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On September 11, Springboard35 will be at IBC2026 in Amsterdam, the world’s largest gathering of the broadcast and media technology industry, at a pivotal moment for live sports. Artificial intelligence has moved from panel discussion to production floor — reshaping how sports are captured, personalized, and monetized — just as two of the world’s fastest-growing sports markets, Latin America and Southern Europe, are being redrawn by the same forces of streaming disruption and rights realignment.
Why Latin America and Southern Europe, Now?
Expansion into these markets is driven by a series of structural factors:
— A live sports market undergoing rapid OTT conversion. 60% of digital users across six Latin American markets already consume content via Connected TV, with football accounting for 95% of all sports consumption (Comscore).
— Subscription growth tied directly to sports access. One in three streaming subscribers in the region cite sports content as their primary reason for subscribing.
— The 2026 World Cup accelerating the shift in real time. Paramount+ alone logged 147 million hours of consumption across six South American countries during the tournament and added roughly 2 million subscribers in a single quarter.
— A rights market being rewritten by new entrants. CazéTV, a YouTube-native channel, displaced Disney (ESPN/Fox Sports) to secure LaLiga’s Brazilian broadcast rights through 2032 — alongside Serie A, the Bundesliga, and Copa Libertadores.
— Global capital backing the trend. Sports rights spending will reach $67B in 2026, rising to $78B by 2030, with $14.2B earmarked specifically for digital services.
— Southern Europe as the innovation lab. Leagues like LaLiga are already proving the personalization thesis in-house — a 70% increase in app sessions and 40% more time in-app after introducing personalized content — and are actively looking for technology partners to extend that model abroad.
SIGNAL FROM THE MARKET
The AI-sports investment wave goes well beyond the broadcast majors
In June 2026, Swedish AI-sports-media platform Sportway raised €20M (Gamma Waves, ~€92M post-money) to scale automated production — it now runs ~2,500 AI-powered cameras across 20+ countries for 70+ federations and leagues, producing 250,000+ live events a year.
The broader AI-in-sports market reflects the same trajectory: from $12.7B in 2026 to a projected $49.9B by 2033 — a 21.6% CAGR (Grand View Research).
The Challenge of Execution in These Markets
While the market opportunity is not in question, execution remains the primary barrier for media-tech companies entering Latin America and Southern Europe. Many encounter:
— Lack of access to the right decision-makers inside leagues, broadcasters, and rights holders.
— Unfamiliarity with local distribution and commercial channels — from traditional broadcasters to YouTube-native disruptors like CazéTV.
— Fragmented regulatory and rights landscapes that vary market by market.
— Commercial strategies built for mature markets that don’t translate to how buyers in LatAm or Southern Europe actually evaluate and purchase technology
Keys to Effective Expansion
— 1. Map the real decision-making structure market by market — leagues, federations, and broadcasters, alongside the creator-led platforms increasingly sitting at the same negotiating table.
— 2. Localize the value proposition around what buyers are already prioritizing: fan personalization, engagement data, and content authenticity.
— 3. Enter through credibility, not scale — a pilot with a mid-sized broadcaster or league often opens doors that a direct enterprise sale cannot.
— 4. Adapt commercial cadence and language to each market’s business culture rather than applying a single regional playbook to both regions.
The Role of Springboard35
Springboard35 acts as the commercial bridge between media-tech companies and the Southern European and Latin American markets. We provide direct access to decision-makers, local market intelligence, and a go-to-market execution team already embedded in the region — turning a promising AI or sports-tech product into commercial traction without requiring the company to build local structure from day one.
Springboard35 Radar — who actually decides, market by market
An illustrative, non-exhaustive map of the buyer landscape our team works from when building a target account list for a media-tech or sports-tech vendor — built the same way we construct full TAM/SAM models from local registries and federation data.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Let’s Talk at IBC2026 — we’ll be in Amsterdam. If your company is building AI-driven tools for live sports, personalization, or content authenticity and is evaluating Latin America or Southern Europe as a next market, let’s compare notes.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP
Evaluate your real TAM in Europe and LatAm with Springboard35
→ Book a meeting at IBC2026
→ Download our LatAm & Southern Europe expansion brief