people think AI and football, they think of Reading first,” he says. Reading also recently announced partnerships focused on Vision AI
KITTED UP Stuart Fenton’s hire as Reading FC head of AI was a first for UK professional football
technology, using advanced video analysis to identify patterns within matches, improve recruitment and accelerate tactical insights. This includes the club’s collaboration with AI company Score. It is an approach that reflects a wider shift in professional sport. Data has been part of elite football for years, but AI has the potential to make that data considerably more useful by helping teams identify patterns and opportunities that might otherwise be missed. The trick, however, is making sure the technology is solving a genuine problem rather than simply being introduced because it happens to be the industry’s current buzzword. From top to bottom For Fenton, AI’s potential extends far beyond what happens on the pitch. He sees the technology changing everything from supporter communications to international fan engagement, particularly as clubs find themselves
competing not just for ticket sales but for attention across a far more crowded digital landscape. “How do we hyper-personalise the messaging?” he asks. “How can you translate a story so a Reading fan in Portugal is going to get the same story as a Reading fan in any country in the world?” The question gets to the heart of another major trend in sports media: clubs are becoming media companies in their own right. They are producing video, podcasts, social content, behind-the-scenes footage and personalised digital experiences, all while trying to maintain meaningful relationships with supporters who may live thousands of miles away from the stadium. AI-powered content creation, translation and personalisation could help clubs scale those efforts, potentially allowing smaller organisations to communicate with international audiences without requiring the same resources as the biggest clubs in the world.
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