For the past three decades, the sports industry has focused on one core objective: building better ways to watch. Bigger broadcast deals, richer streaming packages and more statistics on the second screen have all improved the viewing experience. The model worked because audiences kept growing and the quality of the broadcast kept improving.

But the way fans behave during live matches has quietly moved ahead of the products built around it. Walk into any stadium or living room on match day and observe what is actually happening. Fans debate formations before kickoff, call substitutions minutes before they occur and sometimes sense a red card coming before the referee reaches for his pocket. This behavior is not passive. It is active, continuous and social. Yet most sports products still treat it as background noise.

Research from Deloitte estimates that roughly 85% of sports fans use a second screen during live matches. What fans actually do on that screen is revealing. The dominant activities are not highlight viewing or statistics browsing. They are group messaging and informal........

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