Lewiston Tribune: FanWord runs on five staff and added AI only in 2023; Lewis-Clark State piloted its transcription and does not use it, as WSU adds voice-note feature stories

Washington State University Athletics, FanWord, Lewis-Clark State College (covered by the Lewiston Tribune) · Athletic communications / sports information (AI-assisted recaps, bios, transcription and feature stories) · United States (Pullman, Washington; Lewiston, Idaho; NCAA Division I and NAIA)

College Athletics

Publisher: Lewiston Tribune
Original publication: October 16, 2026
Source retrieved: 2026-10-18

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What happened

The Lewiston Tribune (Sam Taylor, Oct 16, 2026) adds detail beyond archived WSU–FanWord coverage. FanWord CEO Christopher Aumueller told the Tribune the Lincoln, Neb. company has five full-time employees in 2026, began as a freelance feature-story service in 2018, had about 70 partnerships by 2023 and did not add AI to its products until 2023; its website cites about 250 schools and conferences. Aumueller conceded the company needs to communicate better what the tool does. Lewis-Clark State's assistant AD for sports information, Alisha Alexander (also first VP of the NAIA SID association), said LCSC piloted FanWord's transcription feature several years ago and does not use the program, though she called it useful for writing help at one-SID schools. WSU's Bobby Alworth described the workflow: for ticketed sports staff upload a box-score game file, FanWord Assist drafts a recap and staff revise and publish; interns still write releases for non-ticketed sports. WSU may also send athletes questions to answer by voice note or video, which FanWord turns into feature stories for staff revision. WSU has three full-time SIDs and is hiring a fourth; it pays $5,000 per year. Murrow College dean Bruce Pinkleton said 10 Murrow students work in WSU Athletics. A WSU broadcast professor and a Daily Evergreen reporter objected to AI-written feature stories about people. No time-saved, accuracy or quality measurement is reported.

Why it matters

Why now: published Oct 16, 2026, the day of the last completed edition, and not archived. It is the first archived source to describe the vendor's own scale and AI history, a named small-college pilot that was not continued, and the voice-note-to-feature-story workflow, which moves AI from stat-driven recaps to writing about athletes as people. Interpretation: the procurement question for departments is shifting from cost (already archived at $5,000/year) to vendor capacity, which content types are in scope, and how athlete consent for AI-drafted profiles is handled.

Evidence and measured results

Local newspaper reporting from on-record interviews with WSU staff, the FanWord CEO, an LCSC sports information director, a WSU professor and a student reporter, plus a dean's statement. Vendor figures (staff count, partnership counts, 250 schools) are self-reported. The LCSC pilot is described in one sentence with no date, scope or reason for discontinuing. No usage data, time savings, error rates or reader-quality evaluation.

Limitations and uncertainty

Single local-news article in a heavily covered story (13 archived FanWord items). The LCSC non-use finding is anecdotal and undated. Vendor claims unverified. Critics' views are opinion, not measured quality findings.

Put this evidence to work

Lighthouse Advisory interpretation, grounded in this source. Enriched 2026-10-17; this does not change the original publication date. Each role follows the same checklist so takeaways compare across sources.

Sales

Role takeaway

Customer problem: Small sports information staffs cannot keep up with recaps, bios and features across many sports, but AI drafting draws student and faculty backlash.
Stakeholders: Director of athletic communications
Deputy AD for external relations
Journalism or communications college dean
Student media and interns
Compliance / general counsel
Athletics IT
Discovery questions: Which content types would be AI-drafted, and which stay human-written?
How will athletes consent to voice notes being turned into stories?
What student or intern roles have you committed to keep?
What happens to your content and recordings if a five-person vendor fails?
Will AI-assisted content be labeled?
Value hypothesis: Drafting help for routine recaps may free SID time for higher-value work if content scope, review and disclosure are clearly set.
Potential engagement: A two-week AI content-policy and vendor-risk review for one athletics communications office, covering content scope, consent, disclosure and contract terms.
Unsupported claims: Measured hours saved
Equal or better story quality
No impact on student opportunities
Accurate stats without human checks
Vendor stability for multi-year terms

Pre-sales engineering

Role takeaway

Fit: Departments with one to four SIDs publishing many routine recaps that already produce box-score files.
Architecture and integration: Vendor-hosted generative drafting fed by uploaded game files, transcripts and athlete voice/video submissions; drafts exported or copied into the athletics CMS for staff edit and publish.
Prerequisites: Consistent box-score export files
CMS workflow with editor approval
Consent process for athlete recordings
Vendor DPA and security review
Constraints: File-upload integration, no live stats feed described
Small vendor with limited support capacity
State biometric/voice privacy laws vary
No published accuracy data
Security: Treat athlete recordings as personal data: limit retention, prohibit model training on them, require deletion at contract end, and restrict account access to named staff.
Proof of value: Compare 20 AI recap drafts with box scores for stat errors
Time a sample of recaps with and without the tool
Audit consent records for every voice-note feature
Test data deletion on request

Delivery

Role takeaway

Work: Set content scope and disclosure policy, configure upload and edit workflow, set athlete consent steps, and pilot on a few sports before expanding.
Dependencies: Vendor onboarding
Athletics IT and counsel review
Student media and journalism college engagement
Athlete consent forms
Ownership: Director of athletic communications, with compliance as control owner for athlete-data consent.
Skills and adoption: Train SIDs to fact-check drafts against source files, edit for voice, and log corrections; brief interns on remaining responsibilities.
Governance checkpoints: Content-scope policy approved before go-live
Athlete consent template approved by counsel
End-of-season error and correction review
Contract renewal review of vendor capacity
Acceptance criteria: Proposed: zero published stat errors traced to AI drafts in a season sample
Proposed: 100% of AI-assisted athlete features have recorded athlete consent
Proposed: disclosure policy published on the athletics site
Proposed: committed number of student roles maintained
Risks: Reputational backlash from students and alumni
AI-drafted features misrepresenting athletes
Stat errors from upload parsing
Vendor discontinuity
Loss of student training opportunities

Implementation considerations

Lighthouse Advisory interpretation across the operating dimensions a public-sector buyer must settle before this evidence becomes a design. Each note answers the question under its heading for this specific source.

Architecture and integration

What must connect, and where does the AI sit in the workflow?

Vendor-hosted generative drafting service fed by uploaded game files with box scores, audio/video transcription, and athlete-submitted voice notes or video; outputs are drafts that staff edit in the athletics website CMS. Integration is file upload, not a live stats feed, so stat accuracy depends on the uploaded file and staff checks.

Governance

Who approves, reviews and stays accountable for outcomes?

Departments should define which content types may be AI-drafted (recaps vs. feature stories about athletes), require human edit and sign-off, decide on disclosure labels, and preserve student-worker and intern roles they have committed to. Athlete voice notes used to generate profiles warrant explicit consent and a review step by the athlete. A five-person vendor serving about 250 departments raises continuity and support questions for multi-year contracts.

Security and privacy

What data, permissions and controls need testing?

Athlete voice and video recordings submitted to a vendor are personal data and may be biometric in some jurisdictions; contracts should cover retention, deletion, use for model training, and sub-processors. Box scores are low-risk, but bios and features can include personal and health-adjacent details.

Accessibility and workforce

Who is affected, and what skills or accommodations follow?

Framed as workload relief for three SIDs; critics see lost student writing opportunities, though the dean says 10 Murrow students still work in athletics.

Procurement

What should contracts, pricing and exit terms secure?

$5,000/year at WSU; buyers should weigh vendor size (five FTEs), multi-year terms, data-use and exit clauses.

Operating model

Which teams own the service once it runs?

Shifts SIDs from writing to editing and fact-checking; extends AI drafting into athlete feature stories via voice notes.

Publication history

2026-10-17College Athletics · Issue 391 resources

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Stable resource ID: lmtribune-wsu-fanword-vendor-scale-lcsc-pilot-2026-10-16