game.

<h3 id="ember2380" class="ember-view reader-text-block__heading-3">(Re)Making the Highlights</h3>
Bornstein, who helped ESPN achieve sports ubiquity beyond broadcasting, said GeniusIQ and the “Madden NFL Cast” foreshadow the next model for video storytelling: “What gets me excited — I spent a long career at ESPN, but highlights today look the same as they did in 1985. … We tell a story, we don’t tell who won at the beginning. We have a beginning, middle and end. [Genius Sports’] highlights will not be the same format as in the past 35 years. I’m interested in different things than you are, even though we’re both interested in the Bears’ result. We’ll deploy highlights to you based on what you’re interested in, and who’s on your fantasy team, and do it effortlessly; or it will appear effortlessly, it’s actually pretty tricky.”
The NFL is not only on board with the innovations, Bornstein said the league and  Commissioner Roger Goodell are driving them. “That’s Roger’s mantra, to serve fans better… The NFL is unrelenting in trying to improve its product.”
Given that game plan and the green light to go long on experimentation, what’s the next play? Bornstein said the team at Genius Sports is excited to keep driving for paydirt: “What do [NFL] fans want? What’s going to make the game more enjoyable for them? That’s the challenge the league presented to us. We’re going to try different things [and] the ones that resonate better are the ones we’re going to deploy.”
The ability to advance the viewer experience by iterating, innovating and improvising sounds a lot like Patrick Mahomes leading his team down the field to score.

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