Sheffield Documentary Festival: “We need to be more weird”

Following the release of the fourth edition of his book The Business of Media Distribution, Jeff Ulin looks back on his 25-year journey through the industry – and ahead to the world of AI.

Alongside financially motivated cybercrime, politically motivated hacktivists are also likely to target organisations linked to the tournament through distributed denial-of-service attacks, website defacements, and disinformation campaigns.

Illegal sports streams in Britain have more than doubled to 3.6bn in the past three years, according to a recent report from the Campaign for Fairer Gambling. But is there any correlation between the increase in piracy and advances in tech? Is AI more effective as the sword or the shield? Anna Tobin reports.

From AR-powered sports coverage to immersive theatre and AI-driven fan engagement, broadcasters, organisers, and rights holders are rethinking how live experiences are created and extended beyond the event itself.

The live sports landscape is the crown jewel of entertainment, and as it evolves, streaming platforms are driving its next phase of growth.