Wimbledon gets underway next week in South West London. It’s fan base though extends right around the world and last year the tournament website attracted 473 million page views from 17.1 million users.
As a member of Sport for Business, you will realise that 12 months is an eternity in terms of how technology has developed in order to provide richer, newer experiences.
Periscope did not exist this time last year. This year the number of streams will likely create anxiety and excitement in equal measure among those charged with bringing the action on the courts to a watching world beyond.
IBM is the official technology partner of the Championships, as they are at the Australian Open and the US Masters as well. It’s an opportunity for them to show their technical advantage on some of the biggest platforms, with the biggest spending viewers in the world.
Among the areas of improvement revealed for 2015 and live from Monday of next week are the following:
Redesigned wimbledon.com and mobile apps
- The new wimbledon.com provides content in context, which encourages fans to dive deeper into the event. With real-time live scores integrated alongside live and on-demand video, infographics and exclusive insights, the redesign by IBM Interactive Experience is available on desktop, tablet or mobile.
- Available for Apple iPhone, iPad and Android devices, the apps provide instant access to scores, player information, match analysis and video, and now have an offline mode for fans to continue browsing when on-the-go.
Breaking match stats and insights:
- Advanced analytics via IBM InfoSphere Streams will identify breaking match facts in near real-time, and Watson Engagement Advisor provides related insights and historical context.
- Wimbledon staff will be able to pose questions in natural language as if they had the world’s best tennis expert on-hand, and share these insights with fans via social media and the Wimbledon digital platforms.
- The combination of Streams and Watson will bring unprecedented analysis and awareness to the Wimbledon digital output. For example, Wimbledon staff will be able to quickly surface information and insights about interesting or record-breaking player and match statistics – such as rapidly comparing Andy Murray’s 2nd serve percentage from his Championships-winning matches in 2013 to his real-time performance in 2015.
Personalized player website:
- IBM has designed a website, built on IBM Bluemix, that will provide players with personalized information about their match schedules. Players will have reports and historical insights about other players, and real-time updates about the tournament information to enhance player engagement and experience throughout The Championships.
Social engagement:
- Using IBM’s social media analytics and research from IBM’s Customer Experience Labs, the Wimbledon Social Command Center identifies the most influential voices around Wimbledon and tennis, and highlights their social communications for maximum effect.
Cybersecurity:
- During The Championships, IBM will detect and block thousands of suspicious events, providing AELTC with a unified view of all security events, and apply real time analytics to rapidly identify and address potential attacks.
- In the first five months of 2015, IBM observed a 94% increase in the number of cybersecurity events managed by IBM on the wimbledon.com infrastructure compared to the same period in 2014. IBM manages over 20 billion security events every day for 10,000 clients around the world.
It’s clear that what IBM does for Wimbledon can be replicated in big business across a range of sectors.
Sport is used as the testing ground and the showcase for the technology in a way that can be much more clearly grasped than in a presentation deck.
“With help from IBM, we are providing a world class digital experience with the best real time content to fans of The Championships,” said Mick Desmond, Commercial & Media Director at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
“This allows them to get closer to all the action across all of Wimbledon’s 19 courts, no matter where they are, or what device they’re using.”
“Serving up uninterrupted access to real-time Wimbledon match records and trends allows us to showcase the benefits of delivering insights at speed,” said Sam Seddon, Wimbledon Client and Program Executive at IBM.
“For Wimbledon, this capability will allow them to enrich the fan experience by providing a comprehensive and compelling digital platform featuring instant access to video, scores, articles, interviews and breaking tournament news.”
