- 'Catch Me Up' feature - built and trained using IBM's
Granite LLM, through the watsonx platform - helps fans stay up to
date on players across all ladies' and gentlemen's singles
matches
- New IBM survey finds 55% of global tennis
fans1 polled think Artificial Intelligence (AI)
will have a positive impact on sports
LONDON, June 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and The All
England Lawn Tennis Club today announced a new feature for
the Wimbledon digital experience that will leverage match data
with generative AI from IBM's AI and data platform, watsonx, to
keep fans updated on the world's leading players as they advance
through The Championships.
The new 'Catch Me Up' feature displays pre and post-match
player cards with AI-generated player stories and analysis via
wimbledon.com and the Wimbledon
2024 App. Player cards will be personalised based on user
preferences and data such as their location and
myWimbledon profile,
starting with their favourite players. Pre-match content will
include analysis of recent performance and likelihood to win
predictions, and post-match it will include key statistics and
highlights. The feature will also create longer-form daily
summaries of play.
'Catch Me Up' was built using IBM's Granite large language model
(LLM) to provide AI-generated text using the capabilities of
the watsonx platform. The model has been trained on the
Wimbledon editorial style and will
be monitored by the All England Club. The new feature is designed
to help Wimbledon scale its
content to both new and existing tennis fans globally, as well as
provide fans access to timelier, curated coverage across ladies'
and gentlemen's singles matches which are often happening
simultaneously.
This year, Wimbledon will also
use generative AI to provide coverage of a broader range of matches
than was previously available, including wheelchair events, to
offer more to Wimbledon's diverse
international audience. This will form part of a redesigned digital
match centre, known as IBM Slamtracker, available on the Wimbledon
App and wimbledon.com. Using generative AI built from watsonx, IBM
Slamtracker has been enhanced to provide bullet point-based
match previews and post-match reviews for ladies' and gentlemen's
singles matches.
Majority of tennis fans surveyed positive about AI
The announcement comes as new research from IBM and Morning
Consult* reveals that 55% of global tennis fans surveyed think AI
will have a positive impact on sports. When considering how
generative AI could improve their experience, these respondents
prioritised real-time updates (36%), personalised content (31%),
and unique insights (30%).
Approximately one-third (31%) of global tennis fans surveyed use
multiple devices while watching sporting events, primarily to get
more information, watch multiple matches at the same time, and
interact with other fans. In addition, nearly half (47%) of them
engage with additional content on tennis daily or weekly and rank
summarisation and personalisation as the two most important
features of sports content.
Chris Clements, Digital
Products Lead at the All England Club, said: "We are
committed to offering fans the highest quality Wimbledon experience, whether it's in person
or digitally. Generative AI allows us to scale our ability to
provide different types of content for fans wherever they are in
the world in a way that's personalised for them. This year's new
Catch Me Up feature will make it easier for fans to follow the key
storylines as they emerge throughout The Championships."
Jonathan Adashek, Senior Vice
President of Marketing and Communications for IBM, said: "The
new Catch Me Up feature is an exciting example of how we can use
the power of generative AI to deliver compelling, insight-driven
storytelling at scale. For 35 years, IBM and Wimbledon have been co-creating solutions that
make fans feel more connected to all the on-court action, and our
new research confirms they are beginning to understand the positive
impact technologies such as generative AI can have on their digital
experiences. IBM is also putting these same technologies from our
AI and data platform watsonx into the hands of clients worldwide,
across nearly every sector, to address their unique business
needs."
Additional highlights from the IBM and Morning Consult survey
include:
Majority of global tennis fans surveyed think technology will
have a positive impact on multiple aspects of the sport – for fans,
coaches and players alike
- 60% of tennis fans surveyed think technology will have a
positive impact on the advancement of fan engagement.
- More specifically, 75% of tennis fan respondents think
technology will have a positive impact on the advancement of
training; game strategy (74%); coaching (71%); and talent
identification & acquisitions (66%).
Nearly a third of global tennis fans surveyed use more than
one device to watch multiple matches at once, get more information
and interact with other fans
- 24% of tennis fans surveyed use two devices; 5% report using
three devices and 2% report using more than three devices at the
same time.
- 45% of the surveyed tennis fans who use multiple devices do so
to get more information while watching tennis; 32% do it to watch
multiple matches simultaneously; and 30% do so to interact with
other fans while watching a match.
More than one-fifth of UK sports fans surveyed use at least
two devices simultaneously to consume sport
- 20% of UK sports fans surveyed use two devices at the same time
when watching sports, close to the global average of 22%.
- Sports fans surveyed aged between 18-29 in Canada are much more likely to use three or
more devices at once when watching sports (21%), compared with 7%
in the UK and a global average of 10%.
- In the UK, respondents identified multi-tasking (50%) and
finding more information (41%) as the top reasons for multi-device
sport consumption. 26% also said they use multiple devices to
interact with other fans.
The Championships, Wimbledon will run from
1-14 July, 2024. To see the
technology in action, visit wimbledon.com or download the Wimbledon
App on your mobile device, available on the App Store and Google
Play Store.
Notes to Editors
*Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted in
May 2024 among a total sample of
18,082 sports fans 18+ in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
India, the UAE, and Saudi
Arabia.
The interviews for each country were conducted online, and the
data is unweighted, with ~2,000 responses per market in the US,
Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
and India and ~1,000 responses per
market in the UAE and Saudi
Arabia.
To qualify for this survey respondents must be at least an
average sports fan and follow one or more of the following sports:
Soccer, Cricket, Tennis, Basketball, Baseball, Rugby, Golf, American football, F1 racing,
Track and field, Swimming, and the Olympics.
The full findings of this survey will be published on
26 June, 2024.
About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid
cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more
than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data,
streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the
competitive edge in their industries. More than 4,000 government
and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as
financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's
hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital
transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's
breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing,
industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and
flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's
long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility,
inclusivity and service.
About Wimbledon
The
Championships, Wimbledon, is the
oldest of the four tennis Grand Slams and the only one played on
grass. Managed by The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and
staged on the AELTC Grounds, Wimbledon has evolved from its origins as a
private members' croquet club in 1868, to one of the world's
biggest annual sporting events and one of the most well-respected
brands in sport. Visit www.wimbledon.com and follow @wimbledon on
all major social media platforms.
IBM Media Contact:
Gregor Hastings
+44 (0)7385946943
gregor.hastings@ibm.com
Wimbledon Media Contact:
Eloise Tyson
+44 (0)7771347932
ETys@aeltc.com
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Global refers to tennis
fans in the following surveyed markets: US, UK, Canada, Germany,
France, Spain, Italy, India, UAE and Saudi Arabia
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SOURCE IBM