This is the third part of a three-part series, Public Value in Play: How Public Broadcasters Can Lead the Next Era of Sports Coverage. Read part 1 and part 2 of the series.
Earlier this year, a piece of history was made. For only the second time in 35 years, LaLiga returned to free-to-air TV in Spain, after public service broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) reached a sublicensing deal with rightsholder DAZN. As part of the agreement, RTVE will air one live fixture each matchday on its Teledeporte terrestrial channel for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
Spanish broadcast regulations demand that one LaLiga match per round of fixtures must be made available on free-to-air TV. Until the middle of January, DAZN aired the weekly free match as part of its ‘freemium’ content offering, which requires account sign-up. Now, with RTVE’s free-to-air coverage, this match is expected to attract significantly more viewers.
The deal with DAZN strengthens RTVE’s sports portfolio, which has been growing recently. According to reports, the Spanish public has invested over €360 million to secure the rights for premium competitions in the coming years, including the Copa del Rey, the 2028 and 2032 Summer Olympics, the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics, and the Tour de France through 2030.
“We are driven by sports as a promoter of values,” said Rosana Romero, director of RTVE Sports, adding that the broadcaster’s “unwavering commitment to sports continues to inspire and motivate us. This is a great opportunity to go further, to improve both linear and digital content in line with our responsibility as a public service.”
Designing Digital-First Success
Fortunately, the blueprint for improving public broadcasters’ digital content is already there. Last September, French public broadcaster France Télévisions (FTV) reported that implementing a three-pillar digital strategy helped it achieve record-breaking digital engagement for its coverage of the 2025 Roland Garros. The three pillars were:
- Multi-court livestreaming: all 16 courts were streamed simultaneously, enabling fans to watch any match, at any time, on any device, with personalised commentary and graphics.
- A 24/7 Roland Garros channel: the bespoke digital channel – part of france.tv, FTV’s streaming service – featured exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, influencer commentary, and a live chat.
- Real-time clipping: instant creation of highlights, recaps, and best-point compilations, published across france.tv and social media channels in real time.
The results were striking:
- 46 million total viewers across linear and digital – an all-time high.
- More than 5 million viewers aged 15–24 tuned in – up 8% from 2024.
- 82 million video views on digital platforms – +70% vs. 2024.
- 415 million social video views – a 130% increase from 2024.
“This year’s Roland Garros was historic both on and off the court,” said Nicolas Vinoy, director of digital offering at France Télévisions. “While tennis fans witnessed one of the greatest finals of all time (Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner), we were rewriting the playbook for how to cover a Grand Slam event in the streaming era.”
Scaling Coverage Smarter
TVNZ, New Zealand’s public broadcaster, used a similar playbook for its coverage of international cricket. After taking over the rights to all BLACKCAPS (the men’s national team) and White Ferns (the women’s national team) home games, TVNZ needed a way to:
- Create and publish in-match highlights across multiple formats and platforms.
- Fill its streaming service, TVNZ+, with engaging content.
- Connect with younger audiences through short, relevant, vertical content.
- Turn content into a lever for fan acquisition
To achieve these goals, TVNZ adopted WSC Sports’ AI-powered content creation platform. The platform enabled full highlight automation, including graphics, resizing, and cropping; the creation of diverse content types, from recaps to milestone player moments; multi-platform publishing across the entire TVNZ digital ecosystem, including social media channels; and integration in Google Search via Web Stories.
The impact was far-reaching:
- TVNZ scaled its content production – creating 4,500 cricket videos – without increasing headcount.
- Over 370,000 streams of WSC-powered cricket content on TVNZ+, cementing it as the home of cricket fans.
- 25% click-through rate on Web Stories: creating vertical content not only helped TVNZ appeal to younger audiences across social media platforms, but was also key to making cricket content more discoverable and accessible on Google.
- 18 million impressions for cricket-related content on TVNZ’s social media channels.
“The integration of WSC Sports for our cricket coverage has delivered substantial efficiencies,” said Max Middleton, senior social media editor at TVNZ. “What used to take at least 15 minutes per clip can now be done in seconds, freeing us up to produce a high volume of content throughout a match. The content we create via WSC Sports has generated millions of impressions, increasing reach and engagement across our social platforms.”
Public Value, Reimagined
Taken together, these use cases show that the future of public sports broadcasting will not be decided by rights alone, but by what broadcasters build around them. Securing premium rights guarantees reach; transforming them into dynamic, digital-first experiences guarantees relevance. Innovation is no longer an optional layer. It is the mechanism through which public value is delivered.
The structural challenges outlined in the first article (shrinking budgets, audience fragmentation, rising expectations) are real. Yet broadcasters like TVNZ and France Télévisions demonstrate that they are not insurmountable. By embracing AI-powered content workflows, public media can scale output, modernize production, and meet younger audiences where they are – all without increasing costs.
Public service broadcasting was founded on the principle of universal access. In the streaming era, that principle must evolve to include engagement. When public broadcasters combine regulatory advantage with digital innovation, sports become more than programming; they become a catalyst for renewed prominence, stronger ROI on public investment, and leadership in the next era of sports coverage.
