IBM Serves Interactive Mobile Experience to US Open Tennis Fans

FLUSHING, N.Y., Aug. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled a dynamic combination of mobile, analytics, cloud and social technologies designed to serve an interactive and insightful experience to fans of the 2014 US Open tennis tournament.

At this year's US Open, IBM and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) are teaming to keep fans connected, engaged and close to the competition on the courts. From the first serve to the final point, IBM and the USTA will bring the tournament to life for fans -- whether they're sitting in the stands at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, watching it on TV in their living rooms or following the action with a mobile device.

To help fans keep track of the US Open competition, IBM, in collaboration with the USTA, designed and developed immersive mobile apps for Apple iPhone and iPad as well as Android devices that provide instant access to scores, live video, in-depth match analysis and statistics. The US Open apps, created by IBM Interactive Experience, also present an interactive and informative second-screen experience for fans watching the tournament on TV.

IBM also designed and developed the US Open tournament website, USOpen.org, with new data sets and enhanced data visualizations – powered by IBM SlamTracker analytics and cloud technologies – to more effectively communicate real time and historical statistical insights. SlamTracker analyzes more than 41 million data points from eight years of Grand Slam tennis match data to identify three performance indicators – dubbed "Keys to the Match" – that can affect a player's ability to succeed. During a match, SlamTracker visualizes the real-time data, including serve statistics and winning shots, allowing fans to interact with the data to gain deeper insight into match dynamics.

IBM SlamTracker offers new ways for fans to interact with data via a simple interface that delivers an immediate, insightful view of a match in progress, including analysis of ball and player movement during US Open matches. Analyzing where a ball lands, along with how far a player runs in a given match, offers a new dimension to match analysis, uncovering patterns and insights into player performance and dynamics that ultimately impact the outcome of a match.

 "Each year, we work closely with IBM to ensure we're ready to use the most advanced data and analytics technologies available to create a mobile experience that brings our fans the latest and greatest information and insights from the US Open tournament," said Nicole Jeter West, senior director of Ticketing and Digital Strategy, USTA. "We value being able to introduce new ideas knowing that IBM is going to be there to provide the innovation and  infrastructure needed to bring our world-class event to life for tennis fans everywhere."

Businesses can learn from sports analytics

The same IBM mobile, analytics, cloud and social technologies that enable the USTA to connect with millions of global tennis fans are also helping IBM's clients in every industry – from banks, governments to hospitals and retailers – more effectively engage with and serve their customers. Many businesses can learn from how sports organizations are using analytics, cloud computing and other technologies to better understand and improve their daily operations.

For instance, during most of the year, the USTA runs like a small business, but during the two-week US Open tournament it becomes a data and performance hungry organization that could rival a large bank, hospital or retailer. With the need to ensure uninterrupted access to data and insights to meet the unpredictable demands of millions of tennis fans around the world, the USTA can serve as a model for how businesses of all sizes can take advantage of sophisticated mobile, analytics, cloud and social computing technologies.

Infrastructure supports spikes in demand

As traffic to the USTA's digital platforms increases exponentially during the championship compared to the rest of the year, the USTA benefits from predictive cloud technology designed for continuous availability and with enormous scaling potential to manage unpredictable spikes in traffic throughout the tournament. IBM Watson Foundations (Big Data and analytics) technologies are used to forecast Internet traffic to the US Open digital platforms, with IBM Cloud Orchestrator software automatically increasing or decreasing capacity accordingly.

IBM Software Defined Storage manages terabytes of data and scales dynamically so that fans can always have information – scores, updates, schedules, videos and social media streams – at their fingertips.

The new US Open mobile apps designed and developed by IBM, in collaboration with the USTA, are available for download today for Apple iPhone, Apple iPad and Android devices.

For more information about how IBM is helping the US Open and other global sports events deliver insights to fans, visit www.ibm.com/sports.

CONTACTS:  
Chris Andrews
914-499-4045  
[email protected]

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SOURCE IBM