The AI sports-marketing arms race is well underway, with the top eight companies by market cap being AI players, from Nvidia ($5.2 trillion) to Broadcom ($1.6 trillion). SponsorUnited ranks the top five domestic AI/machine-learning buyers of sports sponsorships as Copilot, Google Gemini, Harvey, Globant and ChatGPT, tracking 176 AI brands active in marketing across global sports, with total deals (843) increasing 92% from last year and the number of brands up 20%. SponsorUnited founder/CEO Bob Lynch said AI won’t lend itself to exclusivity because many companies will use many kinds of AI, and brand loyalty won’t be important for users. San Francisco Giants CRO Jason Pearl said the Bay Area’s revitalization was built on AI, and every technology partner would say they are in the AI business, including Oracle and Airwallex, with other Giants AI sponsors including ElevenLabs and Conversica. The San Francisco 49ers expect to finalize six AI sponsorships by midseason, starting with Doppel, and COO Brent Schoeb said AI will be a top-10 category on its own. Playfly Sports EVP Paul Asencio helped fashion a deal giving three universities rights to an AI company’s general AI.