“We can now use ShotLink data and a lot of AI in AWS to do things that were unthinkable five years ago.”
This week, the attention of golf fans (and many non-golf fans, too) turns to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and TPC Sawgrass. THE PLAYERS tournaments held there are attracting worldwide attention from people other than golf fans.
Last year’s edition was special. That’s because it was the first event when the 165,000-square-foot PGA Tour studio opened. A production facility located a few hundred feet from the course was fully open to the public. This year, the facility has improved many of last year’s workflows and introduced new ones.
The atmosphere inside the building is very good. Luis Goicurria, PGA Tour Vice President of Media. “The people who work for us are experts in their fields, and they’re all good and talented people. We keep improving and we keep getting better. And this year, we know how everything works. We’re firing on all cylinders.”
While NBC Sports produces coverage of The Players, the PGA Tour focuses on global feed coverage and digital services. The team is also reinventing some of its workflows, especially given the accelerating convergence of golf technology, such as ShotLink, with digital services and broadcast technology.
“Up until a few years ago, they were relatively siled. ShotLink has always provided a digital interface to our digital platforms, TOURCast, etc. that allows us to take data and turn it into on-air graphics. But now we can use ShotLink data and a lot of AI from AWS to do things that were unthinkable five years ago.”
An example of how AI is transforming PGA Tour coverage this year is Three-View, an AI-driven production designed to meet the needs of IMG Arena and providing data and content to the sports betting community. The system, which was tested during the Pro-Am at AWS Reinvent in November, is currently in production on THE PLAYERS’ par 3 holes and tested on Every Shot Live coverage.
“This is an automated production,” explains Goicouria. “There’s no need for a cameraman or someone on the front bench; the graphics are launched automatically. We overlay the graphics to show who’s hitting the shot, use ShotLink data to track the ball, and cut to the camera holding the ball for follow-up shots. It also cuts to the camera showing the ball landing on the green, and as the golfer heads toward the green, the camera automatically pans, tilts, and zooms to get the shot.”
The use of AI reflects the PGA Tour’s unique production challenges, with dozens of golfers hitting shots simultaneously over 18 holes. This is quite a number of shots. Approximately 123 golfers will hit more than 9,000 shots in today’s opening round. And as the name suggests, Every Shot Live’s goal is to…well…show you every shot live.
“If you want to cover every group, you can’t have a producer in every group. You can’t have a director in every group. You can’t have a technical director, a production control room, or an announcement team. This is the perfect playground for something like this that shows how ShotLink, digital, and broadcast are converging,” Goicouria says.
Three-View and Every Shot Live are well-suited for next-generation workflows because they don’t require a lot of storytelling. This is where the production team’s expertise truly shines. For example, Three-View viewers are looking for information that will help them make more informed bets beyond the current odds. And Every Shot Live viewers want coverage that focuses on specific players.
“PGA TOUR Live requires storytelling,” Goicouria said. “You need someone to tell that story. You need pre-production to ask, ‘What kind of story are we going to tell? What are the interesting storylines?’ And the production team needs to create a graphics package based on those stories. AI can be used to speed up that process, but we’re not looking at AI replacing what’s happening in the production control room.”
This year’s PGA Tour Live World Feed will include on-course walkers for on-course commentary, which Goicullia says will have a huge impact on the broadcast.
“The promise of World Feed is to bring more golf and more international golfers to audiences around the world,” he added. “And we want to customize the graphics package around the feed for individual sponsorship elements.”
Additional graphical elements this year are AWS-driven stats and player notes similar to those seen in the old VH1 program. pop up video. Additionally, XR 3D graphics are included in coverage from Studio 1A.
“We want three-dimensional graphics to emerge from the LED floor,” explains Goicouria. “Our talent can walk around them and interact with them. We also have some life-size models of actual players, which we did at Genesis in February.”
Another enhancement to THE PLAYERS is TOURCAST Range, an interactive 3D graphics-driven experience that allows fans to see 3D traces of golfers’ shots on the practice range. Although there is no live video of players hitting shots, there is plenty of data such as scatter plots, distance, ball speed, apex, curve and launch, and landing angle. Each shot includes 3D traces and a full scatter plot for all players. Available on PGATOUR.com and the PGA TOUR app.
“We can see every shot every golfer hits on the range,” Goiculia said. “One of the things we’re testing is adding agent AI to allow fans to ask questions like, ‘Who is working on their midrange game the most?’ and ‘What was Scottie Scheffler’s average swing speed on his midrange practice shots?’ The test went great. ”
This week, and this season on the PGA Tour, showcases the different challenges and opportunities facing all sports leagues and broadcasters. It’s about combining video, data, graphics, and AI to create meaningful experiences that meet the needs of fans. Fans themselves are learning how to combine video, data, graphics, and AI to improve their lives.
“We are working hard and coming up with a lot of great things,” Goicouria said. “Looking at everything we’re rolling out this week and some of the things we’re still testing this week, I’m excited to see where it all goes.”
