Bundesliga taps AWS for new features as season restarts

Germany’s Bundesliga has tapped Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide real-time game analysis and match facts for the resumption of matches following the coronavirus lockdown in the country.

AWS will provide its services for the highlight match at 18:30 CET featuring Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Muenchen on broadcast television in over 200 countries.

AWS will deliver two new match statistics features, Average Positions and Expected Goals (xGoals), to give fans deeper insights into a team’s intended playing style based on real-time analysis performed of data captured from tracking players’ locations on the field, and the probability of a player scoring a goal, according to AWS.

Germany’s football league will leverage AWS’s cloud services, including machine learning and analytics, to introduce additional advanced statistics in 2020 and upcoming seasons. AWS and the Bundesliga are the first to deliver this combination of real-time advanced statistics and game analyses.

Using Amazon SageMaker, the Bundesliga can now assess the probability of a player scoring a goal when shooting from any position on the field with the Bundesliga Match Fact and xGoals features.

Bundesliga Match Facts are generated by gathering data from the live game video feeds that are streamed into AWS for analysis, and then provided back to broadcast viewers around the world in real-time as statistics.

According to AWS, these statistics help audiences better understand things like the strategy involved in decision-making on the pitch and the probability of a goal for each shot.

As of tonight, Average Positions will be available during future broadcasts of Bundesliga matches, while xGoals will be available during highlight matches.

“We at Bundesliga are able to use this advanced technology from AWS, including statistics, analytics and machine learning, to interpret the data and deliver more in-depth insight and better understanding of the split-second decisions made on the pitch. The use of Bundesliga Match Facts enables viewers to gain a deeper insight into the key decisions in each match,” said Andreas Heyden, EVP of digital innovations for the DFL Group.

“AWS is helping the Bundesliga enhance the broadcast viewing experience by delivering deeper insights into the game that didn’t previously exist. With AWS, Bundesliga is able to provide real-time statistics to predict future plays and outcomes. These two new statistics are just the beginning of what we’ll be able to deliver for football fans as we look forward to unlocking new ways to better educate, engage, and entertain viewers around the world,” said Andy Isherwood, VP and managing director EMEA, AWS.