The power of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies has transformed many industries around the world, and the sports industry is no different.

In addition to improving the health and safety of athletes, AI has been increasingly harnessed to enhance sports performance and fan experience, according to Matt Hurst (pictured), head of global AWS sports marketing and communications at Amazon Web Services Inc.

“Sports for AWS and for Amazon are no different than any other industry, and we work backwards from the customer and what their needs are,” Hurst said. “It’s really the innovative technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, internet of things, for example, that are really transforming the sports world.”

Hurst spoke with John Walls, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. They discussed the role of technology in sports, AWS’ partnership with various teams and leagues to develop innovative solutions, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports and its technology journey. (* Disclosure below.)

Simulation predicts and prevents injuries

A good example of how sports can use technology is the experience of the National Football League. AWS is working with the NFL to co-develop the Digital Athlete, which is a computer simulation model of a football player that can replicate infinite scenarios in a game environment to help better foster an understanding of how to treat and rehabilitate short-term injuries and how to predict and prevent them in the long run with machine learning.

NFL has also adopted Next Gen Stats, which are advanced statistics that bring a new level of entertainment to football fans, according to Hurst.

“What we really like to do with the NFL is to excite, educate and innovate, and those stats really bring fans closer to the game to allow the broadcasters to go a little bit deeper to educate the fans better,” he stated.

Another NFL innovation was the use of AWS’ scalability, security and network connectivity to stage the 2020 Virtual Draft, which was the most watched NFL event to date, with over 55 million viewers in three days.

“We couldn’t have predicted at the beginning of 2020 that the NFL draft would be virtual, and so working closely with the NFL, how do we bring that to life, how do we make that successful?” he said.

But innovation does not just happen in football. Many other sports, such as F1, NASCAR racing and rugby, are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver better results. In addition to gaining insights from advanced statistics, F1 is adopting AWS high-performance computing to develop the next-generation race car, which will launch in the 2022 season.

“By using AWS, F1 was able to reduce the average time to run simulations by 70%, to improve the car’s aerodynamics reducing the downforce loss, and create more wheel-to-wheel racing to bring about more excitement on the track,” Hurst concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: Amazon Web Services Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither AWS nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE