IBM And Wimbledon: Real-Time Tennis Analytics, Anyone?

So we’ve witnessed one big golf event for the summer, and now it’s time to turn our attention across the pond to Wimbledon and the All England Club.

At this year’s Wimbledon Championships, IBM SlamTracker will use predictive analytics technology to enable fans to gain deeper insight into the match. SlamTracker is a multifaceted feature of Wimbledon’s digital presence that leverages historical and real-time data to add depth and insight to the Championship experience. The ‘Momentum’ capability maps a match in real-time, visualizing key turning points and their causes (i.e. winners, aces etc.).

IBM has continued its partnership with Wimbledon and is helping bring a vibrant new digital environment to tennis fans this year and the launch of an all new Championships’ website, www.wimbledon.com

Wimbledon.com has been completely re-designed to reflect the heritage and appeal of the event, as well as to offer the tournament’s anticipated 16 million unique website visitors a more creative and immersive experience through improved content, more powerful imagery and intuitive navigation process.

This year’s site is built atop IBM’s SmartCloud infrastructure that can change quickly to meet surges in demand.  It will also be integrating a new online broadcast channel to keep online viewers up to speed on the tennis action, Live @ Wimbledon, which will help complement the IBM SlamTracker scoreboard that provides such rich interactive analytics.

Live @ Wimbledon

Featuring both TV and radio, Live @ Wimbledon will blend live action from around the grounds by dropping into matches at crucial points in play (a stream of one game, per set, per match, per hour) with the off-court color of a day at The Championships.

In addition to the minimum of five hours live broadcasting per day, viewers will be able to enjoy pre-packaged content such as previews and reviews, match highlights and archive footage.

The Live @ Wimbledon radio service will offer an enhanced and improved version of its popular predecessor (Radio Wimbledon), which will be available worldwide online and on the three local FM channels.

“Together with IBM, we’ve created a new website which features increased options for people to personalize their Wimbledon experience,” said Mick Desmond, Commercial Director, at the All England Club, home of The Championships.

“Visitors can follow the progress of their favorite players, view live match play clips of the day’s action, and access scores and results delivered in real-time. We expect this increasingly engaging and personalized online experience to appeal to fans in ever greater numbers.”

IBM SlamTracker

At this year’s Championships IBM SlamTracker will use predictive analytics technology to enable fans to gain deeper insight into the match.

SlamTracker is a multifaceted feature of Wimbledon’s digital presence that leverages historical and real-time data to add depth and insight to the Championship experience.

The ‘Momentum’ capability maps a match in real-time, visualizing key turning points and their causes (i.e. winners, aces etc.).

“Keys to the Match” is a feature within SlamTracker that leverages historical and immediate data to determine the top three things a player must do in order to do well in a specific match.

While SlamTracker is an example of how analytics drives insights for tennis, the uses for businesses are almost infinite. Businesses across multiple industries and geographies can gain insights from large volumes of data and then use that knowledge to choose the best strategies and better predict outcomes.

IBM SecondSight heads to Center Court

Following on from the 2011 pilot on Court 18, this year for the first time on Center Court, IBM will trial player movement tracking.

Following on from the 2011 pilot on Court 18, this year for the first time on Center Court, IBM will trial player movement tracking. With “IBM SecondSight” it will be possible to track the fastest moving players and how their performance changes, set by set and match by match. The system can provide new data that could help players, coaches, commentators and fans alike, as well as add a new dimension to fan’s understanding of the science of tennis.

With IBM SecondSight it will be possible to track the fastest moving players and how their performance changes, set by set and match by match. The system can provide new data that could help players, coaches, commentators and fans alike; and, add a new dimension to fan’s understanding of the science of tennis.

“This year a completely new website takes the understanding and insight into the Wimbledon Championships to a whole new level,” said Alan Flack, IBM’s Programme Executive for Wimbledon. “Using the power of cloud computing each individual data point is integrated instantaneously to deliver a powerful experience for fans, players, coaches and officials alike.”

IBM and Wimbledon

IBM is the Official Supplier of Information Technology and Consultancy to The All England Lawn Tennis Club which stages The Championships. Since 1990, IBM has worked with the All England Club to introduce new technologies that help bring the wealth of real-time data captured during The Championships to life.

IBM sends the captured data around the world in an instant, keeping on-site broadcasters, media and tennis fans everywhere up to date with all the latest scores and statistics. Detailed analytical reports for the players are also available as soon as each match has been completed. During The Championships 2011, the tournament website received 15.6 million unique visitors and 451 million page views.