A Quick Route to Added Revenue for Sports Marketers’ Playbooks

The sports industry represents the 11th largest industry in the United States with an estimated net worth of $750 billion, according to Forbes. There is no question that this industry has taken one of the hardest hits to revenue as a result of the pandemic. Forbes reports that the three major U.S. sports leagues may see sales fall by about $13 billion as teams continue to face monetary threats from empty stadiums, lack of tourism, sponsorship revenue as well as lower capacity operations.

The National Football League (NFL) alone is facing a deficit of $2.7 billion in revenue due to reduced fan attendance from COVID-19 regulations, and many big Super Bowl advertisers have opted out as sponsors for this year’s game. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has lost an estimated $694 million, and Major League Baseball (MLB) has missed out on $5.2 billion while reducing its regular season from 162 games per team to 60.

Changing the Game: Pandemic Rebound & Growth

In today’s sports world, traditional approaches to revenue have fallen short amidst the pandemic. Revenue recovery will depend on new strategies, including fan experience beyond the gate.

Luckily, digital video-solution alternatives for sports marketers can capitalize on revenue and growth in a new way. The NFL, together with Microsoft Surface, have already taken the lead and is launching an interactive digital activation for the month of February to reconnect with fans and monetize their content like never before.

Also, as fanbases continue to grow, especially online, the sports industry is presented with a unique opportunity to capitalize on new, virtual engagement strategies that will ultimately drive revenue growth while creating more personalized experiences.

Interactive Video: A League Of Its Own For Sports Marketers

Sports Marketers and brands alike are taking note of the new trend in digital marketing: interactive video. More than just shoppable, interactive video is great for brands and industries who also want to expand on communication efforts at a more granular and fluid level.

Essentially, each video is layered with patented, interactive technology that allows for each object within the video to be identified and “brought to life” with descriptions, images, gifs, internal or external links, purchase options and more. Interactive technology can increase video engagement upwards of 400%, setting a new bar in the digital world terms of consumer experience, understanding and insights, brand loyalty, industry innovation leadership, monetization avenues (sponsorships, shoppability, etc.) and much more.

Revenue Recovery Options within Interactive Video

  1. Virtual Video Sponsorships
    Interactivity provides ad and marketing slots on top of, or beside, videos that are contextually relevant and dynamic in the case of low ad or house inventory.  For example, if a fan is online watching an interactive video of a basketball game, companies can dynamically highlight a dunk where a sponsorship overlay can appear and transform as the video progresses.
  2. E-Commerce Monetization
    Interactive video can make any/all objects immediately shoppable – creating a revenue stream that did not previously exist. For example, online fans could see the option to click on and/or purchase a player’s jersey without being interrupted or having to leave the video experience. The data is driven by the video, with insights growing and driving personalization the longer the creative runs.

Fan Engagement Solutions within Interactive Video

  1. Convenience & Quality
    In a survey conducted by Salesforce, 76% of consumers expect companies to understand their needs. Furthermore, 56% of customers actively seek to buy from the most innovative companies (while expecting a great level of data protection and security). Interactive video is this decade’s solution for raising consumer expectations and trust.
  2. Enhanced Communication
    The advancement of interactive video has created a reality in which brands can more effectively communicate multiple messages to intended audiences in a way that sparks greater importance and builds awareness.

New Insights from Interactive Video

  1. Metadata & Analytics
    Many providers currently supply logo data from live games days after the games air. These metadata insights should be delivered in real-time so immediate optimizations and adjustments can be made to in-arena placements, etc.

Conclusion: Stepping Up To the Plate

The marriage of creativity with results-driven analytics and performance, is propelling data-driven video avenues forward. Major sports leagues will want more ownership of their content, as well as opportunities to monetize their content even more deeply (whether the content has a long shelf-life or not).

Sports marketers: the ball is in your hands. The time for digital innovation is now, so start by testing out interactive fan experiences.

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Jake Williams
VP, Brand & Agency Partnerships

Jake Williams is the VP of Brand and Agency Partnerships at KERV.ai. He joined KERV in 2021 as one of the inaugural members of the Brand and Agency Partnerships team. Since then, he has successfully expanded the team of partnership leads and now manages the East Coast portfolio. 

Before joining KERV, Jake held a role at GumGum, where he led partnerships with PHD Media. His career began at Digitas, where he worked on the American Express account. Outside of work, Jake has an adorable dog named Luna—after whom one of our conference rooms is named. Fun fact: Jake is a triplet!

Mark Corte
VP, Brand & Agency Partnerships

Mark Corte is the VP of Brand & Agency Partnerships for the Midwest and West regions at KERV.ai. He leads a team focused on growing KERV’s AI-powered video solutions by showing advertisers how turning their standard video and static creative into interactive, shoppable experiences drives higher engagement, deeper interaction, and higher sales conversions. 

Mark has 20+ years of experience developing and executing sales strategies across existing and emerging media platforms. He has built strong relationships with decision-makers and representatives of Fortune 500 brands, as well as leaders in corporate innovation and transformation—relationships rooted from his experience at The Trade Desk, Warner Bros. Discovery, and The Weather Channel. His previous experiences paved his path to a career in streaming and linear video across sports, news and entertainment, as well as OLV, display, programmatic, and data-driven audience-buying solutions. Mark has built trust with his clients and team by prioritizing clear, transparent, and direct communication, and by exemplifying agility, grit, and grace under stress.

Mark lives with his wife and three teenage boys, who have him busy as an unpaid rideshare driver across great Los Angeles. He’s a native Chicagoan—still a fan of all Chicago sports teams, (sans the Cubs)—and an alum of the University of Iowa.

Rich Kentopp
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Rich Kentopp is the VP of Product at KERV.ai, where he leads the Product Management team and plays a key role in shaping the company’s technology strategy. Since joining, he has scaled the Product team, built new channels of communication between technology and the business, and partnered cross-functionally to deliver innovative solutions that drive measurable business impact.

With over a decade of experience scaling startups across the health tech, social impact, and ad tech industries, Rich brings a blend of strategic thinking, team-building, and user-centered approach to his work. His leadership is grounded in empathy and clarity—skills shaped by both his pastoral background and formal theological training.

Rich holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. His time in ministry continues to influence his approach as a technology leader: mission-driven, collaborative, and people-first.

Devin Monds
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He relishes the opportunity to engage with new clients on a daily basis, in order to identify tailored solutions that can drive their desired outcomes. Furthermore, he takes pride in his culinary skills, often experimenting with new recipes and delivering delectable results.






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    Karen Germ
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    Prior to joining KERV, Ryan started his career at a small, local, media-buying agency that was later acquired by LIN Media before undergoing two more acquisitions into Nexstar Broadcasting. During this time, he expanded into management and leadership roles focusing on media buying and programmatic strategy before ultimately joining KERV to lead operational strategy with a focus on media planning and programmatic buying.

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    Prior to KERV Interactive Michael was the CFO and current Board Member at Digital Remedy, a privately held media execution company supporting agencies, publishers, and brands in navigating the complex ad tech landscape of digital success.

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    Prior to joining SambaTV, Wolff served as Vice President of agency and brand partnerships at PulsePoint; instrumental to the merger of ContextWeb and Datran Media.

    Originally from Armonk, NY, Jay holds a BS in Marketing from Syracuse University and a Certificate of Management from the University of Chicago. Jay resides in Rye Brook, NY with his wife, darling daughter, Olivia, and newborn son, Logan.

    Dan Bienenfeld
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    Dan Bienenfeld is currently the Co-Founder and President of KERV Interactive and a seasoned serial entrepreneur who has built startups for more than 35 years. Before joining KERV he has founded seven startups and architected successful exits for a number of them. For four years, he served as CEO of TimeCard Specialists, which created a cutting-edge time attendance software app that streamlined payroll for union members in the TV, film, and commercial industries. TimeCard Specialists was sold in 2016.

    Before that, he was CEO of Total Vision Care for nearly eight years. Total Vision Care built one of the largest mobile diagnostic services in eye care. This service provided ophthalmologists & optometrists with state of the art equipment and licensed technicians right in their own practice to diagnose various eye diseases.

    Gary Mittman
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    “We, each, have tremendous potential and the abilities to level‑up if we choose to understand how to get the support we need to get us there. Helping talent thrive and helping them create success is my reason for doing what I do.”

    Marika Roque
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    Marika holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from The University of Texas at Austin, where she was also a Division I collegiate athlete. Hook ’em.