Microsoft Signs AI Megadeal with the Premier League
- Chris Howell
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 30
Here at Mercia AI, we’re big football fans. While the countdown to the new season builds and the FIFA Club World Cup pits South America's finest against European giants, today brought a different kind of headline: a landmark deal between football and artificial intelligence.
On July 1st, 2025, the Premier League announced a five-year strategic partnership with Microsoft. This historic agreement names Microsoft as the League’s new official cloud and AI partner, replacing Oracle and launching a new era for football’s digital future. It’s more than a sponsorship—this is a total rethink of how the Premier League engages fans, manages data, and innovates at every level.
From transforming fantasy football to reinventing live broadcasts, this partnership is set to reshape the game. Here's what’s coming.
Fans First: AI-Powered Chatbots and Personalised Digital Experiences
At the centre of the transformation is the Premier League Companion chatbot, developed using Microsoft Copilot and Azure OpenAI. Integrated into the League’s mobile app and official website, this AI-powered assistant is designed to enhance engagement by offering:
Open-ended question capabilities about teams, players, records, and fixtures
Access to over 30 years of historical statistics
Searchable archives of more than 300,000 articles and 9,000 match videos
Real-time, personalised responses in multiple languages, including audio support
This isn’t just a chatbot—it’s a multilingual, context-aware football encyclopedia designed to meet fans wherever they are. Whether you're a lifelong supporter or a newcomer to the Premier League, this companion learns your preferences and evolves to deliver increasingly relevant content.
It’s a significant leap toward hyper-personalised fan engagement on a global scale.
Fantasy Football Gets a Data-Driven Co-Manager
If you’ve ever agonised over your Fantasy Premier League (FPL) lineup, relief is on the way. Microsoft’s AI integration introduces a personal assistant manager that offers:
Bespoke lineup and formation recommendations
Intelligent player transfer suggestions based on form, fixtures, and trends
Match-specific strategy insights and alerts
The assistant leverages real-time match data, historical performance, and your team history to offer a level of strategic support once reserved for professional analysts. This turns casual players into savvy tacticians and adds a new competitive edge to the FPL experience.
Smarter Broadcasts and Matchday Analysis
Broadcasting is another major area of impact. Using Azure AI Foundry services, Microsoft will elevate how games are analysed and experienced through:
Live, in-game data overlays highlighting key stats and tactical shifts
Post-match breakdowns enriched with AI-generated analysis
Curated highlight reels based on viewer preferences
Side-by-side comparisons with historic games or similar player profiles
Imagine watching a match and instantly seeing how a player’s sprint speed compares to past seasons, or getting real-time predictions on substitution impact. This is where AI turns passive watching into interactive insight.
Transforming the League’s Digital Infrastructure
This partnership doesn’t stop at fan-facing tools. Behind the scenes, Microsoft is undertaking a massive overhaul of the Premier League’s digital operations. Key upgrades include:
Migrating the League’s digital backbone to Microsoft Azure Cloud
Integrating Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 to modernise workflows
Upgrading security, scalability, and global content delivery systems
Using AI for smarter content distribution and automated translation
The goal isn’t just efficiency—it’s resilience, innovation, and long-term scalability to support growing global demand and evolving digital expectations.
Why the Premier League Chose Microsoft Over Oracle
Oracle’s previous deal, while useful, focused mainly on matchday stats and broadcast enhancement. Microsoft’s offer goes far beyond, promising a truly end-to-end transformation. According to the League, the switch was based on:
Broader AI capabilities across fan engagement, media, and infrastructure
Proven track record supporting other top-tier sports like the NFL and LaLiga
A higher-value financial offer with more strategic alignment
Ability to deliver multilingual, mobile-first, scalable experiences globally
Microsoft didn’t just outbid Oracle—they out-innovated them.
Aiming for 1.8 Billion Fans in 189 Countries
The Premier League isn’t just a UK brand—it’s a global entertainment powerhouse. With fans spread across 189 countries, Microsoft’s infrastructure and AI capabilities will make it easier than ever to deliver:
Multilingual experiences in real time
Region-specific content recommendations
Accessible digital features for underrepresented audiences
This is about reaching fans not just where they are, but how they want to experience football—in their language, on their platform, and at their level of understanding.
Our Take at Mercia AI
This deal exemplifies how AI is no longer a future consideration in sport—it’s a current strategic driver. From broadcast evolution to grassroots digital engagement, the Microsoft–Premier League partnership shows how technology can amplify every dimension of the game.
At Mercia AI, we see this as a milestone moment. It validates many of the trends we explored in our earlier post: The Rise of AI in Football: From Champions League Finals to Grassroots Stadiums
More importantly, it opens the door for clubs, organisations, and even grassroots leagues to consider how AI can elevate their own strategy, reach, and performance.
Could AI Help Your Organisation?
Whether you work in sport, education, media, or business—AI is reshaping how we engage, analyse, and deliver value.
If you’re curious about how AI can give your organisation a competitive edge, let’s talk.
Mercia AI is an independent UK-based AI consultancy helping people and organisations make sense of AI—and make it work for them.
