NEW YORK & SEATTLE – Today Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced that it has entered into an agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL) to become the official cloud, artificial intelligence and machine learning infrastructure provider of the NHL® .
Taking advantage of the breadth and depth of AWS services, the NHL can automate video processing and content delivery in the cloud and leverage its Puck and Player Tracking (PPT) system, which runs on AWS cloud infrastructure, to achieve the better capture details of gameplay for its fans, teams and media partners. The NHL will also build a corporate video platform on AWS to bring video, data, and related applications together in one central repository that facilitates the search and retrieval of archive video, gives broadcasters direct access to NHL content for syndication and licensing, and the creation and delivering new in-game analytics, predictions and video highlights to enhance mobile, online and broadcasting experiences.
The NHL will partner with the Amazon Machine Learning Solutions Lab to apply AWS’s comprehensive portfolio of machine learning services to game video and official NHL data – including data from the NHL’s new Puck and Player Tracking (PPT) system and from The NHL System’s Hockey Information & Tracking (HITS) real-time statistics – to develop and share advanced game analytics and statistics that bring fans deeper into the game. In addition, the NHL plans to use AWS Elemental Media Services to develop and manage a cloud-based HD and 4K video content delivery system that provides a full view of the game to NHL officials, coaches, players and fans. Powered by AWS, the system will encode, process, store and transmit game footage from a range of new camera angles to provide continuous video feeds that capture plays and events beyond the field of view of traditional broadcast cameras. By leveraging AWS analytics services including Amazon Kinesis (AWS service for easily collecting, processing and analyzing video and data streams in real time) and machine learning services like Amazon SageMaker (AWS service that allows data scientists and developers to build , quickly train and deploy machine learning models), the NHL will be able to monitor its feeds to broadcast partners in real time. This capability allows the NHL to create a smart monitoring system that detects and automatically fixes potential feed issues, giving fans a seamless in-game experience across different viewing platforms.
“AWS’s state-of-the-art technology and services will enable us to deliver analytics and insights that highlight the speed and skill of our game to drive greater fan engagement,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “AWS is unmatched in the portfolio of cloud services it provides, including computer vision and machine learning, and we plan to use it across the board to deliver advanced analytics to our teams, officials and media partners faster than ever before. excited that AWS is joining the NHL’s family of blue-chip technology partners as we continue our focus on innovation and building the most advanced technology solutions in the sport. ”
“AWS has partnered with the world’s most renowned sports leagues to better understand and innovate their data using our comprehensive portfolio of machine learning services,” said Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS. “With this agreement, AWS will deliver our industry-leading cloud technology to the NHL, become a foundational partner for delivering NHL performance analytics, and work together to improve the way people experience hockey by providing more engaging content and insight to fans. AWS. and deep service delivery, our proven experience in sports analytics and our unwavering focus on innovation gives the NHL the opportunity to bring a whole new perspective and layer of fan engagement into the game of hockey. ”
The NHL will be introducing its new analytics this coming season using AWS services and technology. For more information, please visit www.aws.amazon.com/sports.