Major League Soccer (MLS) has announced a multi-year collaboration with Vision Insights aimed at enhancing brand exposure analysis for the league’s commercial partners, reinforcing its commitment to data-led sponsorship evaluation as the global sports industry increasingly prioritises measurable return on investment.
Under the agreement, Vision Insights will deploy its proprietary Decoder Media platform to track and analyse sponsor visibility across MLS match broadcasts and in-stadium branding environments. Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, the technology identifies brand logos appearing across perimeter LED boards, jerseys, interview backdrops and other commercial assets, measuring both frequency of exposure and on-screen prominence.
Through the partnership, MLS and its commercial arm Soccer United Marketing (SUM) will deliver deeper performance insights to sponsors, enabling brands to better understand the value generated through their partnerships. The analytics framework is designed to support more informed decision-making around creative execution, asset placement and long-term commercial strategy, reflecting the growing importance of accountability in sponsorship investment.
Scott Horowitz, Chief Executive Officer, Vision Insights, said, “In just 4 short years, Decoder Media has quickly become the de facto currency in sponsorship measurement and asset analysis. The platform offers a completely unique way of analysing brand exposure, both during broadcasts and via in-stadium viewing. Vision Insights is bullish on the exciting future ahead for North American soccer, which is why it has been so important to provide Decoder Fan Insights to MLS over the past several years. The deployment of Decoder Media is a natural progression of our relationship with MLS and will usher in deeper fan and sponsorship insight for MLS and SUM brand partners.”
Decoder Media’s high-frequency frame capture capability significantly increases the volume of detectable brand exposures compared to conventional monitoring approaches, improving the accuracy and depth of performance measurement. The platform also provides full-motion video verification of exposure instances, offering partners visual confirmation of brand placement across live match coverage.
Importantly, the technology enables in-season optimisation, allowing sponsors to refine branding strategies dynamically rather than relying solely on post-season reporting. This real-time feedback loop can help improve activation effectiveness, strengthen fan engagement and maximise the commercial impact of sponsorship campaigns.
The expanded collaboration builds on MLS’s existing relationship with Vision Insights, which has previously supported the league through its Decoder Fan Insights solution focused on audience behaviour and engagement measurement. The move into brand exposure analytics represents a natural progression as MLS continues to invest in technologies that enhance its commercial ecosystem.
The agreement also comes at a strategically significant moment for North American soccer, with increased global attention expected in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup 2026 across the United States, Canada and Mexico. As competition for sponsorship investment intensifies, advanced measurement capabilities are becoming increasingly important in demonstrating tangible commercial value.
Vision Insights, founded in 2022, specialises in research and analytics solutions for the sports and entertainment industry, supporting leagues, teams and brands in evaluating marketing effectiveness, fan engagement and media value generation.
For MLS, the collaboration highlights the continued evolution of sponsorship models toward performance-driven partnerships, where technology-enabled insights are playing a central role in shaping commercial growth strategies.
