The countdown to February 9th has started and the Super Bowl LIX is closer every day. However, there is a parallel narrative of the sports event of the year: the technological advancements in the National Football League (NFL). As we saw in its LVIII edition, AI has helped the NFL to enhance player safety, improve game analysis, and elevate fan engagement, both in-stadium and at home.
But what are these groundbreaking AI-powered technologies? How are they being used to enhance one of the biggest sports events of the year? In today’s article, we will explore the new AI MPVs waiting for us in the Super Bowl LIX edition. But, if you are looking for more tech and industry trends, don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn!
The Future of Sports Is in the NFL Technology Innovation Hub
Marking a remarkable step forward in integrating cutting-edge technology into America’s favorite game and the fan’s experience, the NFL has presented its Technology Innovation Hub. This is a think tank to design and test emerging ideas and technologies through an entrepreneurial process aligned with the league’s strategic goals.
In other words, this is a comprehensive strategic solution that leverages the collective wisdom of talent at the entire NFL and its market-leading technology partners. In this context, the league is always ready to integrate innovations collaborating with tech partners and startups to prototype and test new ideas. And, of course, this initiative plays a crucial role in preparing for Super Bowl LIX. So, let’s pass directly to the new AI incorporations.
NFL Tech Innovations You’ll See in Action at Super Bowl LIX
Now passing to NFL AI-powered innovations, while there are several technological advancements developed through 2024, we summarized the three main ones to save you some of your valuable time. These are:
- Digital Athlete for player safety.
- AI-powered Tackle Analysis.
- Machine Learning in next-gen data analytics.
In the following sections, we will analyze each of them. However, bear in mind that AI innovations need a complicated technological framework to operate properly. Without the cloud infrastructure to store data and the integrated solutions to make it flow, AI tools are nothing but another expense. At Inclusion Cloud we can help you. Let’s meet to plan your business integration with some of the NFL tech partner’s solutions.
Digital Athlete
Let’s start with the first of the NFL AI-powered solutions: Digital Athlete. In partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), they use this AI-powered tool to enhance player safety. By analyzing data from sensors, videos, and real-time stats, it simulates player experiences to predict and prevent injuries, helping the teams to have more valuable resources safe and healthy.
Basically, it uses AI and Machine Learning-backed algorithms to use these inputs to run millions of simulations of NFL games and specific in-game scenarios. With this, Digital Athlete informs the teams which players are at the highest risk, insights that inform the development of personalized injury prevention, training, and recovery programs. In summary, this NFL technology enhances safety measures and recovery, also redefining injury prevention strategies.
AI-Powered Tackle Analysis
The NFL’s AI-powered Tackle Analysis is transforming the way we understand tackling by integrating Next Gen Stats with Generative AI. Through Next Gen Stats data set, provides the foundation for more advanced analysis. Meanwhile, GenAI processes this data, creating predictive insights of:
- Missed Tackles by Defender: Counts missed tackle attempts per defender.
- Tackle Efficiency: Percentage of successful tackles from attempts.
- Missed Tackles Forced: Measures a ball carrier’s ability to evade tackles.
- Group Tackles: Tackles involving three or more defenders.
- Defensive Swarm: Number of defenders in a group tackle.
- Open Field Tackles: Tackles attempted with no nearby defenders.
- Forced Out of Bounds: When a ball carrier is tackled out of bounds.
- Primary Tackler: The first player initiating a group tackle.
- Downhill Tackles: Tackles made approaching from down the field.
- Upfield Tackles: Tackles made from behind the ball carrier.
- Chase Down Tackles: Long-distance tackles, tracking down the carrier.
- Missed Tackle Yards Lost: Yards gained by the ball carrier after a missed tackle.
- Tackle Yards Saved: Yards prevented after a catch or rush.
- Yards Gained in Group Tackle: Additional yards gained during a group tackle.
Basically, by examining historical and real-time data, the system can suggest optimal tackling techniques, identify top-performing players, and reveal potential defensive improvements. In short terms, this NFL technology gives teams, analysts, and fans a detailed view of tackle efficiency, showing how a player’s decisions and actions influence game outcomes.
Machine Learning (ML) in Next-Gen Data Analytics
As we said about AI in general, these are tools that don’t come to replace human labor. On the contrary, they are meant to empower it, giving business users more strategic roles. In the NFL, we have seen this with the use of Machine Learning (ML) in next-gen data analytics, which gives valuable insights to coaches and players to develop game strategies and prevent injuries.
While analytics use human-derived formulas to extract meaningful metrics from the data, ML interprets the information from sensors on players and the field to generate insights on speed, positioning, and plays. This way, teams can quantify the contributions of unsung players who don’t touch the ball (e.g. the blocker), while coaches can use this data for optimizing players’ in-game movements.
The Big Data Bowl 2025: A Contest for Data Analytics
The NFL’s 2025 Big Data Bowl exemplifies the increased importance of data analytics in the league. This is an annual contest inviting data scientists to analyze football data using Next Gen Stats to create insights that improve gameplay and coaching strategies.
Hosted by Kaggle (the world’s largest community of machine learning practitioners’ learners, and researchers), its seventh edition offers three tracks:
- Undergraduate track: Open only to undergraduate students (Verification may be required to prove eligibility).
- Metric track: Focused on post-snap performance predictions based on pre-snap data.
- Coaching presentation track: Participants create reports tailored for coaching use.
Integrations: The Secret Behind any Digital Transformation
As we have seen, NFL AI-powered solutions have become essential for both coaches and players. This is not quite surprising since, according to an IBM study, 42% of enterprise-scale companies have actively deployed AI in their business. However, this is not an isolated process. On the contrary, it requires an important technological framework that supports them.
For example, the Big Data Bowl and Next Gen Stats would be impossible without the cloud infrastructure that stores all this information. But that’s not all, as all tech stacks must be integrated to give AI tools access to the necessary data. In short, integrations set the base for AI technology to work properly: the seamless data flow and the disintegration of silos and other common roadblocks.
Otherwise, they become useless and expensive toys, also leading to heavy problems like SaaS sprawl. But don’t worry. At Inclusion Cloud we can help you get the integrated solutions you need directly from some of the main NFL partners. Let’s meet and strategize your business digital transformation!
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