The National Football League and Microsoft Corporation have expanded their partnership to improve the league’s technology in a variety of ways with the help of artificial intelligence from Microsoft’s engineering minds, who created CoPilot and Azure.
The NFL Gets Smart
Technology is omnipresent in our society, and the NFL is certainly not averse to employing it to assist its coaches, players, and administrators. The league announced an expansion of its partnership with Microsoft to integrate the company’s Copilot and Azure AI platforms into its database.
“We are entering a new era of innovation at the NFL through our collaboration with Microsoft to deploy AI across key areas of the business,” said Gary Brantley, CIO of the NFL. “Enhancing the league is a responsibility we take seriously, and Microsoft has been a trusted sideline technology partner for over a decade. With Microsoft’s AI technologies, including Copilot, there are tremendous opportunities to elevate the gameday experience for our clubs and deliver an even more compelling product to our fans.”
The advanced technology will support coaches and players in terms of performance analysis and insights into the game, considering a multitude of factors, including real-time game data, weather, and opponents’ offensive and defensive schemes, which will allow more strategic decisions by the coaching staff based on the data, with the assistance of a feature called the GitHub Copilot.
Multiple Uses
Moreover, the league’s NFL Sideline Viewing System will be upgraded with the help of more than 2,500 Microsoft Surface Copilot+ PCs distributed to its franchises. The game-day strategies that will be effectuated through the technology will be only part of the implementation, as it will also assist with anticipating weather delays and factor in technical equipment issues.
Azure AI video tools will also be tailored to help teams assist with coaching evaluations and practice reports. Incorporating injuries will also be part of the new paradigm sweeping the league. Coaches and staff will be armed with the latest technology to make game-time decisions and analyze those aspects of the game that are out of view of the normal fan.
Microsoft’s technology was also front and center in April’s NFL Draft Combine, courtesy of the company’s NFL Combine App, helping coaches and scouts to make the best choices for their team’s needs. The partnership dates back to 2013, when the NFL and Microsoft partnered on a five-year, $400 million deal. Back then, Microsoft presented real-time fantasy stats by analyzing the game through Xbox technology.
The duo extended its pact in 2020 to integrate more technology, which has allowed the league’s coaching staff and administrators to make more informed decisions. Microsoft also works with the NBA and LALIGA, Spain’s top professional soccer league.
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