(WZAW) — August marks the start of the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the kick off of the Fantasy Football season.
And while tennis and fantasy football have millions of fans, few of them likely know that behind the scenes, cutting edge technologies including artificial intelligence, data analytics and cloud computing are changing the game and revolutionizing both the digital and in-person fan experience.
A marquee sporting event like the U.S. Open generates massive amounts of data – from player stats and match scoring, to the endless hours of game footage and even data on the fans, themselves. So how can sports organizations like the U.S. Tennis Association harness all that data and use it to gain a competitive advantage for their athletes and, at the same time, deliver unique and enhanced experiences for their fans?
Enter IBM. The technology company has a decades-long history of delivering next-generation digital experiences for some of the world’s most important sporting events, including the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and The Masters. The company is now working with digital sports, like Fantasy Football, too.
At this year’s U.S. Open, that started on August 26, IBM’s AI Highlights processed hundreds of hours of live match video, listened to the sounds of the crowd, looked for player gestures and facial emotions and identified key moments like break points or match points to determine video highlight-worthy moments in the match.
AI technology is now also behind ESPN’s Fantasy Football app. AI analyzes millions of documents related to fantasy football, including news articles, blog posts, videos and podcasts every week during the football season. It then surfaces insights in the ESPN Fantasy Football app and website to help team owners make more informed roster decisions.
Noah Syken, who is responsible for leading IBM’s sports and entertainment strategy and partnerships talked about this revolution of technology and sports on NewsChannel 7 at 4 via satellite.
