The Premier League has chosen Oracle to be their official cloud provider, featuring groundbreaking match statistics for live broadcasts beginning from the 2021/22 season.
The collaboration will create greater excitement for every game of the world’s most watched league. With brand new in-match statistics shown during all Premier League matches, this will unlock a greater understanding about what is happening on the pitch.
Oracle’s data and analytics, combined with their machine learning technologies will deliver powerful statistics in real-time to billions of viewers around the world each season. “Match Insights – Powered by Oracle Cloud” will display advanced player performance data for a global broadcast coverage, as well as the Premier League’s social media channels, which will be introduced from the 2021/22 season.
Machine learning models will be designed to generate immediate results related to data streams and real-time tracking data. The scope of this technology allows the collection of facts on each player in the Premier League, coupled with information from thousands of matches in the past.
Research has found how fans are interested in the integration of match data and analysis, with Oracle’s insights able to help tell more stories about Premier League matches, giving fans a data-rich experience. Match information will be available instantly as they need it, whether they are watching from home or at the ground on their mobile phones.
“We are always looking at new ways to bring the Premier League to life and enhance the analysis of the competition. Oracle is a global brand with a great track record of driving innovation, and we look forward to working together to bring new levels of engagement to fans around the world,” Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters said.
“Match Insights – Powered by Oracle Cloud” are set to roll out with three different categories that all have their unique values in finding out more about what goes on during a game.
Average Formation – The positions of all players are tracked for when their team is with or without possession. The model can identify differences in how teams organise themselves and ways they structure their line up during attacking and defending phases. Throughout a match, fans will see how teams respond to an opposition’s tactics, giving a glimpse about the strategies utilised in different styles of play by leading coaches.
Live Win Probability – Presents as a statistic that delves deeper into a team’s performance by calculating the chance of a team going on to secure a win or draw – this is done by simulating the remainder of the match 100,000 times to achieve the best possible accuracy in predictions. The model has been built around four years of match data and assesses a range of factors such as if a team is home or away, the current score, penalties awarded, players on the pitch, red cards and time left in the match.
Momentum Tracker – This measures the likelihood of a team that is in possession to score a goal within the next 10 seconds. The results that are uncovered are based on data from thousands of historical games, as well as the last five events in the current possession (how a team is building up play). The model summarises the outcomes of passes, dribbles in possession, tackles and locations on the pitch where those instances take place.
“Combining Oracle’s machine learning expertise with the Premier League’s wealth of football data is a significant merger of technology and sport,” Ariel Kelman said, Oracle executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
“The margins for error in the Premier League are very small, so the data is crucial to discovering the meaningful moments and stories of each match. It’s those stories that unite fans and ignite their passions for the game.”
More Match Insights are expected to be added throughout the 2021/22 Premier League season and beyond, as the upcoming campaign is scheduled to start on August 14, 2021.
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