AWS to Manage Cloud Infra of PGA Tour

Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced that the PGA TOUR (TOUR) has selected AWS as the Official Cloud Provider of the TOUR. AWS and the TOUR are partnering to transform the way golf content is created, distributed, and experienced, bringing fans closer to the action on the course while also helping the TOUR streamline its media operations. With this agreement, AWS becomes the Official Cloud Provider, Artificial Intelligence Cloud Provider, Deep Learning Cloud Provider, and Machine Learning Cloud Provider of the TOUR.

The TOUR will use AWS machine learning, storage, compute, analytics, database, and media services to quickly process and distribute video footage from each golf tournament, while also giving fans new ways to engage with TOUR content. The TOUR captures hundreds of hours of raw footage at each tournament and will leverage AWS to rapidly transform this content into exciting new digital experiences that provide fans with a more complete and personalized experience across TOUR competition. For instance, Every Shot Live, an over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform powered by AWS, will give viewers live access to every shot from every player in a tournament. During a tournament like THE PLAYERS Championship, fans will have access to more than 32,000 shots from a starting field of 144 golfers. The fans can choose to follow any player in real time and experience each shot via streaming content. In addition, AWS will power TOURCast, an evolution of the TOUR leaderboard that will give fans video game-like control of the golf viewing experience, allowing them to change their viewing perspective with alternative camera angles, navigate around the course, view speed rounds, and display player and shot stats on demand.

The TOUR will also use AWS Media Services to make it faster to deliver video content for televised event coverage and OTT streaming for online viewers. To accomplish this, the TOUR will use AWS to simultaneously process and distribute OTT content, formatting it for reliable viewing over a variety of delivery platforms and devices, including smartphones and tablets. Using AWS Media Services, the TOUR will make tournament footage available globally to authenticated broadcasters, content subscribers from AWS, and other sources.

In addition, the TOUR will build a data lake for real-time and historic multimedia content on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). The TOUR will migrate nearly 100 years of media content to AWS – including video, audio, and images dating back to the 1928 Los Angeles Open – and will stream live footage from future tournaments into the data lake. The TOUR will then use Amazon Rekognition (AWS’s deep learning service that makes it easy to add image and video analysis to applications) to automatically tag content with specific metadata like player names and sponsor logos. This will help the TOUR and its content partners search, review, annotate, and package new content, as well as give them instant access to key moments from throughout the TOUR’s history to aid commentary and add depth to event coverage. Fans, too, will benefit from enhanced access to years of this tagged and archived golf footage and highlights through the TOUR’s web and mobile apps.

To round out the partnership, AWS will become a Trustee of First Tee, a youth development organization supported by the TOUR that reaches more than 3.7 million young people across the United States and select international locations each year, helping them build their strength of character through the game of golf. As part of wide-ranging support for First Tee, AWS will assist the organization in developing an online community for coaches, parents, and participants where they can access the First Tee curriculum and resources and connect with peers in the program.

“This transformational partnership with AWS will give our fans the opportunity to experience the PGA TOUR like never before,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Growing and diversifying our fan base is a top priority for us, and thanks to the collaboration and innovation from AWS, we are creating more ways to experience the game of golf, while personalizing our content to enable fans to engage with the tournaments and players they support.”

“The world’s top sports organizations – for instance, the NFL, NHL, Formula One, NASCAR, Bundesliga, and now the PGA TOUR – continue to turn to AWS to help them innovate for their fans and players at an unprecedented rate,” said Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, Inc. “The partnership and experience we create with the TOUR will be unique. Unlike other sports, there’s more than one ball in play on a golf course, which makes it harder for fans to follow how every player is performing. Our collaboration with the TOUR will change the way that fans will be able to connect with the sport by giving them real-time access to virtually every moment on the course and letting them determine how they experience the game.”