MLS partners with World Wide Technology to scale AI personalisation for fans and sponsors

Major League Soccer has named World Wide Technology (WWT) its official technology solutions partner as the league steps up efforts to create more personalised fan experiences and new commercial inventory across its clubs and central operations.The partnership is designed to help MLS build, test and scale technology tied to AI, fan engagement, content personalisation, matchday experience and internal efficiency, with WWT expected to support rapid prototyping before rolling tools out across the league.MLS Chief Technology Officer John Nicastro said: “Our vision is building the most connected, digitally powered league in global sports, and technology is essential to that.”The work programme is centred on three areas: smarter content and discovery, more personalised fan experiences and greater operational efficiency, with MLS aiming to use AI and data to better understand behaviour and tailor content around clubs, players, matchups and moments.A core ambition is to make it easier for fans to find what they care about most, whether that is highlights, recommendations, app experiences, content discovery or more targeted offers linked to favourite teams and players.Nicastro added: “Sports has this unusually rich emotional and behavioral data to it. We have the live venue, we have tribal loyalty at the clubs and the teams, we have social engagement.”Taylor positioned the partnership as an infrastructure play rather than a single product launch, with the aim to connect multiple technologies and insights into a system that can evolve as fan habits change.Taylor said:“AI is just an input to the experience that we’re trying to generate.“It’s not just about doing one thing. It’s about how do you sequence things together to create outcomes and insights that are broader and beyond what we would have even imagined possible.”The commercial logic is to turn personalisation into measurable outcomes, with MLS linking improved targeting to reduced churn and increased demand for tickets and merchandise, while also giving sponsors more precise ways to activate against fan attention.The league has framed the wider strategy as part of its next-phase development plan, which includes building an AI-forward operating model that can support future growth and new competition formats, while keeping the fan relationship increasingly direct and data-informed.WWT’s involvement also creates a pathway for partners to access faster innovation cycles, with testing environments and proof-of-concept capability designed to shorten the timeline from idea to deployment.MLS is effectively betting that the next competitive edge will be won through the quality of the digital relationship, not only the quality of the football, as it competes with streaming, gaming, social platforms and other entertainment options for time, attention and spend.