Significant recent discussion has been about where artificial intelligence may play a role in sports.
An interesting announcement on that front comes from France’s Ligue 1, where the Ligue de Football Professionnel governing body announced a new partnership last week with Camb.ai to be their “Global Language Solution Provider.” AI-powered translations (including on-the-fly translation and voice emulation) of Ligue 1 broadcasts will be available in 150 languages, following other Camb.ai partnerships with MLS, the Australian Open, Comcast, and more.
This move comes at a time of great worldwide interest in Ligue 1 and its teams, perhaps especially Paris St. Germain, following their run to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Now, there will be significantly more language options for many worldwide looking to catch PSG’s domestic league matches and other Ligue 1 action.
In the wake of this deal, LFP international media rights director David Labrune and Camb.ai co-founder and chief technological officer Akshat Prakash spoke to Awful Announcing by email on why this move matters. Labrune said translation was a “blind spot” for the organization and the feeds they provide to worldwide partners:
“LFP Media invests millions each year in producing high-quality content for broadcasters and media partners worldwide. However, we identified a blind spot in our strategy: many of our partners lacked the time and human resources to translate or dub our programs.
“It was crucial for the league to find a fast, seamless and scalable technology to maximize the reach and impact of our content. We are now able to efficiently deliver localized programs to broadcasters, and ultimately to Ligue 1 fans, even in the least spoken languages.”
Here’s an example of some of how this looks for Ligue 1, for both match highlights and shoulder programming:
While Camb.ai is involved in areas well beyond sports (it just wrapped up an $11 million pre-Series A funding round that extended an initial $4 million funding round, and have partnerships across a range of sectors), Prakash said there’s a particular need for translation technology in the sports world.
“Sports are the ultimate catalyst for cultural connection,” he said. “No matter our backgrounds, ethnicities, nationalities, if we both like PSG, we are family. Allowing a soccer broadcast to be sent out in any language means that a fan in Tokyo or Chicago or Athens can have the same experience as one in Paris. It makes it an easy fit for leagues and broadcasters who want to expand their fan bases globally. We expect our tech, and AI translation in general, will become standard in the next few years.”
However, he added that sports present particular challenges on the translation front, especially regarding the importance of content airing live.
“From a technology evolution perspective, sports represents the toughest type of content—the nuanced language, game time excitement which automatically reflects in commentary, the fan engagement—all combine to make it tough content to master. We have always kept sports content as the benchmark of our performance and mastering the technology for sports has helped us grow the technology tremendously for all genres.”
For Labrune and LFP Media, the timing was right to strike a deal like this, given the recent improvements in the quality of translation provided by technology like this.
“We have been evaluating AI-driven translation solutions for over a year, and it has become evident that these technologies have advanced significantly,” he said. “Our tests of CAMB.AI in languages such as Portuguese, Chinese or Danish received positive feedback from our partners. Moreover, the competition for global audience attention is fiercer than ever. With Ligue 1 entering a new cycle in 2024 and a fresh brand positioning, this was the perfect moment to adopt a tool that facilitates content distribution across linear and digital platforms.”
Labrune said Camb.ai stood out from the ranks of AI translation companies for several factors, including previous high-profile work, flexibility in their approach, and their commitment to local support.
“We were impressed by Camb.ai’s performance during tests at the Australian Open. Their solution offers unparalleled flexibility, allowing us to dub or subtitle different parts of the same program with various tones or even neutral voices. Additionally, having a dedicated local account management team in France was essential for us, ensuring smooth platform integration and ongoing support.”
On the Camb.ai side, Prakash said LFP was a great fit given their desire to expand their brand internationally and their prominent stars, including Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of PSG.
“LFP is the perfect blueprint for the world of sports as it looks to embrace AI positively and constructively for the good of the game. LFP has an international appeal and commitment to pushing the boundaries of sports broadcasting. Take Khvicha, for example. His fans are all over the world—our tech helps reach them. They’ve already proven to be a spectacular partner; I can’t wait for the world to see how they’re integrating our models to improve the fan experience.”
He said this partnership has also built on what Camb.ai has previously done in soccer, including with MLS, which showed them the demand for this kind of work.
“One of the biggest things we’ve learned is how engaged the global soccer community is and how hungry it is for this kind of access,” Prakash said. “We’re coming into this partnership with clear learnings of how fans want to interact with the sport and the difference it can make in their experience. Leagues are not in the need of creating commentary in multiple languages—that’s just a start.
“The real objective of sports is to engage fans and the true destiny of every sporting entity should be to become completely multilingual—for their fans, for their internal and other external stakeholders. That learning, combined with LFP Media’s track record, is allowing us to hyperfocus on the highest—I’ll call it Fan ROI. The things that make the biggest difference for the average fan. There’s less testing and trying, better execution.”
For Prakash, soccer leagues are more set up to fully embrace this kind of international-focused translation than many other sports.
“Soccer is truly a global sport, as opposed to some of the more localized leagues in the US,” he said. “They’ve spent decades cultivating that international audience and are ready to immediately activate it with this kind of content localization. The other major US sports can learn from how soccer has jumped in with both feet.
“Before, there was no real way to reach a small, engaged audience that might speak a different language. You weren’t going to put out a full additional broadcast for them, it was too expensive. With our tech, you can reach audiences as small as just a handful of people and grow the game in a grassroots-style way all around the world.”
There are some challenges, though, especially when it comes to addressing less-common languages where there isn’t as much material for CAMB.AI’s system to learn from. But Prakash said it’s worth that effort.
“Low-resource languages are the most difficult to emulate, and our ability to handle even low resource languages makes our tech truly universal,” he said. “We don’t want to limit it to just a few major languages—the internet has already limited content access to the English-speaking world for long. I want someone speaking a specific dialect from their small region to be able to enjoy sports the same way I do, and not have to sacrifice their individual culture and identity to do it. That takes hard work, but we’re committed to it.”
How does that integration work for LFP? Labrune said it’s led to a considerable amount of content across a range of areas so far.
“Since the start of the season, we have produced over 10,000 pieces of content, each representing a touchpoint for Ligue 1 fans both in France and internationally. We are implementing this technology across dozens of languages, whether for traditional TV broadcasts or social media platforms, ensuring localized experiences tailored to each market and more effective engagement with our global audience.”
He said this fits into other ways LFP Media is using AI, too.
“Our approach to AI is highly pragmatic: we focus on tangible, high-impact applications that enhance every face of LFP Media’s operations,” Labrune said. “We are already leveraging AI for instant highlights, augmented video feeds, data collection, player scouting, and large-scale marketing initiatives. These innovations are central to our mission of improving time and resource efficiency while delivering cutting-edge services to our clients and football fans worldwide.”
And Labrune said this is part of LFP’s wider strategic vision.
“LFP Media is fully committed to embracing AI as a game-changer in sports media and marketing. Our goal is not just to follow industry trends but to set new standards in content production, distribution, and fan engagement. By integrating AI across multiple touchpoints, we are ensuring that Ligue 1 remains a global leader in innovation.”
Meanwhile, Prakash thinks the translation technology here is just getting started.
“This is going to be standard operating procedure for every major sports league in the world before you know it. But it’s not limited to sports. We’re already working with IMAX and other entertainment partners to bring AI translation tech to the big screen.”
Prakash feels there remains a significant untapped market for translation here, moving towards the idea of fully personalized feeds.
“My goal is simple. Every story, any language. I never want to hear someone say ‘I wish I could watch that in…’ ever again. You will be able to, and soon… And not in a robotic way or just subtitles. At Camb, we keep innovating to make voice translation and emulation more natural-sounding and to maintain the emotion of the original performer. If you close your eyes, you won’t even be able to tell which language it was performed in. Everyone will have the same experience.”