Today,
Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS),
announced that the National Football League (NFL) has selected AWS's
machine learning and data analytics services to boost the accuracy,
speed, and insights provided by its Next Gen Stats platform, the NFL's
player-tracking system. In choosing AWS to power Next Gen Stats, the NFL
aims to develop new ways of visualizing the action on the field,
uncovering deeper insights into the action on the field, and expanding
the fan experience by offering a broader range of advanced statistics.
In addition, AWS will become an Official Technology Provider of the NFL.
Through
the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags in player
equipment and the football, Next Gen Stats captures a variety of
real-time location, speed, and acceleration data. The data is analyzed
on AWS and used to contextualize movement on the field for fans to see
on NFL Media properties, game broadcasts, third-party digital platforms,
and in-venue displays. The data is also leveraged by NFL clubs post
game as part of their football operations on a weekly basis. The system
creates a variety of unique player and team stats for every game such as
a receiver's ability to get open and an offensive line's ability to
protect the quarterback. By leveraging AWS's broad range of cloud-based
machine learning capabilities, the NFL is looking to take its game-day
stats to the next level so that fans and NFL Clubs can benefit from
deeper insights.
"The
NFL continues to look at technology to grow the sport of football to
the millions of fans who engage with us throughout the year. Next Gen
Stats is already revolutionizing the game of football by exposing a
variety of advanced statistics that enhance our broadcasts and other
operations," said Matt Swensson, Vice President, Emerging Products and
Technology at the NFL. "By powering Next Gen Stats with AWS, we'll be
able to kick off our 2018 season with even more impactful and meaningful
content, uncovering deeper insights into the game of football than
we've ever done before. We chose AWS because of its combination of
advanced cloud offering, powerful machine learning capabilities, and
experience operating at the scale we need."
"With
Amazon's 20 years of experience using machine learning to delight
customers, along with AWS's broad analytics and machine learning
capabilities, we continue to be the best choice for companies who want
to use machine learning to solve meaningful customer problems,"
said Mike Clayville, Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS.
"The NFL will be able to create new features and capabilities for Next
Gen Stats using AWS machine learning. We're excited to help the NFL
transform their customers' experiences and provide the most flexible and
powerful tools for machine learning as together we advance Next Gen
Stats."