A look back on how IBM Watson was being used to power the Wimbledon 2021 Championship.
Lead image credit: IBM
What’s the benefits to the spectators and what is the purpose behind it?
The championship has drawn to an end for another year after missing out in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, fans from all over the world have been eagerly waiting for the 2021 championships to begin. Whilst one of the fans favourites Rafael Nadal didn’t participate on the men’s side and Naomi Osaka didn’t in the women’s draw that didn’t deter the excitement in any way that has been bubbling under since 2019. I mean just imagine this little girl in the image taken from Wimbledon’s Twitter account in which Novak himself re-tweeted, the expression on her face after receiving Novak’s tennis racket following his successful defence of the men’s Wimbledon crown. It’s what we all live for and throughout the pandemic not being able to attend sporting events has taken all this away from us so to see fans return to the stadium is what we are all wanting more of.
Technology has now for a number of years really taken a surge within the world of tennis since 2007. Hawk-eye has really enhanced the quality of match play and prevented any obscure and controversial decisions from occurring. However the championships have been really working on improving fan engagement through their digital platforms and since the emergence of IBM Watson, this has gone to another level of coverage.
IBM has developed Watson through Artificial Intelligence (AI) so that fans experience a highly personalised fan experience to increase the reach that tennis has to its audience across the globe. The process of obtaining tickets through the ballots means that many tennis fans are unsuccessful in being able to attend the tournament in person. So the demand for a cutting-edge fan experience filled with data and insights solves a serious void and increases the access and audience that Wimbledon is able to reach.
The software can take data from not just the main show courts but from every single court at the very same moment, and every single ounce of data that you might want can be taken. This can be from a players serve percentage success, through to distance covered, through to crowd reactions and crowd noise the list goes on.
But what’s the purpose behind IBM Watson and what actually is it?
IBM Watson is a machine learning system, trained primarily by data as opposed to rules. IBM has designed, developed, and delivered innovative digital experiences to engage sports fans around the world. Leveraging the same AI and hybrid cloud technologies IBM uses with businesses across industries and around the world. Wimbledon continues to accelerate innovation and improve the digital fan experience.
So an example of IBM using Watson is that of the IBM Power Rankings, these are an AI-powered analysis of player performance. Power Rankings focuses on a player’s most recent history, combining advanced statistical analysis and the power of IBM Cloud to analyse daily performance data, mine media commentary, measure player momentum and direct fans attention to the most intriguing matchups that they can. As well as delivering Power Rankings they’ve also introduced Pre-Match insights which again runs on AI and IBM Cloud and match highlights following the completion of the tennis match.
So why is all this important?
- Boosting fan experiences on Wimbledon platforms by accelerating and improving match highlight production across a 13-day period.
- Expand content on offer to fans by producing a solution that could easily scale to provide highlights from the numerous courts that weren’t previously covered.
- Support Wimbledon’s strategic objective to behave more like a media organisation by reducing dependence on third parties, thus increasing Wimbledon’s control over content output.
- Produce output with a high production value for pickup by international broadcast partners.
- Reduce strain on editorial and content teams, enabling them to focus on other areas generating further value-add content.
- Contribute to improved video performance across all Wimbledon platforms during The Championships.
The following image is taken from a video IBM shared alongside Wimbledon. It breaks down how different methods of data can be articulated at any one time. Providing this personalised experience fans crave when it comes to reliving moments from the tournament. Literally, anything and everything can be obtained and then distributed back to the audience primarily through the website and the app.
Lead image credit: IBM
Let’s see what the 2022 Championships bring and how is IBM going to top what is already some astounding coverage? I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us and how they develop these pieces of software further.
