PGA Tour Announces Huge Amazon Content Deal

PGA Tour teams up with Amazon to offer viewers the option of watching over 30,000 shots per tournament

PGA Tour Announces Huge Amazon Content Deal

The PGA Tour has announced a new partnership with Amazon Web Services to become its 'Official Cloud Provider' to transform the way its golf content is created, distributed and experienced.

The deal streamlines the PGA Tour's media operations and is set to bring fans closer to the action.

The PGA Tour says it will make use of Amazon Web Services' 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

Hundreds of hours of raw footage is captured at each PGA Tour event and the new deal will allow the footage to be turned into 'exciting new digital experiences' to give a more complete and personalised experience for fans.

This means that fans will now be able to watch every shot from every player via the streaming platform Every Shot Live.

A field of 144 players typically will hit more than 32,000 shots in a tournament week.

Viewers will also be able to follow any player they choose in real time.

Amazon Web Services will also be behind the new TOURCast, which is said to be an evolution of the PGA Tour leaderboard that will give fans video game-like control of the golf viewing experience.

It will allow fans to change their viewing perspective with alternative camera angles, navigate around the course, view speed rounds, and display player and shot stats on demand.

Video content will be delivered faster for TV and streaming viewers thanks to Amazon Web Services who will simultaneously process and distribute the streaming content for different platforms and devices.

Tournament footage will be available globally for authenticated broadcasters, content subscribers from Amazon Web Services, and other sources.

The PGA Tour is also building a 'data lake' for real-time and historic footage on Amazon Simple Storage Service.

Nearly 100 years worth of video, audio and images will be migrated dating back to the 1928 LA Open.

Amazon Rekognition (a deep learning service that makes it easy to add image and video analysis to applications) will automatically tag content with specific metadata like player names and sponsor logos to help the PGA Tour and its content partners search, review, annotate, and package new content, as well as give them instant access to key moments from throughout history to aid commentary and add depth to event coverage.

Fans will also be able to view footage and highlights via the PGA Tour's website and apps.

Amazon Web Services will also become a Trustee of First Tee, a youth development organization supported by the PGA 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, Amazon Web Services will help tFirst Tee 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.”