Key takeaways
– If a video doesn’t adapt to how fans are watching, it loses attention before the content gets a chance to land.
– Even minor interruptions like letterboxing or awkward transitions chip away at completion rates and, ultimately, repeat viewing.
– Leading the fan experience means removing constraints, not adding features.
Fans expect videos and highlights to fill the screen they’re watching. Anything less creates friction, pulling fans out of the moment.
That gets complicated when the same highlights need to work across multiple screens.
Horizontal video works well on desktop, OTT, and broadcast screens. On a phone, it shrinks to fit, wasting screen space and impact.
Vertical video is a clean fit for phones, but breaks down elsewhere, forcing crops, padding, or visual compromises.
Content teams can, of course, use both formats. But that means duplicating effort and losing speed. Which version goes out first? Which platform matters more in the moment? The very process of choosing introduces a tradeoff. Something is always lost, whether it’s reach, efficiency, or the quality of the fan experience.
WSC Sports removes the format tradeoff from sports video
With multi-aspect ratio playback, one highlight now adapts automatically to both 16:9 and 9:16 viewing.
Instead of creating separate versions for different screens and platforms, content teams can publish once, knowing the video will fill the screen naturally in either orientation.
As formats shift, the viewing experience stays focused on the action itself. The frame adjusts automatically to follow the play, so the moment remains clear and uninterrupted whether fans are watching horizontally or vertically.
This capability is unique in the sports industry. No other sports technology company offers dynamic ratio switching that works across both playback and creation. Formats no longer dictate how highlights are produced or how they are experienced.
Fans get a smoother, more immersive viewing experience that feels natural on every screen. Content teams get a simpler, more consistent way to deliver it at scale.
This functionality is currently available through the WSC Sports native SDK video player.
When the format disappears, engagement takes over
Fans don’t give their attention away for nothing. When video feels intuitive, they stay with it. When it doesn’t, they move on.
Does the video respond intuitively when they rotate their phone? Does anything interrupt the action or force them to adjust?
When those transitions are seamless, fans stay longer with each highlight. They move more naturally from one moment to the next.
Over time, those small shifts add up. Fans who consistently have smooth, uninterrupted viewing experiences are more likely to return, watch again, and build habits around the content they trust.
This is how engagement grows into loyalty, through experiences that respect how fans choose to watch.
Experience is where competitive advantage is built
Removing the need to choose between vertical and horizontal video puts both fans and content teams on stronger footing.
Experience stops being a constraint teams work around and becomes something they can deliver at scale.
This is what it means to lead in both user and client experience. A better experience for fans. A better way of working for teams. And a clear advantage for organizations that want to stay ahead as fan expectations continue to rise.
Conclusion
The question of horizontal or vertical has shaped sports video for years. Not because it mattered to fans, but because technology forced teams to choose.
With multi-aspect ratio playback, that tradeoff disappears. The same video now adapts to how fans are watching, without forcing creators to choose or compromise.
That’s not just a nice feature. It’s a step forward in how sports experiences are built, delivered, and scaled.
Actionable insights
Build fan experiences that respond automatically to how fans are viewing.
Track where viewers abandon highlights across devices to identify experience gaps that content quality alone won’t solve.
Use the time gained from eliminating duplicate formats to improve movement selection across platforms.
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Fred Goldberg is a product marketing leader focused on building and scaling digital platforms that enable meaningful audience experiences. With a passion for how data, personalization, and product design shape the way fans discover and engage with content, he explores ways complex technologies can be translated into intuitive, high-impact experiences at scale.
