PubMatic launches AI-powered live sports marketplace with real-time targeting

PubMatic announced on July 17, 2025, the launch of its AI-powered Live Sports Marketplace, marking a significant advancement in programmatic sports advertising technology. The platform enables advertisers to target specific game moments across streaming platforms in real-time through proprietary AI technology that analyzes live game data.

The new marketplace arrives at a critical time for the sports advertising industry. According to PubMatic's data, live sports activity has more than tripled in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The company exceeded its entire 2024 live sports activity in just six months of 2025, positioning it to more than double last year's performance.

Summary

Who: PubMatic, an independent technology company specializing in digital advertising supply chain solutions, launched the marketplace in partnership with FanServ as the premier partner.

What: An AI-powered Live Sports Marketplace that enables advertisers to target specific game moments across streaming platforms in real-time through proprietary technology that analyzes live game data and provides granular event-level curation.

When: The marketplace launched on July 17, 2025, at 8:00 AM ET, building on substantial momentum where live sports activity tripled in the first half of 2025.

Where: The platform operates across streaming platforms and provides unified access to major publishers including MLB, FuboTV, DirecTV, Spectrum Reach, and Roku, covering comprehensive sports content from major leagues to alternative sports and NCAA athletics.

Why: The marketplace addresses critical pain points in traditional programmatic sports buying, including the inability to distinguish between high and low-engagement moments, fragmented streaming inventory, and technical complexities of managing unpredictable viewership spikes during live events.

FanServ serves as the marketplace's premier partner, providing immediate access to premium NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL and National Women's Soccer League inventory. This includes exclusive local programming for the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, and Cleveland Guardians. "FanServ was built by fans, for fans, and now, with PubMatic, we're redefining how brands reach and engage fans through programmatic sports advertising," stated Brad Friedman, CEO of FanServ.

The platform addresses several critical pain points in traditional programmatic sports buying. Current systems often fail to distinguish between low- and high-engagement moments, leading to wasted impressions during less impactful periods, such as commercial breaks in lopsided games. Meanwhile, opportunities to reach audiences during the most valuable, high-attention moments are frequently missed.

PubMatic's proprietary AI technology enables advertisers to target specific games, teams, or even high-impact moments across a fragmented streaming landscape. The marketplace imports and analyzes live TV schedules from all partners, using up-to-the-minute sports schedules to ensure brands can target the right moments as they happen across all publishers.

The technical infrastructure includes industry-first event- and channel-level precision capabilities. PubMatic's owned-and-operated infrastructure can manage unpredictable spikes in live viewership, with the potential for separate endpoints for DSPs dedicated to live sports. This ensures seamless, reliable ad delivery at scale, even during the most high-demand moments.

Beyond FanServ's premium inventory, the marketplace provides unified access to major publishers including MLB, FuboTV, DirecTV, Spectrum Reach, and Roku. The platform covers comprehensive sports content from major leagues MLB, NBA & WNBA, NHL, and MLS to alternative sports including surfing, pickleball, MMA, FIFA, NASCAR & F1, tennis, golf, cricket, and NCAA college athletics.

The company recently monetized CTV inventory for the official FIFA Club World Cup, which took place from June 19 to July 17. This demonstrates the platform's capability to handle major international sporting events with global audiences.

According to eMarketer data cited in the announcement, 114.1 million people are projected to watch live sports digitally in 2025, compared to 82.0 million via traditional TV. This shift creates substantial demand for real-time, precise, and scalable ad delivery during unpredictable, high-attention moments.

The marketplace launch reflects broader trends in programmatic advertising growth, which reached 72% as marketers increasingly invest in digital platforms. Connected TV (CTV) has emerged as a dominant force, with its share of media budgets projected to double from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025.

Nicole Scaglione, VP of CTV and Online Video at PubMatic, emphasized the transformative nature of the technology: "This revolutionary technology and premium partnership with FanServ transforms fragmented live sports inventory into programmatically accessible, of-the-moment opportunities, setting a new standard for precision and impact in digital sports advertising."

The platform includes scalability and automation capabilities designed to provide both immediate manual flexibility and future automation support. This ensures that both buyers and sellers can benefit from streamlined workflows and real-time insights as the market evolves.

Industry context shows significant momentum in sports streaming advertising. TCL and PubMatic partnered earlier this year to enhance live sports advertising, connecting TCL's premium programmatic streaming inventory with PubMatic's integrated platform. Similarly, Sky New Zealand launched programmatic advertising for its Sky Sport Now streaming platform in January 2025.

The Live Sports Marketplace addresses fundamental challenges including fragmented streaming, under-monetized inventory, limited targeted precision across live events, and technical complexities of managing unpredictable viewership spikes and behaviors.

For marketing professionals, this development represents a significant advancement in precision targeting capabilities for live sports content. The ability to target specific game moments in real-time could substantially improve campaign effectiveness and return on investment for sports-focused advertising strategies.

The marketplace's dynamic scheduling and real-time packaging capabilities ensure brands can adapt their strategies as live events unfold. This level of responsiveness was previously unavailable in traditional programmatic buying, where campaigns typically relied on pre-planned schedules and broad demographic targeting.

Expert management of live spikes represents another critical advancement for the industry. Sports viewership can fluctuate dramatically during high-stakes moments, creating technical challenges for ad delivery systems. PubMatic's infrastructure is designed to handle these unpredictable patterns while maintaining ad quality and delivery reliability.

The partnership with FanServ adds significant inventory depth to the marketplace. Ben Goodfriend, VP of Demand Partnerships at FanServ, highlighted the precision aspect: "By combining FanServ's deep sports expertise with PubMatic's unique event-level curation, we're empowering brands to connect meaningfully at the exact moments that matter most, across every platform they love."

Terms Explained

Programmatic Sports Advertising This refers to the automated buying and selling of sports-related advertising inventory using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. Unlike traditional manual media buying, programmatic systems enable real-time bidding and placement decisions based on data analysis. In sports contexts, this technology allows advertisers to purchase ad space automatically across multiple platforms while targeting specific audiences, games, or even moments within live sporting events. The automation reduces human intervention while increasing efficiency and precision in ad placement decisions.

Real-Time Game Moment Curation This advanced capability involves the instantaneous analysis and categorization of specific events occurring during live sports broadcasts. The technology identifies high-engagement moments such as scoring plays, controversial calls, or critical game situations, then automatically makes this inventory available for advertisers to target. The curation process happens in milliseconds, analyzing viewer engagement patterns, game context, and audience behavior to determine the optimal advertising opportunities as they emerge during live events.

Event-Level Precision Targeting This sophisticated targeting methodology allows advertisers to focus their campaigns on specific occurrences within sporting events rather than broad demographic or time-based parameters. The system can identify and target individual plays, player performances, game phases, or emotional moments that drive higher audience engagement. This granular approach moves beyond traditional targeting methods to enable advertisers to reach audiences during the exact moments when their attention and emotional investment peak.

Supply Path Optimization (SPO) SPO represents a strategic approach to programmatic advertising that streamlines the path between advertisers and publishers to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The technology evaluates multiple available routes for ad delivery, selecting the most direct and cost-effective path while maintaining quality standards. In live sports contexts, SPO becomes particularly crucial as it must handle sudden traffic spikes and ensure ad delivery reliability during high-demand moments when viewership can fluctuate dramatically within minutes.

Connected TV (CTV) Inventory CTV inventory encompasses advertising space available on internet-connected television devices and streaming platforms, distinct from traditional linear television advertising. This includes smart TVs, streaming devices, and over-the-top platforms that deliver content via internet connections. CTV inventory has become increasingly valuable as viewing habits shift toward streaming, offering advertisers the ability to combine television's visual impact with digital advertising's targeting precision and measurement capabilities.

Dynamic Scheduling and Real-Time Packaging This technology automatically adjusts advertising campaign schedules and creates ad packages based on live events as they unfold. The system continuously monitors sports schedules, game developments, and viewership patterns to optimize ad delivery timing and grouping. Dynamic scheduling responds to game delays, overtime periods, or unexpected developments, while real-time packaging bundles advertising opportunities that emerge during live events, ensuring advertisers can capitalize on high-engagement moments without manual intervention.

Demand-Side Platform (DSP) Endpoints DSP endpoints are technical integration points that allow demand-side platforms to connect with supply-side systems for automated ad buying. These endpoints handle the communication protocols, bid requests, and transaction processing between buyers and sellers in programmatic ecosystems. For live sports, dedicated DSP endpoints can be optimized specifically for the unique requirements of sports advertising, including handling rapid traffic fluctuations and processing time-sensitive targeting criteria.

Fragmented Streaming Landscape This term describes the current state of digital video consumption, where content is distributed across numerous streaming platforms, devices, and services rather than concentrated in traditional broadcast channels. The fragmentation creates challenges for advertisers seeking to reach audiences efficiently, as they must navigate multiple platforms with different technical requirements, audience measurement systems, and purchasing mechanisms. This complexity necessitates unified solutions that can aggregate and simplify access to diverse streaming inventory.

Under-Monetized Inventory Under-monetized inventory refers to advertising space that fails to generate optimal revenue due to inefficient selling mechanisms, poor targeting capabilities, or inadequate demand generation. In sports contexts, this often occurs when valuable live moments are sold at standard rates rather than premium pricing that reflects their actual engagement value. Advanced technologies aim to identify and properly value this inventory to ensure publishers receive appropriate compensation for high-engagement content.

Owned-and-Operated Infrastructure This describes technology systems and server infrastructure that companies own and manage directly rather than relying on third-party services. For advertising technology companies, owned-and-operated infrastructure provides greater control over performance, security, and scalability. In live sports advertising, this infrastructure becomes critical for handling sudden traffic spikes during popular games or pivotal moments, ensuring ad delivery remains stable and reliable when audience attention peaks.

Timeline

• July 17, 2025 - PubMatic announces AI-powered Live Sports Marketplace launch with FanServ as premier partner
• June 19-July 17, 2025 - PubMatic monetizes CTV inventory for official FIFA Club World Cup
• First half 2025 - PubMatic's live sports activity triples compared to same period in 2024
• January 29, 2025 - Sky New Zealand launches programmatic advertising for streaming sports
• January 22, 2025 - TCL and PubMatic announce partnership to enhance live sports advertising
• January 7, 2025 - Disney launches certification for live streaming ads with major platforms