The Australian Open surprised viewers with a unique twist on its YouTube livestream during the 2025 tournament. Using artificial intelligence, the tournament created real-time animated avatars of players, ball kids, and umpires that resembled iconic Nintendo Wii characters. This innovative approach allowed for a live-like viewing experience while still adhering to broadcast rights agreements.
An animated version of Aryna Sabalenka during the Australian Open women’s final. This is the picture that live viewers on YouTube saw. The Australian Open tennis tournament finished up last night, and viewers of 2025’s first Grand Slam tournament may have noticed something strange on the tournament’s YouTube channel: the players were represented as Nintendo Wii -like characters. The Australian Open recreated the tennis matches live in video game form overdubbing the real sound of the games.
The technology is powered by artificial intelligence, which sees athletes wearing the correct outfits with the right colors. Tennis Australia created its own “skins” to represent players, ball kids, and chair umpires. The stream is almost live with roughly a one-point delay.So, its YouTube livestream uses AI to generate Nintendo Wii Tennis cartoon avatars that mimics the action on a 2-minute delay.“The wonderful part of it is it’s the players’ actual movement. It’s the actual trajectory of the ball,” Machar Reid, Tennis Australia’s director of innovation, said.While the broadcast is certainly a novelty, it is not purely about entertainment. Since the Australian Open sells broadcast rights to its competition all across the world, showing it live on YouTube would undermine those deals. So, the Nintendo Wii characters are a kind of workaround so it can still be streamed live, sort of, on YouTube. “By integrating skeletal tracking data with animated characters, this mixed-reality experience is designed to captivate a new generation of tennis fans, making the sport more accessible and engaging, particularly for kids and families,” says the Australian Open in a statement. Tennis Australia also hints that this technology could be used in other sports such as motor racing. “A live streamed Formula 1 race that looks like Mario Kart, I would be so down for,” writes Matt Jancer
Australian Open AI Artificial Intelligence Youtube Nintendo Wii Tennis Live Stream Broadcast Rights Mixed Reality
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Australian Open’s animated livestreams make players look like Wii Sports charactersThe Australian Open is airing animated versions of its games alongside real matches, making players look like Wii-Sports-style characters.
Read more »
Australian Open Embraces Wii-Style Animation to Attract New FansThe Australian Open is experimenting with a unique approach to engage younger audiences and gamers by streaming real-time animated feeds on its YouTube channel. These cartoonish replays, which mimic the action in the main stadiums with a one-point delay, are capturing the attention of players and viewers alike.
Read more »
VIDEO: Novak Djokovic Booed by Australian Fans at Australian Open After Injury WithdrawalSource of breaking news and analysis, insightful commentary and original reporting, curated and written specifically for the new generation of independent and conservative thinkers.
Read more »
It’s 2025 and the Nintendo Wii is getting a new Guitar Hero controllerHyperkin has opened preorders for its Guitar Hero Hyper Strummer controller, but it’s only compatible with the aging Nintendo Wii.
Read more »
I want the Nintendo Switch 2 to steal this one Wii U featureMore than any tech upgrade, we want to see one of the Wii U's best features return on the Nintendo Switch.
Read more »
Nintendo Switch Online Price Hike Rumors Swirl Ahead of Nintendo Switch 2 LaunchA new rumor suggests that Nintendo Switch Online subscription prices will increase with the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. The source, claiming to be a Micromania employee, doesn't specify the new pricing but hints at a price hike for the service.
Read more »