Sports
SGAI, Live Sports Streaming, Scale, and Standardization
[embedded content] Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI), and the variety of squeeze-back and picture-in-picture (PiP) ad options it enables, creates great opportunities for brands to innovate and engage audiences in new ways, particularly for live sports events. But it’s still early days for SGAI implementation, and scale and standardization still pose significant challenges that old solutions […]

Server-guided ad insertion (SGAI), and the variety of squeeze-back and picture-in-picture (PiP) ad options it enables, creates great opportunities for brands to innovate and engage audiences in new ways, particularly for live sports events. But it’s still early days for SGAI implementation, and scale and standardization still pose significant challenges that old solutions and approaches won’t solve, as Ring Digital’s Brian Ring, SVTA’s David Hassoun, Fan Serv’s C.J. Leonard, and Eventually A Castle’s Andrew Baritz discuss in this clip from May’s Streaming Media Connect.
Benefits of Hybrid
Ring Digital llc Principal Analyst Brian Ring opens the conversation by calling SGAI by another name: hybrid ad insertion. He asks for a quick, top-level definition and how it could play out in terms of ad format standardization.
Co-Chair of the SVTA Advertising Working Group David Hassoun speaks to the evolution of SGAI, beginning with client-side ad insertion (CSAI) and server-side ad insertion (SSAI), which provided a better experience and more reach. “No longer is just the basic linear ad solution really going to solve for the problems” surrounding ad opportunity options in streaming, he says, noting that one of the major benefits of hybrid is that it “takes a little bit of server-side and brings that experience down to the client. It lets the server guide it to make it so it’s noncritical path.”
Hybrid “doesn’t break the whole stream as it can with server-side ad solutions, but [it] allows you to get that nice, seamless experience but also have more options for better experiences,” Hassoun adds. “So you can do non-linear ads, those overlays, those pullbacks, the PiPs, [and] the L-bars, and that’s the big driver” of hybrid.
Hybrid in Sports Streaming
Ring brings sports into the conversation, saying that as a baseball fan, he can see a pitching change being sponsored by, for example, Speedy Oil Change. He asks Fan Serv VP of Publisher Operations C.J. Leonard to confirm that SGAI/hybrid is built for sports.
C.J. Leonard agrees, saying she works with sales channels that are hyper-focused on live local sports. “They have the demand, they have buyers asking for L-bars, squeeze backs, things like that,” she explains. Leonard goes on to cite vendors that provide individualized solutions, such as Transmit or Harmonic, although she stresses that she doesn’t want to promote any particular vendor over another.
Leonard describes an issue with L-bars and squeeze backs being that “you’re not in the break. When you move out of the break and into the actual HLS of the game, there’s challenges there that are arising. So we’re excited to see—buyers are excited to see—this [new ad option] come about.” She recently watched a Rockies-Phillies game that had in-broadcast ads for Rally House, and she says deciding where to insert ads is an early-days challenge for live local sports. Another challenge is teams having their own technology that isn’t compatible with broadcast when they release individual direct-to-consumer (D2C) apps outside of, say, MLB TV or the League Pass. “[Y]ou’re going to have splintered fragmentation around implementation” because of this, Leonard warns.
Issues to Keep in Mind
Ring speaks to the broadcast options based on his time working at Amagi. “We could do actual squeeze backs. … But what happens is, you learn that there’s a direct buy in a linear world: I want that one or I want this one. It’s happening in the production room when you move to SSAI, it’s just much more complicated in terms of what you’re going to bring in, [and] how it’s going to work,” he says. “And so I think it’s really critical to point to that.”
Ring introduces another participant to the conversation by asking Eventually A Castle CEO Andrew Baritz what his take is on ad formats and what’s interesting to him in the virtual world.
Baritz replies, “I think these formats are amazing for the publisher. They can be really powerful for the consumer. It can increase viewership of the content you want to watch versus ad time.” However, the problem with their growth is that “it’s borderline a walled garden within a walled garden,” especially for large media buyers. He uses the example of HBO Max, which owns all of its media space. “It’s available on some of those SSPs and DSPs. But those squeeze-back units might not be,” Baritz says. “And to the note of [Leonard], there are different vendors doing this, and they’re in competition with each other for that same media by those different standards, those different SSAI solutions. And [Ring] mentioned it with [his] experience at Amagi: Who owns the stream?”
Baritz wonders how technology must be used to allow for different ad options, noting that standardization is an issue. He also wonders how publishers connect to the media, saying that “these units often take very deep integrations, so that can limit who has access to them to larger streamers. It needs major economies of scale to make it viable and it blocks certain publishers from being able to enact them due to how they may be distributed. These units are largely locked to owned-and-operated experiences where you are in control of the end platform, which means a channel in this FAST world who may not own that platform may be limited to what type of formats they’re allowed to integrate with.”
Baritz continues to ask questions, including, “Who has that control over the supply-and-demand relationship? Is it the publisher, is it the technology, is it the platform? And then we add that fun layer of broadcast of: Did the MLB put a squeeze back in that’s in conflict with the squeeze back the publisher may have rights to sell?” He comes to the same conclusion Leonard did, pointing out that new formats are still in the early days of implementation. He believes they’ll be a major part of CTV, similar to how they are important in broadcast.
“So I think it’s just going to take time,” he asserts. “It’s going to take alignment from the content owners. It’s going to take platform awareness,” and standardization will be important in opening up any walled gardens so buyers can run their ads across all of their partners. “That supply of those units [such as squeeze backs] can be commoditized versus locked into these walled gardens.”

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UT-Dallas track & field athletes left scrambling after sport is cut
RICHARDSON, Texas – Several student-athletes are scrambling after learning that the University of Texas at Dallas will eliminate its track and field and cross-country programs. UTD Track Programs Cut What we know: On Monday, UTD announced it was discontinuing its indoor and outdoor track and field programs, along with the cross-country program. Both sports are […]

RICHARDSON, Texas – Several student-athletes are scrambling after learning that the University of Texas at Dallas will eliminate its track and field and cross-country programs.
UTD Track Programs Cut

What we know:
On Monday, UTD announced it was discontinuing its indoor and outdoor track and field programs, along with the cross-country program.
Both sports are being eliminated for the 2025-2026 academic year because of budget issues and the lack of on-campus facilities.
The decision comes just weeks before the fall semester begins, leaving the student-athletes with nowhere to run unless they can transfer to another school.
What they’re saying:
Several of UTD’s athletes said they feel blindsided.
“Track is my life. And it’s been a part of my life. And I wanted that chance to be able to be a part of something bigger,” said Madison Avery, a UTD sophomore. “The academic program is great, especially for what I want to do. But I also chose UTD because they were going to give me a spot on the track team.
“I have already been dealing with some personal family issues. So, when I found out about this, I broke. It broke me,” added Randi Beckham, a team captain and UTD junior.
“I mean, for me, the team getting cut is kind of the end of my track career. So, I probably won’t be pulling out the spikes really anymore to practice. It’s definitely going to be a huge change,” said Emma Foyt-Gade, a UTD junior.

Dig deeper:
UTD said the affected student-athletes will retain their athletic scholarships for the 2025-2026 school year. The school will also support those hoping to transfer.
“We recognize the disappointment this decision brings to our student-athletes and the impact on their experience at UT Dallas,” UTD Director of Athletics Angela Marin said in a statement.
The runners said it’s pretty late to transfer this close to the season.
Their biggest concern is for the coaches and freshmen.
“The new recruits who came here solely for track and field, who are set to move in in a couple of weeks, maybe even days, and we all have nowhere to go. And we’re scrambling to pick up the pieces of our lives,” Foyt-Gade said.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the UTD Athletics Department, as well as interviews with several student-athletes.
Sports
UTSA Volleyball to host Totz Clinic – UTSA Athletics
SAN ANTONIO – The 2025 UTSA Volleyball squad will host a Totz Clinic, allowing students in 6th grade and under to watch the team practice/scrimmage from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on August 15 at the Convocation Center. “Future volleyballers are a big part of the why in our program,” said head coach Carol Price-Torok. “This is the […]
Sports
Women’s Basketball Announces Nonconference Schedule
BOISE, Idaho – Boise State women’s basketball head coach Gordy Presnell announced the nonconference slate for the 2025-26 season, Tuesday. The Broncos will play seven of 11 games at home prior to Mountain West play, including three-straight to start the season. Boise State opens its campaign, Monday, Nov. 3 against Eastern Oregon. […]

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State women’s basketball head coach Gordy Presnell announced the nonconference slate for the 2025-26 season, Tuesday.
The Broncos will play seven of 11 games at home prior to Mountain West play, including three-straight to start the season.
Boise State opens its campaign, Monday, Nov. 3 against Eastern Oregon. The contest against the Mountaineers will be a kids day game with a noon tipoff.
The Broncos will host San Francisco (Nov. 9) and UC Davis (Nov. 14) before traveling to Colorado for their first road competition.
Last year, the Broncos knocked off the Buffaloes 50-47 at ExtraMile Arena marking the second-consecutive season Boise State defeated a Power 4 opponent (Rutgers, 2023-24).
Home games against Seattle U (Nov. 21) and UC Riverside (Nov. 23) precede a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the prestigious Paradise Jam, which dates back to 2000.
In the inaugural event, Jackie Stiles of Missouri State was the tournament MVP prior to setting NCAA single-season and career scoring records. Several tournament MVP have gone on to play in the WNBA.
Boise State will square off with North Dakota (Nov. 27) in the tournament and then face either Elon or Tulane (Nov. 28).
The Broncos return to the Treasure Valley to host Cal Baptist (Dec. 6) and then wrap up the road portion of the nonconference schedule with their second Power 4 opponent in Utah (Dec. 10).
Boise State closes its nonconference slate at home against Southern Utah (Dec. 13).
The Broncos will take part in a foreign tour in Greece, Aug. 5-12 prior to fall classes beginning.
Season and single-game tickets information, as well as the Mountain West schedule, will be announced at a later date.
Sports
Women's Basketball Announces Nonconference Schedule
BOISE, Idaho – Boise State women’s basketball head coach Gordy Presnell announced the nonconference slate for the 2025-26 season, Tuesday. The Broncos will play seven of 11 games at home prior to Mountain West play, including three-straight to start the season. Boise State opens its campaign, Monday, Nov. 3 against Eastern Oregon. The contest against the Mountaineers […]


BOISE, Idaho – Boise State women’s basketball head coach Gordy Presnell announced the nonconference slate for the 2025-26 season, Tuesday.
The Broncos will play seven of 11 games at home prior to Mountain West play, including three-straight to start the season.
Boise State opens its campaign, Monday, Nov. 3 against Eastern Oregon. The contest against the Mountaineers will be a kids day game with a noon tipoff.
The Broncos will host San Francisco (Nov. 9) and UC Davis (Nov. 14) before traveling to Colorado for their first road competition.
Last year, the Broncos knocked off the Buffaloes 50-47 at ExtraMile Arena marking the second-consecutive season Boise State defeated a Power 4 opponent (Rutgers, 2023-24).
Home games against Seattle U (Nov. 21) and UC Riverside (Nov. 23) precede a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the prestigious Paradise Jam, which dates back to 2000.
In the inaugural event, Jackie Stiles of Missouri State was the tournament MVP prior to setting NCAA single-season and career scoring records. Several tournament MVP have gone on to play in the WNBA.
Boise State will square off with North Dakota (Nov. 27) in the tournament and then face either Elon or Tulane (Nov. 28).
The Broncos return to the Treasure Valley to host Cal Baptist (Dec. 6) and then wrap up the road portion of the nonconference schedule with their second Power 4 opponent in Utah (Dec. 10).
Boise State closes its nonconference slate at home against Southern Utah (Dec. 13).
The Broncos will take part in a foreign tour in Greece, Aug. 5-12 prior to fall classes beginning.
Season and single-game tickets information, as well as the Mountain West schedule, will be announced at a later date.
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Who To Watch For At The 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships
EUGENE, OREGON – JUNE 19: Sha’Carri Richardson competes in the Women’s 100 Meter Semi-finals on day … More 2 of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 19, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) Getty Images When national titles are on the line, there’s no […]

EUGENE, OREGON – JUNE 19: Sha’Carri Richardson competes in the Women’s 100 Meter Semi-finals on day … More
Getty Images
When national titles are on the line, there’s no greater time to be a track and field fan, and starting Thursday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, the USATF Outdoor Championships will highlight the very best athletes in America.
The stakes couldn’t be higher as the four-day championship will determine the U.S. roster for the World Championships, which will take place from Sept. 13-21 at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.
Per USATF selection guidelines, the top three athletes across each event will qualify for the World Championships. Reigning world champions from 2023 will receive automatic byes in their events.
Here are the top races and athletes to watch for:
How To Watch The 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships
If you were looking for an easy way to catch USAs, you’re out of luck. NBC and Peacock are only airing the final two days of action from Hayward Field on Aug. 2-3, and they’re doing so over a two-hour television window from 4-6 p.m. For more astute fans of track and field, you can catch all four days of coverage on USATF.TV, though you’ll have to pony up a monthly subscription fee of $12.99 or a yearly cost of $129.99.
Legitimate Intrigue In The Women’s 100 Meters
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – AUGUST 20: Sha’Carri Richardson of Team United States competes in the Women’s … More
Getty Images
While reigning 2023 world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson is entered and has her spot reserved for Tokyo, her inclusion in the top three of the women’s 100 meters at USAs is hardly guaranteed.
Richardson just hasn’t looked confident this year, and it didn’t help that she finished last in the women’s 100 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in May. In fact, Richardson has not broken 11 seconds in 2025 yet, which is highly concerning.
What compounds those issues is the fact that her Star Athletics teammate, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, is currently on a heater, having won her last four races at the distance. She owns a world No. 1 time of 10.73 seconds.
Elsewhere, Twanisha Terry – Richardon’s and Jefferson-Wooden’s other teammate – arrives with a season-best time of 10.85, while Jacious Sears has run 10.85 and JaMeesia Ford owns a top effort of 10.87.
A total of six women, including Aleia Hobbs, will enter the first round of action with season bests under 10.90. Roughly a year ago at the U.S. Olympic Trials, it was the Star Athletics threesome of Richardson, Jefferson-Wooden and Terry who walked away with the top three placements.
How Will The College Newbies Fare at the USATF Outdoor Championships
A fun exercise will take place in the men’s 1500 meters.
On one hand enters Olympic gold medalist Cole Hocker and bronze medalist Yared Nuguse. Hobbs Kessler, who has the fifth-fastest time on the year for a U.S. athlete, has run under 3:32, while Jonah Koech and Vincent Ciattei are right there in the mix, with times at 3:31.43 and 3:31.69.
On the other hand lies recently-minted professionals like Nathan Green (Washington), Liam Murphy (Villanova) and Ethan Strand (North Carolina).
The 1,500 meters is often prone to jockeying and seesawing tactics, so no qualification is a foregone conclusion. The college guys should test the veterans, and vice versa. Expect some fireworks by the final.
The Men’s 400 Meters Has Potential At The USATF Outdoor Championships
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – APRIL 25: Quincy Wilson of Bullis School (MD) competes in the High … More
Getty Images
The eye-opener in the men’s 400 meters is the fact that Quincy Hall, the reigning 2024 Olympic champion, is not in the field. Neither is Michael Norman, who was second at the U.S. Olympic Trials a year ago.
That leaves the door open for up-and-comers like Khaleb McRae, Jacory Patterson, and 17-year-old Quincy Wilson.
Those three will arrive to the track with the fastest times of the field. However, Wilson’s the only one who made the Olympic team last summer.
Saying that, though, Patterson is currently amid a career year. The 25-year-old won a World indoor bronze in March over 400 meters, along with a gold in the 4×400. There’s also the fact that, before he signed with Nike, Patterson was working the late shift at UPS to support his track habit.
All three still have something to prove.
And those three will still have to outwit the likes of Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Chris Bailey, who have proven themselves on the qualifying stage. All three reached the Olympics a year ago, with Bailey and Norwood qualifying individually.
Impressively, Wilson has upped his game in 2025. The rising high school junior ran 44.10 in July at the Ed Murphey Classic, lowering his American under-18 best at the distance. He could chase after the World U20 record of 43.87, which is owned by Steve Lewis.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 1: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone crosses the line during the women’s … More
Getty Images
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Could Have Her Eyes On History
This weekend won’t be the first time McLaughlin-Levrone chases after a national title in the 400 meters. She last won nationals at the distance in 2023, clocking a time of 48.74 – just four-hundredths of a second shy of Sanya Richards-Ross’ American record.
Perhaps that will be motivation enough for the 25-year-old. She’ll face off against Aaliyah Butler (49.09), Isabella Whittaker (49.24) and Alexis Holmes (49.77).
McLaughlin-Levrone is coming off a 400 meter win at the Prefontaine Classic. She ran 49.43 sec.
What Kind Of Form Is Grant Holloway In?
Grant Holloway has been handed a dose of reality in 2025. After dominating the hurdle landscape for such an extended period and scoring the Olympic win in 2024, Holloway has been anything but invincible.
His last win, in fact, was in March in the 60 meter hurdle final at the World Indoor Championships. In his most recent head-to-head on June 24, Holloway lost by a lean to fellow American Dyan Beard in Ostrava.
Maybe it all adds up to a winning formula in Eugene. But for Holloway, few things have been season in 2025 so far.
Roisin Willis’ Opportunity Is Here At The USATF Outdoor Championships
EUGENE, OREGON – JUNE 14: Roisin Willis of the Stanford Cardinal reacts while crossing the finish … More
NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Few events will offer as much parity as the women’s 800 meters.
With defending U.S. champion Nia Akins struggling and 2022 World Champion Athing Mu-Nikolayev out of the field, it has left a wide net for those wrangling for the top three spots.
Experience could favor the likes of Addison Wiley (1:56.83), who will enter with the top U.S. time of 1:57.43, though college standouts like Michaela Rose (LSU) and Willis (Stanford) could stand to benefit. Juliette Whittaker, who qualified for the Paris Olympics in 2024, is also in major consideration here.
Willis scored an NCAA outdoor title in June in 1:58.13.
Sports
Limited Volleyball single-match tickets on sale now
Story Links Purchase Tickets TODAY! The 2025 Texas Volleyball season is almost HERE! Single-match tickets for the upcoming season are on sale now online at TexasLonghorns.com/Tickets. Please note that only a limited number of general admission single-match tickets remain for matches at Gregory Gym; all tickets are reserved seats for the Stanford match at Moody Center. […]

Purchase Tickets TODAY!
The 2025 Texas Volleyball season is almost HERE! Single-match tickets for the upcoming season are on sale now online at TexasLonghorns.com/Tickets. Please note that only a limited number of general admission single-match tickets remain for matches at Gregory Gym; all tickets are reserved seats for the Stanford match at Moody Center.
This year’s schedule features an outstanding home slate including seven Southeastern Conference matches against Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt as well as nonconference matches versus Arizona State, TCU, and Baylor. In addition, the Horns will host perennial power Stanford for a special nonconference match on Sunday, Sept. 7 at Moody Center. We hope you will join us for another thrilling season and help us pack the Horns’ House EVERY. SINGLE. MATCH.
Stanford match at Moody Center Ticket Information
All seats for the Stanford match at Moody Center are reserved and ticket prices range from $20-$50. Mobile tickets will be available to download from your Texas Longhorns ticket account in mid-August, and fans with tickets will receive a notification once tickets are in accounts.
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