NBC Sports’ new real-time player tracking lets viewers focus on their favorite athletes

NBC Sports introduced a new AI-powered player tracking system that will let viewers on mobile devices zoom in and focus on their favorite athletes. It’s the first time the viztrick AiDi technology, which was developed by Japan’s Nippon Television Network, will be used by another broadcaster. NBC Sports plans to implement the feature for its live event coverage starting this year, according to Nikkei Asia.

The viztrick AiDi system uses facial recognition to identify and track the movements of individual players and features a simplified interface that only requires operators to tap an onscreen athlete they want to follow. In Japan it’s been used by Nippon TV to add overlays with a player’s name and stats, but NBC Sports is planning to use it to deliver custom content on mobile devices in a vertical format.

Fans will be able to watch the original horizontal broadcast version of a game or event in the NBC Sports app, or they can opt to focus on a popular player through the viztrick AiDi technology that can “automatically extract footage of athletes in real time and crop them from horizontal broadcasts into a vertical orientation for mobile viewing.” It’s not known which events or broadcasts will offer the feature this year, but NBC Sports will be covering the 2026 Olympics Winter Games in Milano and Cortina.