Sports documentaries fuel Gracenote's push into streaming hub technology

Gracenote announced on December 17, 2025, expanded capabilities for its On Sports solution that enable television platforms to link live sporting events with documentaries, highlights, and pre-game programming across 160 sports leagues in more than 50 countries. The content data business unit of Nielsen positions the enhancement as addressing fundamental shifts in how viewers consume sports content beyond traditional game broadcasts.

Total viewing for streaming sports documentaries reached 16.9 million minutes among U.S. viewers in 2024, according to Nielsen's 2025 Tops of Sports report included with the announcement. This represents an increase of nearly 260% from 4.7 million minutes in 2021, demonstrating accelerating demand for sports content that extends beyond live competition into narrative storytelling about teams, athletes, and leagues.

Tyler Bell, SVP of Product at Gracenote, stated in the announcement: "From casual viewers to passionate fans, consumers are engaging with sports content in every way possible. Platforms have big opportunities to become go-to sports hubs for these valuable users, and Gracenote is uniquely positioned to help them realize these ambitions."

The technical implementation delivers enriched sports data, live sports schedules, and league information through a single application programming interface. Gracenote's system now categorizes programming into two distinct types: "related content" encompassing scripted and documentary television shows and movies focusing on sports leagues, teams, or general sports topics, and "shoulder content" consisting of programming that complements or extends live sporting events, typically airing before or after games, including delayed recap shows.

The approach addresses streaming television's need for content that maintains viewer engagement between live events. Pre- and post-game programming offering recaps, highlights, and analysis has become increasingly important for platforms seeking to build communities around sports properties, according to the announcement. Sports documentaries function both as standalone content attracting new viewers and as companion programming deepening existing fans' connections to leagues and athletes.

Gracenote's enhanced platform integrates high-quality game, team, and athlete imagery designed to create more visually rich user interfaces. The visual elements capture sports action and athlete personalities, enabling platforms to personalize experiences based on viewer preferences and viewing history. This combination of data enrichment and visual assets represents Gracenote's strategy for helping streaming platforms, consumer electronics device-makers, and pay television services differentiate their sports offerings.

The announcement positions the technology as responding to changing consumption patterns where sports engagement extends across multiple content formats rather than concentrating exclusively on live game broadcasts. Platforms implementing unified sports hubs can theoretically increase user engagement metrics, create additional advertising inventory through shoulder programming, and improve content library monetization by surfacing archived games and related documentaries alongside current competitions.

Gracenote's On Sports solution covers major leagues including the NFL, NBA, Premier League, and Formula 1, providing what the company characterizes as unmatched global sports coverage. The platform powers universal search capabilities enabling viewers to locate specific games, teams, or athletes across fragmented streaming inventories. This search functionality becomes increasingly valuable as sports rights fragment across multiple platforms, with different leagues and competitions distributed through competing streaming services.

The streaming sports advertising market has demonstrated significant momentum throughout 2025. YouTube streamed its first free NFL game globally in September 2025, marking the platform's expansion into direct live sports broadcasting beyond its existing NFL Sunday Ticket partnership. Research from EDO's 2025 NFL TV Outcomes Report found that NFL ads running during streaming-exclusive games were 66% more effective for brands than broadcast and cable offerings, validating streaming's premium positioning for sports advertising.

FanDuel Sports Network achieved a 25% year-over-year increase in total impressions served through Magnite's SpringServe video platform, according to an announcement made on July 30, 2025. The growth occurred across FanDuel Sports Network's streaming infrastructure as the network accelerated investment in live sports streaming capabilities, demonstrating advertiser demand for live sports inventory across digital platforms.

Programmatic advertising infrastructure continues adapting to live sports requirements. PubMatic launched an AI-powered Live Sports Marketplace on July 17, 2025, that enables advertisers to target specific game moments across streaming platforms in real-time through proprietary technology analyzing live game data. The platform addresses critical pain points in traditional programmatic sports buying, including the inability to distinguish between high and low-engagement moments during games.

The expansion of sports content beyond live games creates measurement and advertising challenges that platforms must address. Documentary programming and highlight shows generate different viewing patterns compared to live games, with on-demand viewing replacing synchronized audience behavior. Advertisers seeking sports audiences increasingly need access to both live games and surrounding content to reach viewers across multiple touchpoints.

Gracenote's enhanced capabilities arrive as streaming platforms invest heavily in live sports rights while simultaneously building content libraries around those properties. Netflix declared its advertising business will "roughly double" during its July 17, 2025 earnings call, with live programming including NFL games representing a strategic shift toward content commanding premium advertising rates due to real-time viewership and cultural relevance.

Disney expanded streaming advertising reach through an NFL partnership announced in August 2025, including ESPN's acquisition of NFL Network assets that provides the league with a 10% equity stake in ESPN. The transaction creates substantial inventory opportunities for advertisers seeking premium content environments across both broadcast and streaming platforms.

The documentary content category specifically provides advantages for platforms building comprehensive sports experiences. Documentaries typically feature higher production values than highlight packages, creating premium advertising environments. The narrative storytelling format enables longer viewing sessions compared to short-form highlight clips, increasing total advertising inventory per viewer session.

Shoulder content addressing live games presents distinct monetization characteristics. Pre-game shows create anticipation and drive tune-in for upcoming games, while post-game analysis extends engagement after competition concludes. These programs traditionally generated lower advertising rates than live games, but streaming platforms' ability to target specific audience segments enables more efficient monetization compared to traditional broadcast models.

The technology implementation through Gracenote's single API reduces technical complexity for platforms implementing comprehensive sports experiences. Traditional approaches required multiple data integrations across schedule providers, metadata suppliers, and image libraries. Gracenote's unified delivery mechanism streamlines implementation while reducing ongoing maintenance requirements for platforms managing multiple sports properties.

Gracenote will demonstrate On Sports capabilities on an appointment-only basis at CES running January 6-8, 2026, in Las Vegas. The Consumer Electronics Show provides a venue for consumer electronics manufacturers and streaming platform operators to evaluate content metadata solutions for upcoming product launches and platform updates.

The sports hub approach reflects broader content discovery trends across streaming platforms. Viewers increasingly expect unified experiences that surface related content based on viewing history and preferences rather than requiring manual searches across fragmented libraries. Prime Video launched interactive betting and AI features for NBA coverage announced on September 30, 2025, including AI-powered Key Moments and Rapid Recap features for automatic highlight curation demonstrating similar strategies for enhancing sports content discovery.

Disney launched certification for live streaming ads in January 2025, marking the first time major advertising platforms could access real-time bidding capabilities for live streaming inventory across both sports and entertainment through Disney's Ad Server. The technical infrastructure enables dynamic pricing that reflects real-time changes in supply and demand during live events, addressing limitations in previous advertising frameworks not designed for streaming-first environments.

The measurement ecosystem surrounding streaming sports continues developing standardized approaches. DoubleVerify urged the streaming industry to adopt transparency standards on December 4, 2025, calling for widespread adoption of content-level reporting and viewability standards as low Connected TV measurement adoption persists despite streaming television advertising spending reaching $33.35 billion in 2025.

Gracenote's focus on documentary content aligns with broader streaming platform strategies emphasizing original and exclusive programming. Amazon announced eight fall films for Prime Video and theaters on August 8, 2025, including documentary programming alongside theatrical releases, demonstrating vertical integration enabling control of both content creation and advertising distribution.

The shoulder content category specifically addresses viewer behavior patterns around live sports. Research demonstrates significant portions of sports audiences engage with pre-game analysis and post-game discussion rather than exclusively watching live competition. These viewing patterns create opportunities for platforms to extend engagement windows beyond game durations, increasing total time spent on platforms and creating additional advertising touchpoints.

Contextual advertising capabilities become more sophisticated as platforms gain access to granular content metadata. IPG Mediabrands launched Acxiom Contextual CTV on August 19, 2025, offering content-level targeting built on IRIS.TV's widely adopted content ID, enabling advertisers to reach consumers with relevant messages based on context, genre, and tone of content being viewed.

The visual imagery component of Gracenote's enhancement addresses user interface requirements for modern streaming platforms. High-quality athlete and team photography enables platforms to create personalized home screens featuring relevant content based on team affiliations and viewing history. These visual elements improve content discovery compared to text-based navigation systems, particularly for sports content where visual recognition of athletes and team branding drives engagement.

Gracenote's global coverage spanning more than 50 countries positions the platform for international sports consumption trends. European football leagues, Formula 1, and other international competitions demonstrate growing U.S. audience interest, creating opportunities for platforms to serve both domestic and international sports content through unified experiences.

The implementation challenges for platforms adopting comprehensive sports hubs include managing rights complexities across live games, documentary content, and shoulder programming. Sports rights typically fragment across multiple distributors, with live games, highlight packages, and documentary programming potentially controlled by different rights holders requiring separate licensing agreements.

Technical infrastructure requirements for unified sports experiences include real-time schedule updates as games move due to weather delays or scheduling changes, dynamic content linking as new documentaries and shoulder programs become available, and personalization engines that surface relevant content based on team preferences and viewing history without requiring manual curation.

The advertising implications extend beyond increased inventory to encompass improved targeting capabilities. Platforms understanding viewer engagement across live games, documentaries, and shoulder programming can build more sophisticated audience profiles enabling precise advertiser targeting. Viewers consuming pre-game analysis demonstrate different characteristics than those exclusively watching live games, creating opportunities for advertisers to reach specific audience segments with relevant messaging.

The sports documentary surge reflects broader changes in how audiences consume sports content. Younger demographics particularly demonstrate interest in sports storytelling beyond game broadcasts, seeking narrative context about athletes, teams, and competitions. Documentaries providing this context serve both as standalone content and as entry points driving interest in live game viewing.

The 260% increase in sports documentary viewing minutes from 2021 to 2024 outpaces general streaming growth rates, indicating specific audience demand for this content category rather than merely reflecting broader streaming adoption. This growth trajectory suggests platforms investing in sports documentary content and effectively linking it to live games may achieve engagement advantages over competitors focusing exclusively on live rights.

Measurement methodologies for sports content increasingly differentiate between live game viewership and time-shifted consumption of related content. Nielsen's tracking of documentary viewing minutes separately from live game metrics enables platforms to understand total sports engagement across content categories, informing both content acquisition strategies and advertising sales approaches.

The shoulder content category specifically benefits from streaming's on-demand capabilities. Traditional broadcast models required viewers to tune in at specific times for pre-game and post-game shows, limiting audiences to those available during narrow time windows. Streaming platforms enabling on-demand access to shoulder programming extend availability, potentially increasing total consumption compared to linear broadcast distribution.

Gracenote's role as Nielsen's content data business unit positions the technology within broader television measurement infrastructure. Nielsen's dominance in television ratings and cross-platform measurement creates potential synergies between Gracenote's content metadata and Nielsen's audience measurement capabilities, enabling platforms to understand both what content exists and how audiences engage with it.

The competitive landscape for sports metadata providers includes multiple vendors offering schedule data, player statistics, and league information. Gracenote differentiates through comprehensive global coverage across 160 sports leagues and integration of documentary linking and visual imagery alongside traditional schedule and statistics data.

Platform adoption timelines for Gracenote's enhanced capabilities depend on implementation complexity and content library composition. Streaming platforms with extensive sports documentary libraries can activate linking features more quickly than those requiring new content acquisition to populate unified sports experiences.

The return on investment calculation for platforms implementing comprehensive sports hubs balances technology costs against engagement improvements and advertising revenue increases. Platforms must evaluate whether unified sports experiences generate sufficient viewer engagement to justify implementation expenses and ongoing data licensing fees.

Timeline

• 2021: Streaming sports documentary viewing reached 4.7 million minutes among U.S. viewers
• January 2025: Disney launches certification for live streaming ads enabling real-time bidding for live sports inventory
• March 2025: Amazon launches Complete TV buying system for streaming advertisers
• July 17, 2025: PubMatic launches AI-powered Live Sports Marketplace with real-time targeting
• July 17, 2025: Netflix declares advertising business will "roughly double" during earnings call
• July 30, 2025: FanDuel Sports Network reports 25% streaming ad growth through Magnite platform
• August 2025: Disney expands streaming advertising reach through NFL partnership including ESPN equity stake
• August 19, 2025: IPG Mediabrands launches Acxiom Contextual CTV for content-level targeting
• September 2025: YouTube streams first free NFL game globally from São Paulo, Brazil
• September 30, 2025: Prime Video launches interactive betting and AI features for NBA coverage
• December 4, 2025: DoubleVerify urges streaming industry to adopt transparency standards as measurement adoption lags
• December 17, 2025: Gracenote announces expanded On Sports capabilities linking documentaries and shoulder content
• 2024: Total viewing for streaming sports documentaries reached 16.9 million minutes, up 260% from 2021
• January 6-8, 2026: Gracenote will demo On Sports at CES in Las Vegas

Summary

Who: Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, announced the expanded capabilities. Tyler Bell, SVP of Product at Gracenote, provided commentary. The technology targets streaming platforms, consumer electronics device-makers, and pay television services seeking to build comprehensive sports hubs.

What: Enhanced Gracenote On Sports solution capabilities enable television platforms to seamlessly link live sporting events with related content including sports documentaries, event highlights, game analyses, and shoulder programming airing before or after games. The platform delivers enriched sports data, live sports schedules, and league information through a single API while providing high-quality game, team, and athlete imagery for visually rich user interfaces.

When: Gracenote announced the enhanced capabilities on December 17, 2025. The announcement arrives as streaming sports documentary viewing reached 16.9 million minutes among U.S. viewers in 2024, representing a 260% increase from 4.7 million minutes in 2021. Gracenote will demonstrate the technology at CES running January 6-8, 2026.

Where: The On Sports solution covers more than 160 of the world's most popular sports leagues and competitions across 50+ countries globally, including the NFL, NBA, Premier League, and Formula 1. The technology serves streaming platforms, consumer electronics manufacturers, and pay television services worldwide.

Why: The enhancements address fundamental shifts in how consumers engage with sports content beyond live games, with growing demand for documentaries, highlights, and analysis programming creating opportunities for platforms to become comprehensive sports hubs. Platforms implementing unified sports experiences can strengthen return on investment through deeper user engagement, increased advertising opportunities, and improved content library monetization as pre- and post-game shows become increasingly critical touchpoints for fans and communities.