NFL Kickoff 2024: TNF on Prime Video Continues to Push the AI Envelope With New Set of Prime Insights' New Prime Insights for this season include Pressure Alert, Defensive Vulnerability, and Coverage ID By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - 3:22 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The upcoming season of Thursday Night Football on Prime Video will mark the debut of a new set of AI-powered innovations called Prime Insights that enhance the NFL viewing experience. New Prime Insights for this season include Pressure Alert, Defensive Vulnerability, and Coverage ID, while key returning Insights include Defensive Alerts, Prime Targets, Four Down Territory, and Field Goal Target Zones.
Pressure Alert, TNF's latest AI-powered model, tracks defenders attacking the offensive backfield during live action and highlights those that are in position to disrupt the play.
At Amazon, we're uniquely positioned to accelerate the integration of AI into our live events, given the in-house expertise we're able to collaborate with and the next-generation compute power that AWS provides. says Jared Stacy, Director of Live Sports Production, Prime Video. We consistently push the teams to use AI and computer vision to deliver enhancements that will be meaningful to fans. We are excited by the progress, and the new innovations coming this season.
When the streamer earned its second consecutive Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Experience in May, an offseason collaboration was already underway to develop new-for-2024 broadcast enhancements that highlight on-field action like never before. The growing arsenal of AI features are continually developed through a unique collaboration of TNF producers, engineers, former NFL players, and Prime Video Sports' AI and Computer Vision team. Powered by AWS and utilizing Next Gen Stats, these proprietary advancements highlight key players, illuminate hidden aspects of the game, and forecast pivotal moments before they happen.
Defensive Vulnerability is the first AI-powered TNF feature that steps beyond highlighting players to identify key areas of the field. A proprietary machine learning model uses thousands of data points before the snap to analyze defensive and offensive formations, and highlight where the offense will-or should-attempt to attack.
Among the many Prime Insights (listed below), the AI-powered Defensive Alerts' feature emerged as a breakthrough last season, and is the first predictive behavior AI model ever employed within a live NFL broadcast. Driven by a proprietary deep learning network that gets stronger as more plays unfold, Defensive Alerts tracks the movements of defensive players before the snap and identifies players of interest in real time that are likely to rush the quarterback. Defensive Alerts immediately connected with fans and media, prompting Peter King to write, I might have seen the future of football on TV Thursday night, after the feature made its debut. This season, Defensive Alerts will be featured during every TNF main broadcast.
Prime Vision With Next Gen Stats: Deep Insights in Real Time TNF's weekly alternate broadcast, Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats, continues to stand as a next generation viewing experience for fans. Prime Vision's on-screen graphic overlays, distinctive vantage points from TNF's All-22 camera angle, and in-game reports from Analytics Expert Sam Schwartzstein present fans with an opportunity to place themselves in the coach's shoes, read plays like a quarterback, and learn more about the game that they love. In addition, Prime Vision serves as an essential laboratory for experiments and an incubator for innovations that may eventually advance to the main broadcast.
Coverage ID uses an AI model combined with live player tracking data to identify the defensive scheme (e.g. Zone, Man) for fans in real time before the snap.
Hallmarks of Prime Vision's coverage include pre-snap player ID tags, highlighting open receivers mid-play, receiver route trees, ball-carrier speed, yards after catch, closing speed, and the QB's time to throw. While some of these stats have been utilized within NFL replay analysis for some time, TNF's Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats has achieved an unprecedented ability to present all of this and more on the screen in real time as live play unfolds.
One of the coolest things about working with the Prime Video Sports AI team is being able to give them insight so the model can understand where the quarterback's eyes need to be and show all the things the quarterback has to manage before the ball is even snapped, says Ryan Fitzpatrick, TNF's pregame, halftime and postgame analyst. Playing quarterback is the most difficult position in the game. Being able to put the eyes of the viewer in the proper spot to know where the action is, and what the quarterback has to pay attention to before and after the snap, is groundbreaking.
New for 2024 Prime Insights: Pressure Alert, Defensive Vulnerability, and Coverage ID Pressure Alert: TNF's latest AI-powered model that tracks defenders attacking the offensive backfield during live action and highlights those that are in position to disrupt the play.
Defensive Vulnerability: The first AI-powered TNF feature that steps beyond highlighting players to identify key areas of the field. A proprietary machine learning model uses thousands of data points before the snap to analyze defensive and offensive formations, and highlight where the offense will-or should-attempt to attack.
Coverage ID: This innovation uses an AI model combined with live player tracking data to identify the defensive scheme (e.g. Zone, Man) for fans in real time before the snap.
Having the opportunity to experience Amazon's AI technology
