AI Browser Technology Review: How Perplexity Comet Is Changing Sports Commerce and Fan Behaviour

Hey , 

Welcome to The Sports Stack 17! First of all, thank you for your patience while we took a short break in the past few weeks - a mix of holidays and busy periods at work, including the Genesis Scottish Open, meant that my 17th edition took a bit longer than expected!

This week, we’ll cover the following: 

• When Innovation Meets Optics: The Lions' Connected Jersey Digital Gamble.

• From Browsing to Buying: How AI Agents Are Reshaping Sports Fan Behaviour

• Wimbledon's Technology Paradox: Record Innovation Meets Human Error Headlines

• Quick hits + updates

🏉 When Innovation Meets Optics: The Lions' Connected Jersey Digital Gamble

Connected sports merchandise has quietly become a testing ground for some of the industry's biggest innovation bets. From Nike's seven-year NFC jersey experiment to RFID-enabled season ticket holder perks, sports organisations have invested millions in an effort to bridge the gap between physical products and digital engagement. Now, as the British & Irish Lions launch their first NFC-enabled jersey, we're seeing both the promise and the challenges of this emerging category in real-time. 

With the Lions currently touring Australia and fan engagement at its peak, their connected jersey experiment provides a real-time case study of how traditional sports organisations are attempting to monetise the physical-digital worlds. 

NFC jerseys are not new; Nike's NikeConnect has been testing this concept since 2017 with NBA teams. The Lions' execution highlights the ongoing challenge of striking a balance between innovation and accessibility.

The Technology Behind the Hype

The Lions partnered with Connected Fanatics to embed Near Field Communication (NFC) chips into their 2025 Australia tour jerseys. Fans tap the smart tag on their jersey to access the Lions Clubhouse app, unlocking behind-the-scenes content, Q&As with squad members, and a community forum called The Lions Clubhouse. 

The platform features innovative elements, such as "Match Day" functionality, which enables fans to check in on game days and digitally record their experiences.

The Sports Stack is primarily a technology-focused sports newsletter, so credit where it’s due for trying new ideas and executing them at scale. 

Defining Success: The Lions' Unique Challenge

The success of the Lions' connected jersey initiative should be evaluated in consideration of their distinct status as a touring team that competes once every four years. Unlike typical clubs with continuous engagement opportunities, the Lions need to maintain fan relationships over 48-month intervals; that is really difficult.  

Meaningful success metrics could include: 

• Converting casual rugby fans into Lions-specific followers - aiming for 15-20% of jersey buyers to become active app users and pushing them down the marketing funnel.

• Gathering first-party data from international supporters who cannot attend matches, which is essential for future tour marketing and revenue.

• Developing a sustainable content ecosystem that keeps fans engaged between tours. 

Most importantly, the initiative should demonstrate higher lifetime fan value, measured through repeat merchandise purchases, tour travel, and digital engagement, compared to traditional jersey buyers.

Where I think the connected jersey execution stumbles

Early app store reviews highlight user experience challenges, with several reviewers noting confusion about the jersey requirement and content access, though app store feedback typically skews negative and represents a small subset of users. (I know this first-hand!)

New ideas can sometimes backfire, especially if fans haven't encountered them before, so experimenting always carries a risk. I thought about this strategy, and I believe there were a couple of aspects that could have been improved. 

The Paywall Problem: The Lions Clubhouse is specifically designed for owners of an AU2025 Lions Jersey, requiring jersey ownership to unlock app features. This creates an immediate barrier between casual fans and engagement. Paywalls are not a new phenomenon, but they typically involve a monetary exchange between the user and the business. 

Heavy-Handed Onboarding: The marketing heavily emphasises the jersey requirement upfront. For example, all of the app store images reference the jersey purchase, and the first screen after downloading pushes the messaging too. A more nuanced approach would have established app value first, then introduced premium features for jersey owners, similar to freemium models that work across digital products.

What might a different approach look like? 

The Lions could have achieved different outcomes through alternative approaches:

YouTube Channel Memberships: 

YouTube Channel Memberships could have captured value without the £82 barrier. Jersey owners receive exclusive membership tiers, while free content builds an audience for upselling. This approach would leverage YouTube's existing infrastructure and recommendation algorithm, potentially reaching casual rugby fans who'd never download a Lions-specific app. The Lions’ team should ensure there is a strong funnel to capture first-party data via YouTube, as it is more challenging to do so on YouTube e.g. QR codes, quizzes, etc.

• Launch exclusive content on YouTube, offering jersey owners membership discounts and maintaining the traditional pay-for-access model, along with freemium options.

• As the Lions are already publishing content on YouTube, it makes sense to focus on where your audience is. 

• Utilise YouTube to promote the jersey and other merchandise through the YouTube shop, thereby expanding your reach and potentially increasing sales. 

• Utilise live stream chats on the channel for members to replace the community clubhouse features on their mobile app. 

* It’s worth noting that the YouTube channel membership idea would require a strong content strategy due to the short duration of the Lion’s Tour, but there are many good touchpoints in the build-up and after the tour. 

Tiered Access Model: 

• Free app with basic features, jersey ownership, and unlocking premium tiers. 

• Focusing less on the jersey integration in the app store and onboarding stages, instead promoting it more as users engage with their content. 

• Rewarding fans who are active in the community with offers and discounts, driving sales. 

The Lions' strategy highlights a wider issue in sport: how to generate digital value from physical products without deterring casual fans. As connected merchandise develops, success will likely favour organisations that focus on accessibility rather than exclusivity, using technology to grow their audience rather than limit it. 

🤖 From Browsing to Buying: How AI Agents Are Reshaping Sports Fan Behaviour

The AI browser game is heating up, and major players like Perplexity, OpenAI, Google, and Meta are shaping the future of internet browsing. I briefly discussed OpenAI’s Operator technology earlier this year and its potential impact on sports rights holders across SEO, retail, and ticketing. However, with early access to Perplexity Comet, I have now been able to experiment with some sports use cases and analyse the impact. By the way, based on what I have seen with Perplexity Comet, our browsing behaviour will be so different this time next year - it’s crazy. 

📧 By the way, I have two spare invites for Comet - if you’d like one, I’ll be giving them away to the first two subscribers who refer The Sports Stack to five friends or colleagues.

What separates Comet from traditional browsers like Chrome or Firefox?

• Conversational commerce: Direct voice/text commands replace clicking through menus

• Cross-platform task automation: Seamlessly moves between websites, calendars, and shopping carts

• Contextual intelligence: Understands sports terminology, timing, and fan preferences

• Real-time decision making: Factors live data (weather, availability, pricing) into recommendations

Demo 1: Two-Prompt Jersey Purchase

I asked Comet to "find me a large Manchester United jersey for the upcoming game." Within seconds, it searched multiple retailers, selected the official store, added the correct size to my basket, and offered to find cheaper alternatives when prompted. 

The disruption: Fans no longer need to remember which website sells what; they merely state their intent. Sellers need to ensure that agentic browsers find them first, rather than their competitors. 

Demo 2: Complete Trip Planning for The Open

From a single request to plan my route from Armagh to Portrush for The Open, Comet:

• Mapped the optimal route

• Checked weather forecasts

• Proactively added an umbrella to my Amazon basket (rain expected)

• Created a shareable Google Calendar invite with all details that I can share with my friends. 

The implications: Event planning becomes conversational, with AI anticipating fan needs based on contextual data.

I tested various use cases, including trying to get Comet to plan my Ryder Cup trip to New York in September. I asked it to buy tickets for a sporting event near my hotel and to make a dinner reservation beforehand. It struggled a bit because of the different types of data needed to access ticketing accounts, and most restaurants required a phone call to book a table. However, I expect these issues will be resolved within a few months.

You might argue that this process still takes quite some time, but if you look past that and consider having 3-4 different use cases and activities running in parallel, with a few prompts while you cook your dinner, watch TV, or head to the gym - that’s where the real magic begins. The technology will also improve and get faster.

What does this mean for sports rights holders?

My views since OpenAI launched Operator haven’t changed - you can read the full article here: https://www.thesportsstack.com/p/the-billion-euro-club-has-its-first-member 

1. The SEO Game Changes Completely. Traditional website optimisation becomes secondary to AI-first discoverability. Rights holders must ensure their content feeds directly into AI knowledge bases rather than hoping fans will click through search results.

2. Official vs. Third-Party Becomes Algorithmic. In my Manchester United demo, Comet defaulted to the official store but immediately suggested cheaper alternatives. The AI decides which retailer wins, not fan loyalty or marketing spend.

3. Fan Journey Compression The traditional discover → research → compare → purchase funnel collapses into a single command. 

4. Data Relationship Shift Sports organisations must feed AI systems with rich, structured data about products, availability, and experiences.

🔮 My prediction: 

Within 18 months, fans will buy tickets, merchandise, and plan trips without ever visiting a sports website.

🎾Wimbledon's Technology Paradox: Record Innovation Meets Human Error Headlines

That’s Wimbledon over for another year! This year’s Wimbledon coverage has been further improved, and it’s been really enjoyable to see some of the new analytical advancements that have been added to the broadcast. The BBC, together with TennisViz, has been helping to develop these new broadcast overlays, creating new levels of context for viewers regarding the difficulty of shots and other moments. 

Wimbledon has always led innovation in sport, alongside its partner IBM. For 2025, they have introduced three AI-powered features that show how traditional tournaments can utilise generative AI for real-time fan engagement.

• Match Chat transforms passive viewing into interactive analysis, allowing fans to query an AI assistant during live matches for instant insights like break point conversions and performance comparisons.

• Likelihood to Win now provides dynamic probability shifts after every point, turning match momentum into quantifiable data that updates in real time.

• Live Court View offers enhanced functionality for following matches as they unfold.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing this year for technology at Wimbledon, with their automated line calling creating some controversies. 

During a 4th round match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the Hawk-Eye system was accidentally deactivated by an operator for one game, resulting in three missed ‘out’ calls. 

Automated decision-making technology remains vital for all sports, and data indicates it is still more accurate than humans. However, there is consistently increased scrutiny when it fails, especially on the biggest stages. 

3 missed calls in 1 game = 0.001% error rate, yet generates more headlines than 99.999% accuracy.

Did you know? This was ESPN’s largest first-round viewership at Wimbledon in eight years. 

🗞️ Quick hits + updates

• Sony introduces new headsets for NFL coaches. “Sony’s newly engineered NFL Coach’s Headsets will soon be appearing on the sidelines with a series of innovations to ensure proper noise-cancellation, vocal clarity, comfort and durability regardless of the weather.”

• Edge Sports is using its own predictive AI model to place bets to fund its future development from the winnings.

Did you see the NBA Launchpad Success Story: Springbok Analytics?

• From startup to standard: Springbok Analytics leveraged NBA Launchpad to become integral to the league's pre-Draft screening process within two seasons, using AI-driven 3D muscle analysis technology.

• Strategic validation: NBA Investments participated in Springbok's latest funding round after seeing real-world impact across 100+ NBA players and four G League teams

• The bigger picture: Demonstrates how league-sponsored accelerators can create genuine partnerships rather than just pilot programs - Springbok built sport-specific databases that provide NBA-benchmark data rather than general population comparisons

More here.

Thanks for reading and being a subscriber! I’m off to Portrush for The Open, so if anyone is around, let me know and let’s grab a coffee!