The two new stats, “Set Piece Threat” and “Skill,” powered by AWS machine learning and analytics services, enhance the football fan experience and give invaluable strategic insights to teams
Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), and the Bundesliga, Germany’s top national football league, today announced two new Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS to give fans deeper insights into action on the pitch. The new Match Facts, “Set Piece Threat” and “Skill,” will debut on March 4, 2022, during Matchday 25 featuring Arminia Bielefeld versus FC Augsburg. “Set Piece Threat” delivers new perspective on a team’s scoring ability from plays such as free kicks and corner kicks, while “Skill” compares Bundesliga players to visualize the skills they bring to their teams and positions. Fans can learn more about how AWS is transforming the football industry with the Bundesliga on the AWS Bundesliga site.
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“Together with AWS, we’re adding a whole new dimension to the sport, with innovative in-game perspectives that give context on game strategy to help redefine how the world watches football.”
With these two additions, there is now a portfolio of 10 Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS. Bundesliga Match Facts enhance game engagement by helping audiences better understand goal probability and the strategy involved in decision-making on the pitch. The league generates the Match Facts by gathering and analyzing data from live game camera feeds as they’re streamed into AWS. From there, Bundesliga uses AWS capabilities in analytics, machine learning, compute, storage, database, serverless, and media services to glean insights and generate predictions. Bundesliga then uses AWS capabilities to train, deploy, and scale the machine learning models used to generate them and deliver them as on-screen graphics during broadcasts and in the official Bundesliga app. Fans, coaches, players, and commentators can use the Match Facts as visual support for analyzing a team’s decision making.
Understanding the new Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS
Set Piece Threat: In modern football, teams score more than a quarter of all goals from set pieces like free kicks and corner kicks. Until now, fans had no reliable way of assessing the threat a team poses from different types of set pieces. “Set Piece Threat” quantifies a team’s threat by comparing the team to the league average to show how much of a threat a team is with their set pieces. During live broadcast games, video editors can use “Set Piece Threat” ahead of free kicks and corners to show how much more danger exists in the current matchup compared to the league average or whenever match commentators want to talk about set pieces and the related strength of a team.
Skill: In addition to their fundamental talent, every player in the Bundesliga brings some specialized skills to the game that complement those of their fellow players and make their team stronger. The new “Skill” Match Fact combines and compares the cumulative stats of every Bundesliga player to assess their skills across different categories. The stat features four player profiles: a “Finisher” who excels at scoring goals—in terms of number and efficiency; a “Sprinter” who generates high maximum speed on regular players and does that more often than other players; an “Initiator” who accumulates, assists, and second assists, consisting of a high number of difficult passes that lead to assists; and a “Ball Winner” who is able to create a lot of turnovers from the opposing team by winning the ball in an aerial or ground duel or intercepting an opponent’s pass. Bundesliga ranks each skill by combining several metrics into one score. If a player ranks in the league-wide Top 10 for a given skill, Bundesliga will highlight this player in the live broadcast or in the Bundesliga app when substitutions are shown.
“The pace of the players, the action on the pitch—Fußball is nonstop action. Brilliant plays can happen in a blink of an eye. We created the Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS to enrich the match experience for millions of fans worldwide, with real-time insights that deepen the viewer’s knowledge and appreciation of the sport and player actions,” said Andreas Heyden, Executive Vice President of Digital Innovations for DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga. “Together with AWS, we’re adding a whole new dimension to the sport, with innovative in-game perspectives that give context on game strategy to help redefine how the world watches football.”
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