Code and Theory launches sports content system with Adobe

Code and Theory has launched a Content Operating System for Sports with Adobe, aimed at professional sports teams and leagues.

The product is designed to give sports organisations a single system for managing content production, brand governance, rights clearance and performance measurement across their operations.

Sports teams and leagues have expanded their publishing activity as they take on functions more commonly associated with media businesses. That has increased pressure on internal creative teams, which are often small despite handling content for multiple brand partners and a growing number of owned channels.

According to Code and Theory, top-tier franchises now manage between 80 and more than 150 brand partners and publish across more than 13 owned channels, while many creative teams consist of four to 10 people.

Sports workflow

The new system is built on Adobe CX Enterprise products, including Adobe GenStudio and Adobe CX Analytics. Code and Theory says it is structured around the workflows that shape sports content operations, including sponsor activations, fan engagement and localised team output.

The system is intended to address three operational problems in sports content work: demand that exceeds team capacity, governance processes that struggle to keep pace with publishing deadlines, and weak feedback loops between one season's output and the next.

Rather than starting from a blank brief, the platform is designed to generate content from operational triggers such as sponsor obligation windows, fan segment behaviour, fixture events and game moments. The aim is to help teams meet commercial commitments across their portfolios while aligning content with audience data and live sporting events.

Adobe's analytics tools are also used to connect campaign activity and audience targeting with return on investment. This is intended to give teams and leagues a clearer view of how content performs across media touchpoints.

Embedded model

Code and Theory says it will run the system alongside clients' in-house teams through a dedicated group of engineers embedded within customer organisations. These teams will handle the day-to-day operation and refinement of the system across strategy, technology and sports-focused execution.

This operating model suggests the company is pursuing recurring, long-term relationships with sports organisations rather than one-off software deployments. It also reflects the growing role of service providers that combine consulting, technology implementation and operational support in a single offering.

The launch marks the second joint product from Code and Theory and Adobe's Partner Solutions group. The first was the Creative Intelligence System, which the companies said was designed to bring customer intelligence into the creative process earlier so messaging and concepts can be tested and refined before release.

Code and Theory is part of Stagwell and sits within the Code and Theory Network, which includes agencies and digital product groups such as Kettle, Instrument, Left Field Labs, Truelogic, Create Group and Current. Its clients include Amazon, JPMorganChase, Microsoft, NBC, the NFL and Yeti.

The sports sector has become an increasingly important market for technology and marketing groups as teams seek tighter control over sponsor delivery, direct fan relationships and measurable media performance. The volume of digital output required across social platforms, apps, websites and partner channels has pushed many organisations to rethink the systems behind content creation.

Michael Treff, Chief Executive Officer of Code and Theory, said the launch reflects that shift.

"Code and Theory has spent more than a decade inside professional sports organizations, learning how this work operates at portfolio scale. The Content Operating System for Sports productizes that work, and the Adobe partnership is what lets us deliver it as durable infrastructure rather than another engagement. We're committing to operate alongside our customers season after season."