Amazon plans to bring all new AI-generated graphics to its second season of NFL Thursday Night Football, and says the success of the venture will open the gates for more aggressive pursuit of other live-sports properties.
Amazon Prime Video is about to enter second season under its 11-year, $13 billion deal with the league. Amazon’s initial focus in season 1 was on high-quality production, but viewers this season can expect the corporation to build upon that stable framework with features like a new-fourth down model, defensive alerts trained on over 35,000 plays and statistics predicting field-goal percentages.
Conducting briefings with various members of the tech press (Next TV's invite seems to have been misplaced somewhere!) Amazon recently showed off some of its new AI-generated bells and whistles.
In a late-game drive, the new visuals might tell a viewer whether a team should go for a fourth down. When the play begins, the new technology would then highlight open running routes or receivers.
This AI is built using several different models trained on a variety of inputs, capable of understanding which players are on the field, who’s coaching, how players move before the snap and more.
The data will be available on Amazon’s optional “Prime Vision” stream of the game, which is a broadcast designed for fans with an eye for player statistics. The streamer’s primary live stream will remain relatively standard in comparison.
Digital companies like Amazon have long boasted the ability to innovate in ways that their traditional media counterparts can’t, but this represents one of the realest steps in terms of how sports broadcasts are consumed.
For some viewers, watching Amazon’s broadcast might call back to football video games like Madden, with informative heads-up-displays, and that’s not by mistake.
Amazon is the first of digital corporations to take real advantage of wider technology resources in this space and has discussed over 20 potential features in order to make sports streaming feel more cooperative.
According to Amazon, this change is motivated by viewers’ desire to feel more involved with the how teams play the game. “Their favorite thing is not the big hits, not the athletic plays, it’s the strategy,” Sam Schwartzstein, the company’s analytics expert for Thursday Night Football, told The Verge.
As like its other Prime Video investments, building live sports viewership is designed to support Amazon's core retail business. Now with even more targeted advertising capabilities and an intent to expand its live sports portfolio, it would be no surprise to see Amazon entering in sports streaming contracts with other leagues.
Amazon will internally test the features during Thursday night's preseason NFL game at 8 p.m. ET. However, fans won’t be able to experience them in full effect until September 14, which is the first night of 2023 regular season football on Amazon Prime Video.
