Javier Tebas bets on Agentic AI to improve the La Liga fan experience

La Liga is turning to AI in an effort to increase efficiency within the league offices and deliver a superior broadcast product to its fans. Every time a player like Lamine Yamal or Kylian Mbappe scores a goal, broadcasters will immediately see footage of similar actions and be able to make visual comparisons in real time.

La Liga President Javier Tebas has announced that the Spanish football league has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with technology partner Globant to enhance digital transformation using Agentic Artificial Intelligence.

The decision makes La Liga the first top sports organization to apply artificial intelligence on a large scale. According to La Liga, the adoption of agentic AI aims to “accelerate innovation and optimize internal processes in key areas including talent development, performance analytics, personalized content creation and improved workflow automation.”

Ahead of the announcement, Tebas told me: “This agreement allows us to integrate artificial intelligence in a practical and transformative way, strengthening our commitment to operational excellence and to a competition that is increasingly modern, efficient and connected to fans. With this alliance, we are taking another step forward to keep LALIGA at the forefront of the industry.”

The cost of implementing this agentic AI technology has not been disclosed, but Tebas insists that “it is an investment that will have an almost immediate return on investment.”

Questions remain. Will this technology streamline La Liga’s functionality and improve the fan experience in a way that closes the gap with the Premier League? Will this reduce prices for consumers? Will La Liga face technological headwinds in the short term, like governments and other organizations have faced with the adoption of AI? How much energy will these AI agents need and how will that impact the league’s long-term sustainability prospects? And what will this mean for the individual clubs of La Liga?

It’s still too early to answer the first few questions (I suspect that while AI won’t suddenly shift a substantial new audience to Spanish football, it will be a major energy-draining measure), but as for the last one: at the time of writing, the deal with Globant is only for the league offices, because, as Tebas put it, clubs have different AI requirements focused on scouting and other on-field areas.

What is Agentic AI?

Agentic AI is different from generative AI, or the Chat GPT chatbots that many people have become accustomed to in recent years. If previously reported in Forbes, Agentic AI consists of autonomous systems that plan and act without the need for consistent human supervision in pursuit of a specific goal.

Agentic AI systems can make their own decisions, plan actions and even learn from past experiences to achieve the goal set by humans. They can also perform a series of actions and complete multi-layered tasks through sequential steps.

In the case of La Liga, the new Agentic AI system will aim to improve internal workflows by streamlining decision-making in the office, while simultaneously improving the gameday product with better visuals and data analysis.

La Liga and Globant’s AI platform

La Liga’s new Agentic AI program is being developed using Globant’s AI Pods subscription model, where teams of AI agents make decisions under the supervision of domain experts. The program will be supported by Sportian, a sports-specific AI division established in 2021 as part of a joint venture between La Liga and Globant.

In addition to La Liga, Globant provides technology and AI services at various scales to other top sports organizations such as Formula 1, Major League Rugby, FIFA and Adidas.

According to Globant co-founder and EMEA chairman Martin Umaran, the agreement between the two parties aims to provide La Liga with a platform to improve all the services they already provide. Traditionally, Globant’s programs have also focused on reducing project times and creating tangible savings in internal workflows.

The Globant platform will operate within La Liga’s specified guardrails, allowing it to best process, analyze and interact with the league’s data. In turn, the expectation is that the AI ​​agents will improve decision-making for all La Liga issues, big and small. Umaran said: “We are not implementing a chatbot.” Instead, he said, for example, the agent AI will be able to analyze the weather forecast for a specific match and provide feedback that will help players choose the right shoes for game day.

According to Tebas, La Liga has identified 300 different league functionalities that they would like to improve through AI. He argues that the entire sports ecosystem needs AI agents to streamline functionality, build sustainable fan engagement, and increase monetization opportunities. Essentially, La Liga’s president sees AI as the future of sports, just as many industry titans see it as the panacea for efficiency in their sector.

La Liga is already implementing the new AI system and working to address the 300 areas it considers most important, although as each AI agent implements a solution, there is the possibility of new agents being introduced to address new problem areas.

La Liga’s “Icons” project automatically shows match commentators two similar situations during the live broadcast. La Liga Fantasy will soon rely on AI agents to recommend certain signings and sales. Umaran says fans will watch games and get a better broadcast experience without knowing it’s thanks to agentic AI.

The AI ​​agents will be tasked with improving the speed of decision-making in the competition, reducing costs and improving creativity. Some might call it foolhardy to let technology take over the sports environment. Others will call it the future. Fans may not even know it’s being implemented, but La Liga is betting that AI will be a game-changer for Spanish football. Only time will tell if they are right.