Why Programmatic Guaranteed Is the New Play for Live Sports

With the evolution of live sports viewing comes the need for a new playbook for advertisers. According to eMarketer, U.S. live sports viewership is projected to grow 21% by 2027, reaching 127.4 million viewers. Advertisers are rethinking how to engage these audiences in premium, high-impact environments.

Enter Programmatic Guaranteed (PG), a method that combines automation and scale with certainty and control. It allows advertisers to secure premium ad placements in advance, while still benefiting from the automation, reach, and reporting features of programmatic. Unlike open auctions, PG offers guaranteed impressions, predictable pricing (dynamic or fixed), brand-safe, premium supply, and data-enriched reach capabilities. 

When paired with Magnite’s Live Stream Acceleration (LSA) product, PG becomes an even more powerful solution, built to deliver during live, high-concurrency environments. LSA helps reduce ad timeouts and improve pacing during peak demand by optimizing bid rates and request flow. 

From major college tournaments to pro league showdowns, PG is enabling brands to meet sports fans exactly where they are across every screen, in every moment.

Why PG + Live Sports Is a Game-Changer

Traditional TV ad models relied on fixed insertion orders, but as sports content moves to streaming platforms, advertisers require greater flexibility and precision in their media buying without the need for upfront commitments. PG provides a way to secure premium live inventory with the ease of programmatic workflows, offering buyers access to live content across the streaming ecosystem through a single platform. 

Live sports streaming brings together massive, engaged audiences in real time, making it a highly valuable ad environment. PG unlocks key benefits for brands looking to maximize visibility and performance.

1. Guaranteed Premium Placement

Live sports creates moments that matter—pregame, halftime, in-game, and postgame. With PG, advertisers can secure priority access to high-attention windows of opportunity while still benefiting from the speed and precision of programmatic delivery. 

2. Smarter Personalization

Advertisers can layer first- and third-party data to create precise audience segments. Whether it’s team loyalty, past viewing behavior, or geographic region, PG ensures the right message reaches the right fan.

3. Cross-Device Reach

Today’s fans stream games on smart TVs, mobile devices, and laptops. PG delivers ads across screens with unified frequency management and measurement, helping advertisers capture full-funnel performance across platforms. With a single platform like Magnite, buyers can access live sports content across the broader streaming ecosystem, streamlining activation and improving efficiency at scale. 

4. Brand Safety and Transparency

PG deals offer peace of mind. Advertisers know exactly where their ads are running, with control over placement, creative, and pacing.

Smarter Delivery in Real Time

When the action is live, ad delivery needs to be quick on its feet. That’s why Magnite has enhanced PG deals with smarter pacing logic and pre-auction optimization to meet the unique demands of live streaming. Our pacing system now intelligently identifies when PG campaigns align with live event windows, dynamically adjusting delivery goals in real time based on projected audience spikes. These micro-adjustments help ensure consistent performance, avoiding both overdelivery and underperformance. 

At the same time, pre-auction requests through SpringServe send early signals that “warm up” the LSA system, priming the demand pipeline before the first ad break hits. This leads to faster fill, lower latency, and better monetization across every device. Together, these enhancements empower advertisers with more reliable outcomes and give publishers the tools to maximize revenue from every live moment.

Media owners who have activated LSA have seen a more than 45% increase in programmatic monetization compared to similar inventory prior to LSA enablement, highlighting the direct impact of smarter delivery on revenue performance.

Looking ahead, Magnite is actively building new LSA capabilities to drive smarter delivery, deeper insights, and even more efficient monetization for live content.

Fubo & Magnite’s PG Success

One of the strongest examples of PG in action is Fubo, a sports-first live TV streaming platform that has leaned into it at scale using Magnite technology. This partnership has achieved:

• Over 40 live sports PG deals executed this year
• Coverage across NBA, NFL, soccer, women’s sports, and Run of Sports (ROS) packages (which include all live sports grouped together)
• LSA-enabled monetization that helps support large-scale concurrent audiences

With a portion of Fubo’s programmatic demand running through Magnite, LSA plays an important role in optimizing performance with ad timeout management, helping reduce timeouts during demand surges. It also aids in bid rate optimization, accelerating request flow for better pacing and fill, which is especially important during peak spikes. 

“Delivering a premium, consistent ad experience is key to supporting the breadth of live sports streamed on Fubo,” said Jennifer Hess, VP, global ad operations at Fubo. “PG through Magnite has helped optimize and maintain the ad quality our viewers and clients expect. With tools like LSA, we’re able to meet high concurrency demands without sacrificing performance. It’s a win for our advertisers, our viewers, and our platform.”

How Advertisers Can Win With PG for Sports

To make the most of programmatic guaranteed during live sports, brands should:

• Partner smart: Work with trusted, scaled platforms like Magnite, which covers 99% of the streaming ecosystem.
  
• Use data wisely: Tap into first- and third-party audience insights for a more precise audience reach.
  
• Measure in real time: Use real-time reporting to access key performance metrics, adjusting strategies as needed to optimize campaigns.
  
• Think creatively: Build dynamic, relevant creatives that elevate the live viewing experience. Don’t overlook shoulder content—pre- and post-game programming that can extend campaign impact and storytelling when included in private marketplace (PMP) or PG deals.

Live sports remain one of the last appointment-viewing formats, drawing millions of fans who often watch in real time and with intent. PG allows advertisers to tap into that attention with scale, control, and confidence. As adoption grows and streaming continues to pull viewers from traditional TV, PG will be a defining tool in every sports advertiser’s playbook.