AWS is delivering a next generation viewing experience for football fans.
With the pandemic keeping many of us indoors, there have been precious few entertainment options available. But the return of live football has offered a much-needed dose of escapism, even if fans have not yet returned to stadiums in most countries. Now, Amazon Web Services is partnering with the German Bundesliga to take this home viewing experience to new heights, using data collected in real-time to give fans greater insight into the game playing out in front of their eyes. The company debuted its live Match Facts system last year, harnessing cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) to serve statistics on average player positions and expected goals in real-time. During the upcoming Bundesliga tie between RB Leipzig and FC Augsburg, however, three additional data insights will also be available: attacking zones, most pressed player and positional trends. Attacking zones is not dissimilar to existing data points used by pundits, highlighting the areas of the attacking third each team is aiming to exploit, but real-time insight into the most pressed player will be novel for fans. Quantifying pressure applied to a player has previously proved challenging, but AWS will combine data on the distances between each player and their direction of travel to establish the individuals the opposition is most eager to close down. Analysis of positional trends, meanwhile, will help fans identify the effects of specific incidents on the shape of the game, highlighting any marked positional changes that occur after a goal or red card, for instance.
