For about a decade now, NFL players have worn RFID chips in their shoulder pads for player tracking. This was just the start of a larger push to bring tech into the world’s largest sports leagues, where it gathers data and helps referees make tough calls. Now, Amazon has unveiled a new AI model that, it claims, can predict when a defensive blitz will happen.
The Digitalization of Sports
Today, RFID chips are placed in player uniforms and the ball, where they track game-critical stats. They are even used to render a digital copy of the game complete with ‘digital athletes’ that AI uses to follow the game and give its verdict on certain decisions.
It should be no surprise that sports is embracing digitalization, as has already happened in other industries. For example, online businesses like iGaming platforms create a simulation of certain casino games, much like digital cloning in sports. As a result, users can play digital versions of poker, blackjack, or roulette through the online casino at Paddy’s and similar websites. Other business models like retail or publishing have also become digitized thanks to e-commerce platforms and e-books.
Businesses like the NFL need a little help when it’s time to go digital. That’s why they turned to some of the biggest tech companies in the world, like Amazon and, specifically, its AWS wing. AWS has partnered with the NFL since 2017, using AI and machine learning to upgrade the sport. You can find a more detailed explanation of their partnership on the NFL’s Next Gen Stats site.
Amazon’s New Blitz Detector
On September 10th 2024, Amazon unveiled its most advanced contribution yet. This was Tackle Probability, an unassuming name for an impressive machine learning model that may be able to predict when the defense will try a blitz. This is just part of a larger upgrade to AWS’ tracking services, best seen in the video below:
This new model was trained using just six months of training data, but this involved crunching the numbers for every NFL game from 2018 to 2022. It was also tested on the 2023-24 season but wasn’t made public. The Research Analytics Manager for NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Keegan Abdoo, said, “Now we can run the model in a live setting where it’s going through hundreds of thousands of data points every second, millions per game.”
Tackling Probability launched as soon as it was revealed, first tested in the September 12th game between the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills. That game was also streamed through Prime Video, thanks to a different collaboration between the NFL and Amazon’s content production divisions. Besides digitalization, another trend in sports is that streaming services are snapping up rights to broadcast games. Advanced Television has researched this phenomenon, arguing that sports coverage may determine which streamers win the so-called streaming war.
In the meantime, Amazon continues to provide unprecedented insight into every NFL game for the foreseeable future. Its findings are visible to both NFL commentators and the public through on-screen pop-ups, including red orbs that highlight players who may charge in for a blitz. We can expect even more advanced tracking and prediction technology to upgrade sports in the future, including other ball sports besides American football.
It’s amazing to see how AI technology is advancing in football! Being able to predict when a blitz will happen could completely change how teams approach the game. It could give coaches and players more time to react and adjust strategies. I’m really curious to see how accurate this AI will be in real-time situations and if it will be adopted by more teams. Do you think AI like this will make the game more predictable, or will it add a new layer of strategy?