New Gracenote On Sports solution helps video services capitalize on sports programming to deliver improved user experiences and drive engagement

NEW YORK – December 11, 2024 – Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, today announced the launch of Gracenote On Sports, a new solution developed to transform how viewers discover and engage with sports content across platforms. The solution fixes the consumer problem of finding live sports by providing streaming and linear video platforms an easy-to-implement metadata solution that connects the entire sports video ecosystem. Gracenote will showcase new live sports discovery experiences made possible by On Sports at CES from January 7 – 9, 2025.

For the first time ever, video services can now use a single API to access Gracenote sports data covering 150+ leagues and competitions connected to industry-leading Gracenote video data including imagery and content IDs.  Enriched sports data, live sports schedules and team and league data power next-generation universal search capabilities and unique sports experiences to attract and retain viewers. Future product enhancements will enable display of real-time game scores and team standings as well as athlete appearances in other entertainment content.

Access to sports has fragmented with the rise of streaming and dispersion of sports rights. For example, of the 2,430 Major League Baseball games played during the 2024 regular season, only 150 were carried nationally on traditional broadcast or streaming channels. With 93% of games spread across regional sports networks, local channels, streaming services and league-developed direct-to-consumer offerings, many professional baseball fans faced difficulty watching their favorite teams play.

“Sports programming has the unique ability to attract large and passionate audiences making it invaluable to video providers seeking to drive engagement and time spent with their services,” said Bill Michels, Chief Product Officer at Gracenote. “With Gracenote’s new solution, customers can now deliver innovative discovery experiences leveraging sports content and win the competition for viewers and their attention.”

With On Sports, a video provider can do the following:

• Personalize the sports experience by providing tailored recommendations for live games based on preferences and viewing history
• Create a comprehensive sports hub that aggregates live events and related content across different platforms
• Enhance pre-game engagement by helping fans discover upcoming live games across multiple channels and streaming platforms
• Elevate the live game experience by displaying real-time scores and league standings in the user interface 
• Enrich post-game content by presenting related viewing options such as recap shows, highlights and post-game analysis

Gracenote has a long history of powering the user experiences of the world’s biggest and most innovative TV providers. On Sports covers more than 150 of the world’s most popular sports leagues and competitions including the NFL, NBA, Premier League and Formula 1 in more than 50 countries globally. As the entertainment industry continues its evolution, Gracenote is transforming its offerings in step to ensure customers can effectively leverage programming to maximize engagement and monetization. Learn more at https://gracenote.com/on-sports/. 

About Gracenote

Gracenote is the content data business unit of Nielsen, providing entertainment metadata, content IDs and related offerings to the world’s leading creators, distributors and platforms. Gracenote has aggregated, normalized and enriched core program metadata covering 40M+ titles in 260+ streaming catalogs in 35 languages and 80+ countries. Gracenote technology enables advanced content navigation and discovery capabilities helping individuals to easily connect to the TV shows, movies, music and sports they love while delivering powerful content analytics making complex business decisions simpler. For more information, visit Gracenote.com.

Press contact

Mark Yamada
VP, Communications
mark.yamada@nielsen.com