The sports world is flipping its stance on fan-made content. Once treated as piracy, user-generated content (UGC) was feared simply because leagues couldn’t see it. That blind spot cost them growth. Now, AI shows fan posts often outperform official content tenfold—unlocking reach, engagement, and revenue opportunities.
Enter Eyal Arad, CEO and Co-Founder of Videocites, a solving a core problem: giving teams visibility into the fan-made content they’ve long overlooked. With proprietary and patented AI-powered tracking, organizations can finally see the full scope of their digital reach.
What fans are worth: For years, the ocean of UGC felt untrackable and threatening. “With no visibility on what fans are creating, organizations feel afraid. As a result, they tend to call everything piracy,” explains Arad.
But with Videocites revealing the full picture, any entity publishing content on social media is realizing fan-made content is an asset. In truth, a team's actual social exposure often towers over their own channels. The reach was always there—now they can finally harness it.
Policy, not panic: Such a clear view allows teams to move beyond a simple anti-piracy reflex. This shift is also mirrored in the wider industry, where some leagues now team up with creators. While Videocites keeps a strong anti-piracy toolkit, Arad points out, "the difference between piracy and fan engagement is your policy." Armed with complete data, organizations can make smarter calls, nurturing fan activity that enhances viewership.
The gold rush: The gains from transparency also include spotting top fan creators, leading to "win-win" partnerships that give creators a boost and offer teams genuine reach, even globally. In turn, these collaborations open up fresh revenue streams. Fan content powerfully lifts engagement and reach—gold for sponsors.
"UGC is a win for broadcasters," says Arad. "They should lean into letting fans create the perfect teaser." Since most gets uploaded after the final buzzer, there’s no conflict with live viewership: "It doesn’t pull attention away from the broadcast—it extends the moment," he explains.
Short and sweet: UGC fits naturally with how fans engage with sports today. Outside of die-hard fanatics, Arad says that most viewers turn to short clips over full-length games. "They want to see a great dunk or an action-packed recap, not always the entirety of the game or even full game highlights," he explains.
The shift toward short form social posting is merely a reflection of how fans communicate today. Denying—or even stifling—that conversation is not in anyone's best interest. "If you shut down all that fan-created content during and after the game, you risk losing the very audience that's helping your brand grow.," says Arad.
AI's next act: As AI evolves, Arad sees room to elevate more than just the elite. "While a high-end creator program has its place, we can’t overlook the value of smaller creators producing impactful content," he explains. "Their voices are worth amplifying."