TGL, the tech-focused golf series founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports’ venture, will roll out artificial intelligence-powered operational and fan-facing technologies through a new partnership with Infinite Athlete.
The recently rebranded Infinite Athlete combines content creation technologies from Tempus Ex Machina and analytics capabilities from Biocore, promising to build an ‘operating system for sport’ that serves fans, athletes and the wider industry.
The focus of this multi-year partnership will be Tempus Ex’s Fusion Feed machine learning-powered technology, which analyses every play from every game to automatically generate clips and personalised highlights packages for partners.
FusionFeed powers Tempus Ex’s flagship Match View X product, which can also be used to deliver personalised broadcasts, complete with customisable graphical overlays, real-time statistics, play-by-play match events, player tracking, and instant highlights.
Technology is one of the key drivers of TGL which hopes its innovative, shorter format, coupled with some of the leading players in the sport, will appeal to a wider audience. Full Swing has signed up to provide the gameplay component of the competition, while Next League will deliver the fan engagement elements.
“AI models can only be as effective as the data inputs you have feeding into them,” said Andrew Macaulay, chief technology officer, TMRW Sports. “Because Tempus Ex’s FusionFeed technology is designed to synchronise every piece of data produced at a sporting event, they are uniquely positioned to ingest the vast amount of data and video that we will capture at TGL matches, optimising our ability to create new experiences for fans.”
Sid Rao, senior vice president of global partnerships and revenue at Infinite Athlete, said: “We are energised about this partnership with TGL and the opportunity to bring our technology to yet another sport. By partnering with a league that is strategically building its technology stack from the ground up, we are able to unlock dynamic revenue-generating and enhance fan experience opportunities for them as it continues to grow.”
TGL was first announced by Woods and McIlroy last August while launching TMRW Sports alongside sports industry executive Mike McCarley. It is due to launch in January 2024 at a custom-built venue at Palm Beach State College in Florida, and will feature 15 regular-season matches, as well as semi-final and final matches, which will take place weekly on a Monday within a two-hour window on US prime-time television.
Along with Woods and McIlroy, 12 players have signed up to compete, including Jon Ram, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Billy Horschel and Rickie Fowler, all of whom will be assigned to one of six franchises.