All occupations › Arts, design, media & sportsCan AI Replace Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials in 2026? Lower exposure. AI could handle about 33% of today's umpires, referees, and other sports officials tasks by 2036, and there is a 15% chance the number of jobs falls by a fifth or more. AI both assists and takes over tasks.
See how not to be replaced
Timeline Year 2030 Chance of 20%+ fewer jobs
10% 2030 · 15% 2036
One person could cover, 2036
1.3 roles
0% 50% 100% 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 15% 2027: 16% 2028: 17% 2029: 19% 2030: 21% 2031: 24% 2032: 27% 2033: 29% 2034: 31% 2035: 32% 2036: 33% 21% Share of today's tasks AI can perform 40 80 120 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 100 2027: 100 2028: 99 2029: 99 2030: 98 2031: 97 2032: 96 2033: 95 2034: 95 2035: 94 2036: 94 98 Headcount index, 2025 = 100 (dashed line) Your survival map Not every part of your job is at the same risk. Tap a number to see what to do about each task.
You 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Tap a number on the map or a task below.
1 Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed. 2 Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements. 3 Resolve claims of rule infractions or complaints by participants and assess any necessary penalties, according to regulations. 4 Verify credentials of participants in sporting events, and make other qualifying determinations, such as starting order or handicap number. 5 Research and study players and teams to anticipate issues that might arise in future engagements. 6 Judge performances in sporting competitions to award points, impose scoring penalties, and determine results. 7 Report to regulating organizations regarding sporting activities, complaints made, and actions taken or needed, such as fines or other disciplinary actions. 8 Verify scoring calculations before competition winners are announced. 9 Compile scores and other athletic records. 10 Teach and explain the rules and regulations governing a specific sport. Lower-risk jobs that use similar skills Your plan Ticks are saved in this browser only.
Try an AI tool on one task you'd normally do by hand: "Report to regulating organizations regarding sporting activities, complaints made, and actions taken or needed, such as fines or other disciplinary actions". Learn one AI tool well enough to show it in an interview, for: "Verify credentials of participants in sporting events, and make other qualifying determinations, such as starting order or handicap number". Get visibly better at your human core: "Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed". Rewrite the top of your CV around judgment, people and decisions, not routine output. Read about a lower-risk move: Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors. Lower-risk jobs with similar tasks Based on 16 O*NET tasks for "Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials" (SOC 27-2023.00). LLM alone: 25% of tasks; with AI tools: 38%. Projections are a model, not official statistics. How we calculate this · Data version 2026-10
