AI-powered technology pitted the Los Angeles Rams an 87% chance of winning the Super Bowl, and guess what?

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[Spoiler alert…]

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They were right. Sunday saw the Super Bowl trophy remain at SoFi Stadium with the Rams, after they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-30. 

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Ask any super bowl fan (or just anyone in the USA) what their predictions were, and the outcome would probably be similar. If not a near 90% chance of winning, the favour was certainly with the Californian Rams, and those that predicted - or perhaps better described as hoped for - the Bengals to win, it was never going to be a big blow out victory. The reason the AI prediction our network powers was so interesting was because, at first glance, an 87% chance of winning seems pretty bold. In fact, what the prediction model reveals is that despite the pregame tone of this matchup and the projection that heavily favours the Rams, this was nowhere near the most one-sided matchup heading into a Super Bowl in the past 30 years.

This reveals to us the power in AI technology predictions because it moves past generalised projections and uses a backlog of historical data, individual performance quirks and adjusted team rating model that takes data on both sides of the ball.

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Games that appear to be the most one-sided matchups have proved their predictions correct down to the second, which perhaps reveals how complicated these predictions can be. As the needs of the modern sports fan shifts, the pressure on those producing sports content increases and that's where AI technology lends itself beyond accurate predictions.

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AI in sport

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There has been a growing emergence of AI in sport over the past 40 years, but as content consumption has changed drastically in the last few years, AI technology has proved to be essential in offering exceptional experiences to sports fans. 

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AI takes the richest live data in sport and the deepest historical databases in sort to produce outputs, experiences and insights that connect fans to the right content for them. 

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This includes:

• Tracking player position direct from broadcast,
• A platform to showcase new and innovative approaches to coverage.
• Deeper audience engagement across multiple channels.
• Predictive insights to fuel pre and post-match debate.
• A greater dimension to in-game storytelling.
• Interactive engagement with fans.
• Performance analysis, player recruitment and long-term strategic planning

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We have been powering statistical services in sport for some time now but we were especially excited to think about our network enabling AI-technology to power the Super Bowl predictions, in game match content and performance analysis in real time.

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Check back soon as we compare predictions vs results of the upcoming key sporting events on the calendar.