Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the German Bundesliga this week debuted the first two Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS during the Borussia Dortmund versus Bayern München game on broadcast television in over 200 countries.
 
The two new statistics, Average Positions and Expected Goals (xGoals), 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.
 
Germany’s top national football league will leverage AWS’s cloud services, including machine learning and analytics, to introduce additional statistics in 2020 and upcoming seasons. AWS and the Bundesliga are the first to deliver this combination of real-time statistics and game analyses to football fans around the world.
 
“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,” said Andreas Heyden, executive vice president of the DFL Group. “The use of Bundesliga Match Facts enables viewers to gain a deeper insight into the key decisions in each match.”
 
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. These statistics help audiences better understand things such as the strategy involved in decision-making on the pitch and the probability of a goal for each shot. As of this week, Average Positions will be available during future broadcasts of Bundesliga matches, while xGoals will be available during highlight matches.
 
Fans will be able to see the positioning of a team’s players on the pitch and gain insight into the team’s intended playing style. Average Positions provides insights based on analysis performed on data captured from tracking a player’s average location on the field, which is then displayed in real time.
 
This Bundesliga Match Fact allows viewers to identify the current momentum on the field and understand tactical changes. The statistic will help pinpoint if a team is setting up in an attacking or defending style, pressing up the middle, or using the wings. By displaying the average location and position of each player in real time, Average Positions helps fans understand tactical changes as the game progresses.
 
Using Amazon SageMaker, a managed service to build, train and deploy machine-learning models, the Bundesliga can now assess the probability of a player scoring a goal when shooting from any position on the field. The goal probability is calculated in real time for every shot to give viewers insight into the difficulty of a shot and the likelihood of a goal. To calculate the precision of xGoals, machine-learning models were trained by analysing 40,000 historical shots on goal in addition to an array of features derived from positional data, including distance to goal, angle to goal, player speed, number of defenders in line of shot and goalkeeper coverage.
 
“AWS is helping the Bundesliga enhance the broadcast viewing experience by delivering deeper insights into the game that didn’t previously exist,” said Andy Isherwood, vice president of AWS. “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.”
 
• T-Systems has been accepted into the AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) partner programme. Deutsche Telekom’s enterprise customer unit joined a partnership with AWS in November 2018.
 
The partner programme recognises and validates APN consulting partners that are highly skilled at providing full lifecycle products to customers. Next-generation AWS MSPs can help enterprises solve business problems and support initiatives by driving key outcomes.
 
“Companies worldwide are transforming their IT landscapes using cloud services,” said T-Systems global SVP Frank Strecker. “Our base of clients for classical IT services is moving to the cloud at speed and at scale. AWS helps us to meet customer demands for ever more speed and scalability. Therefore, T-Systems is proud to receive the AWS MSP designation. Our team is dedicated to helping companies achieve their technology goals by leveraging the agility, breadth of services, and pace of innovation that AWS provides.”