AI-powered coverage will be making its inaugural appearance at this year's Wimbledon Championship. In partnership with IBM, the All England Lawn Tennis Club - Wimbledon's venue - will debut new features that leverage generative AI technology from IBM Watson to produce tennis commentary for all video highlights packages during Wimbledon.
The exciting announcement builds on the suite of digital tools for fans on the Wimbledon App and wimbledon.com. This is a testament to IBM and Wimbledon's efforts to deliver engaging experiences to The Championship's fans.
"We are constantly innovating with our partners at IBM to provide Wimbledon fans, wherever they are in the world, with an insightful and engaging digital experience of The Championships. This year, we're introducing new features for our digital platforms that use the latest AI technology from IBM to help fans gain even more insight into the singles draw and access commentary on a wider variety of matches through our match highlights videos." said Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing & Commercial Director, The All England Club.
The new AI Commentary feature will enable fans to find match highlights videos with audio commentary of key moments, with optional captions. This way, fans can catch up on key moments on the Wimbledon App and Wimbledon's official website. By implementing these AI enhancements, Wimbledon aims to make commentary more exciting for matches outside the Championship's Show Courts, which already have live human commentary.
Another AI feature that will make its introductory appearance this year is the IBM AI Draw Analysis, the first statistic of its kind in tennis. The feature uses AI to calculate how favorable the path to the final is for each player in the singles draw, taking into account factors like the player's match-ups against potential future opponents. As a result, tennis fans can spot anomalies and potential surprises in the singles draw, otherwise not obvious by looking only at the players' ranking.
"IBM is bringing new layers of insight and engagement to the 2023 Championships through the use of innovative new tools, powered by foundation models and generative AI from watsonx. We've seen first-hand how these technologies have the power to help major sporting events like Wimbledon to grow their audiences through outstanding digital experiences. The AI and data platform that IBM is using to create unique fan experiences for Wimbledon is the same technology that we're using to drive business transformation with clients across all sectors and industries," said Jonathan Adashek, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for IBM.
Digital tools currently available to fans on the Wimbledon App and Wimbledon's website include the IBM Power Index Leaderboard, IBM Match Insights, and Personalized Highlights Reels and Recommendations. All these features enable fans to stay updated and engage throughout the tournament with real-time insights tailored to the players they're following.
