Artificial Intelligence Enhances World Cup Fan Experience
*By Jacqueline Corba*
Fox Sports is teaming up with IBM to offer soccer fans a unique experience during this year's World Cup.
The tech giant's artificial intelligence system Watson is powering a cognitive-based platform that lets fans make their own customized highlight videos throughout the tournament.
"It's about unlocking that fan experience wherever folks are in the United States," Robert Schwartz, Global Leader of Strategy and Design at IBM iX, the company's digital ad agency, told Cheddar's Peter Gorenstein at the Cannes Lions festival. "It is a huge opportunity to tap into that fan passion."
Dubbed the FIFA World Cup ["highlight machine,"](https://www-935.ibm.com/services/ibmix/case-studies/fox-sports.html) the platform allows fans to browse FIFA's archive of current and past matches. IBM's Watson compiles and analyzes the footage based on the user's commands. The software also encourages users to share their clips on social media.
Schwartz says IBM iX is looking to roll out this platform for fans of other professional sporting events, including this summer's U.S. Open tennis tournament.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/world-cup-powered-by-artificial-intelligence).
Five women have been named to the U.S. short-track speedskating team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Among those five, there was only one returning Olympian of the group, Maame Biney, who competed in the 2018 Olympics as the first African-American woman to ever qualify for the U.S. short-track speedskating team. JD sat down with Biney to discuss how she's preparing for the games.
Eric Mitchell, Sports Analyst and President & CEO of LifeFlip Media, breaks down the updated rules around testing in the NFL and outlines how vaccinated players are impacted by new return-to-play guidelines.
Carlo and Baker kick off the weirdest week of the year with all the news you missed over the holiday weekend, including calls for the CDC to shorten its isolation window as Omicron sweeps through the country.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be without some of hockey's biggest players. The NHL and the NHL Player's Association have agreed to not participate in the men's hockey tournament at the Games in Beijing next year. The league has been forced to postpone some games because of a rise in COVID-19 cases among players. Washington Post sports reporter Samantha Pell joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what this could mean for the Winter Olympics and the sport of hockey.
Former professional tennis player Patrick McEnroe joined Cheddar to discuss the troubling issues surrounding player Peng Shuai who appeared potentially to have been silenced following her social media post accusing former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Shuai's subsequent disappearance, reappearance, and apparent retraction of the accusation in an interview only added to worries. "When this happened, all of us in the tennis community were very concerned. And, by the way, another thing Peng said in this interview was that she doesn't speak very good English," McEnroe noted. "Well I can assure you, she speaks darn good English, 'cause I spoke to her on many occasions over the last 15 years."
Carlo and Baker cover the heartening news on the Covid front ahead of the holiday, plus President Biden punting student loan repayments again, a new space telescope and Love, Hate, Ate: Christmas Eve Eve Edition!
The boys discuss President Biden's plans to send out free rapid tests as the testing supply chain starts to buckle ahead of the holidays. Also, why aren't Americans having more babies, and The Matrix returns.
Cam Rogers, host of 'Lock It In with Cam Rogers,' and betting analyst at the Bleav Podcast Network, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down how sportsbooks - and bettors - need to adapt to changes to sporting events due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
