DP World Tour brings AWS on board as cloud provider

Golf’s DP World Tour has announced a new strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the e-commerce giant’s major internet services business.

Through the agreement, AWS becomes the official cloud provider of the tour.

Leveraging AWS’s AI infrastructure, the DP World Tour will “roll out a suite of solutions that combine real-time data with historical context to revolutionise the media, spectator, and player experience.”

AWS Media Services will be implemented to stream video and on-demand content to fans.

New “innovative” experiences will also be developed for fans watching on television and following on social media and online using generative AI, including new data-driven insights and shot commentary with instantaneous language translation.

Nina Walsh, global leader of industry business development for media, entertainment, games, and sports at AWS, said: “Building an AI system that understands golf's nuances is incredibly complex.

“Imagine following a crucial shot on your mobile device and instantly understanding not just the distance, but the historical success rate, the impact of the wind, or how the player performs under pressure – all narrated in your preferred language. That's the experience we want to deliver to every golf fan worldwide.”

The DP World Tour’s collection of assets will transform into a new AI-powered Media Asset Management (MAM) system that automatically tags metadata.

This will “transform the tour’s massive content ecosystem into an intelligent, searchable archive that can instantly identify players, shots and key moments”, which will increase the personalisation offering for viewers.

For spectators, AWS will build an enhanced, second-generation version of the tour’s “Virtual Twin” product, which creates a digital replica of each golf course.

The technology combines historical data, current conditions, and predictive analytics to provide a look at each hole. This is shown on screens across the venue and on mobile devices.

For DP World Tour operational teams, a new intelligence platform will process and analyse vast data sources in real-time.

Since 2024, the DP World Tour has worked to increase the number of television broadcasts that are produced remotely. AWS’s live cloud production services will be further explored to increase the scale of the tour’s remote production rollout.

Michael Cole, chief technology officer at the DP World Tour, said: “A golf tournament is one of the most complex events to deliver in professional sport. Instead of a single stadium, we are building a smart city every week, often in remote locations.

“That is then replicated in 26 different countries around the world, all with different infrastructure requirements. With our tournament services now hosted in AWS, we will be able to deliver a connected and intelligent course with greater consistency and reliability, wherever we are in the world.”

The deal expands AWS's golf presence as it also has a relationship with the PGA Tour.

AWS has a vast portfolio of partnerships in sports, including with American football’s NFL, basketball’s NBA, and German soccer’s Bundesliga.

The deal with AWS is the second commercial agreement for the DP World Tour this week, after renewing the title sponsorship with the global logistics heavyweight.

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