NTT DATA, an Official Patron and IT Provider, leveraged The 150th Open at St Andrews via a suite of data led technology offerings to enhance the fan experience spearheaded by a new viewing experience based around an Old Course digital twin-supported initiative called ‘ShotView’ which enables fans to monitor every shot/player/hole/round in real-time via a virtual, interactive model of the course for an immersive data experience.
The Japanese multinational IT services and consulting company unveiled ShotView on 4 July ahead of the start of The Open: pitching it as an activation that enabled golf fans on the course and at home to benefit from insights derived from millions of live data points gathered around the course in a live via an interactive platform on TheOpen.com.
NTT DATA created this real-time digital twin of St Andrews’ Old Course, known by millions as ‘The Home of Golf’, from 15 million data points to provide a realistic live simulation of the landscape and surrounding area – gathered from multiple sources including ‘open-source landscape data’ and ‘orthorectified drone captured image data’ plus ‘LIDAR mapping and point graphs’ – in to which the live golf game data was fed during play.
ShotView offered a birds-eye view of the entire course, along with interactive markers that provide fans access to every ball flight of every player and every group on the course, as well as insights into each player’s shot paths, fairways hit percentage, GIR and average putt per hole, plus every hole’s historical information. While those wanting to follow a particular player or group can transport to a detailed digital twin of the hole – apparently accurate to within 2cm.
The service-led activation was promoted as part of a multi-phase, multi-elements partner activation campaign led by a series of videos shared across the brand and property owner digital and social platforms with teasers from 1 July and a main burst of content on 15 July and through the tournament itself.
As well as the debut of the digital-twin and ShotView platform, NTT DATA also rolled out a set of additional data experiences at the 2022 Open – the world’s oldest major golf tournament hosted by St Andrews for the 30th time in its history – for the (course record) 290,000 spectators.
The company again created and ran The 150th Open Data Wall and powered TheOpen.com’s live blog through its ClipTag functionality (which enabled The R&A, tournament organisers and accredited media to view clips from across the entire field which can then be embedded into the live blog via advanced graphics engines.
NTT DATA also created at-event experiences and online content through other sports partnership linked and ambassador activations such as a Q&A with BBC Sport commentator Andrew Cotter and seven-time LPGA winner Dame Laura Davies (linking to its new sponsorship of the #AIGWomenOpen), leveraged its tie-up with the McLaren F1 team and championed its sustainability aims and achievements around The Open.
Complementing real-time, cutting-edge data and analytics, NTT DATA’s content (linked via the #NTTDATA, #DrivingDataFurther and #TheOpen hashtags) also sought to drive fans online to learn more about the company and its relationship with The Open at https://us.nttdata.com/en/about-us/co….
“The work we have been doing with The R&A this year has been incredibly rewarding, and it is fantastic to see such great solutions being produced. Our goal is simple: bring fans as close as possible to the action through data,” explained NTT DATA Vice President of Sports Technology Laurence Norman. “Golf is a game of statistics. Tiny variables can have huge impacts; details matter and the more data fans can access, the richer their experience becomes.”
Comment
From the creation of the first branded tournament NTT DATA Wall in 2014 to the analysis of billions of data points to bring fans real-time insights into the current play, NTT DATA has been working with The R&A and Open courses to use new technology to enhance the tournament experience for fans on-course and at-home for a decade.
NTT DATA first became an Official Patron and IT Provider of The Open at the 142nd tournament in 2013 held at Muirfield in Scotland and on 5 July 2022 it unveiled a multi-year extension of its sponsorship of The R&A which included a new tie-up with the AIG Women’s Open.
NTT DATA Europe & LATAM Head of Brand & Communication Felix Bonmati commented: “This year marks a decade that NTT DATA has been a Patron of The Open, and throughout that time, we have proved to be an essential partner to The R&A. As golf’s oldest championship celebrates the momentous occasion of 150 years in 2022, we’re pleased to once again be delivering innovative and transformative technologies to not only improve the fan experience but to also support wider important initiatives. As we renew our esteemed partnership and build on the work we have achieved together, we’re thrilled to also support the AIG Women’s Open. NTT DATA is proud of the DE&I initiatives it executes across the world, and we believe this sponsorship further demonstrates our investment in equality and meaningful change, not just within the business world but in the sporting arena and more broadly too.”
John Espley, Director of Commercial Partnerships at The R&A, added: “Over the past ten years we’ve built a strong relationship with NTT DATA as it’s delivered ground-breaking technologies to us and our fans. Our partnerships are of the utmost importance to us and help us drive forward innovations and bring new experiences to golf fans. NTT DATA in particular has enabled us to develop a wealth of possibilities for innovation and fan engagement at The Open, and we’re thrilled to be extending this relationship to the AIG Women’s Open and enhancing support for women’s golf. We look forward to continuing to build special experiences with NTT DATA.”
#NTTDATA boasts serious pedigree when it comes to enhancing the sports fan experience with new technologies and its other prestigious sports event partnerships range from the BMW International Open to the INDY 500.
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