AWS will help the National Hockey League bring fans closer to the ice with new viewing experiences and in-depth stats and analytics.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) 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 National Hockey League (NHL).
By tapping into the breadth of AWS services, the NHL will be able to 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 better capture the details of game play for its fans, teams and media partners.
The NHL will also build an enterprise video platform on AWS to aggregate video, data and related applications into one central repository that will enable easier search and retrieval of archival video footage, give broadcasters instant access to NHL content for syndication and licensing, and facilitate the creation and delivery of new in-game analysis, predictions and video highlights to enhance mobile, online and broadcast experiences.
The NHL will work with the Amazon Machine Learning Solutions Lab to apply AWS’s deep 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’s Hockey Information and Tracking System (HITS) real-time stats – to develop and share advanced game analytics and metrics that take fans deeper into the game.
In addition, the NHL intends to use AWS Elemental Media Services to develop and manage a cloud-based HD and 4K video content delivery system that will provide a complete 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 series of new camera angles to provide continuous video feeds that capture plays and events outside the field of view of traditional broadcast cameras.
In addition, by leveraging AWS analytics services including Amazon Kinesis (AWS’s service for easily collecting, processing and analyzing video and data streams in real time) and Machine Learning services such as Amazon SageMaker (AWS’s service that enables data scientists and developers to build, train, and deploy Machine Learning models quickly), the NHL will be able to audit its feeds to broadcast partners in real time.
This capability will enable the NHL to create a smart monitoring system that detects and automatically fixes potential feed issues, offering fans a seamless in-game experience across viewing platforms.
“AWS’s state-of-the-art technology and services will provide us with capabilities to deliver analytics and insights that highlight the speed and skill of our game to drive deeper fan engagement,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
“AWS is unmatched in the portfolio of cloud services that it delivers, including computer vision and Machine Learning, and we intend to leverage them across the board to provide advanced analysis to our teams, officials and media partners faster than ever before.”
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