FanCode turns to AI to make sports streaming smarter and more personal

"When it comes to democratising sport, we're conscious that for it to grow in this country, it needs to be available in a customised format that consumers can better understand. So, language commentary is important," FanCode co-founder Yannick Colaco told Moneycontrol.

However, Colaco noted that offering multi-language physical commentary is both costly and a logistical nightmare, given that FanCode streams 20,000 live matches a year.

The platform recently introduced AI-generated Hindi commentary for this year's Caribbean Premier League, a T20 cricket tournament that was held between August 14 to September 21, 2025. Colaco said the goal is to expand it to multiple languages and cover more sports in the future.

Partnership with Dubai-based Camb.AI

FanCode has partnered with Dubai-based AI speech synthesis and translation startup Camb.AI for this initiative. Through the collaboration, Camb.AI will help FanCode broadcast live matches in multiple Indian languages, featuring male and female commentators, natural crowd reactions, and background action sounds.

Colaco said that FanCode has been working with Camb.AI for the past few months to ensure that AI-generated commentary captures the same passion and excitement for the game, while also adding value rather than simply translating the source commentary robotically.

"Some of the things that we've really fixed with AI is being able to create the same level of excitement. It is indistinguishable from a human commentator. We've been running it for a few weeks now and I don’t think a single person has come back to say it is an automated commentary," Colaco said.

The product and technology teams at both companies will also work together to build custom AI solutions aimed at enhancing the sports consumption experience for fans.

"There are problems that are unique to India, to sports, and to sports streaming. We’ve been figuring out whether we can use applications that weren’t built for sports and adapt them. If not, we build them ourselves. But our priority is always to find solutions outside of sports and apply them for our needs," Colaco said.

AI-generated thumbnails

FanCode is leveraging AI to generate dynamic thumbnails for video clips, particularly highlights during live cricket matches, saving hours of manual work. This also allows videos to be turned around faster, given the thousands of hours of content the platform has across various sports.

"Now we've built an entire AI-powered framework around that, generating content in real-time and presenting it to users. They can see much more attractive images and access information like top sixes and big wickets as it happens," Colaco said.

What's next in FanCode's AI strategy?

Building on these developments, Colaco believes the next frontier is in using AI to personalise the live sports experience for consumers.

"The ability to use AI to customise both audio and visual presentation in live sport is really the big opportunity I see, since it will not only add tremendous value to users but also help increase the popularity of sport," he said.

He explained that such technology could help tailor broadcasts to different viewer segments, both in audio and visual formats, to make sports more accessible without diluting their complexity.

As an example, Colaco pointed to Formula 1’s dedicated kids’ feed, which, while not AI-generated, provides a glimpse of the potential for this kind of customisation.

"Think about doing this at a scale of 100 with AI. That's really what the opportunity I think is going to be," he said.

FanCode currently owns broadcast and streaming rights for Formula 1 in India. It also broadcasts several major sports tournaments, including MotoGP (Motorsports), La Liga, the Saudi Pro League, Carabao Cup, UEFA Women's Champion League (Football), the PGA Tour (Golf), and cricket events from around the world such as the CPL, Super Smash, and The Hundred, among others.

Using AI to improve video experience

FanCode is also seeking to use this technology to enhance video consumption experience across different bandwidths for sports fans. This includes improving livestream quality, pixel resolution, graphics, and other aspects of live quality optimization, which are currently being beta-tested within the company, Colaco said.

In addition, the company is using it to predict network conditions and pre-process streams to maintain visual quality. Among other planned improvements include producing high-resolution images on low bandwidths and delivering crystal-clear visuals on larger screens.

Founded by Colaco and Prasana Krishnan in March 2019, FanCode provides live streaming of major sporting events through various subscription options, including Match, Season, and Tour Passes, along with monthly and annual plans.

The company also provides real-time match highlights, live scores, statistics, analysis, and the latest sports news updates on its platform.

Colaco said that when FanCode started, cricket made up about 95 percent of its content and non-cricket just 5 percent. Now, the split is closer to 50–50 as the company has increased its investment in non-cricket sports such as Formula 1 and football in recent years.