Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Goes Big with AWS for Cloud, AI-Based Services

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its official cloud provider and official provider of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning cloud services. The goal is to transform how some of Canada’s best-known sports franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Football Club (FC), and Toronto Argonauts, create and deliver extraordinary sports moments and enhanced fan engagement.

MLSE aims to offer its teams new AWS-powered insights to further improve the caliber of gameplay. Using Amazon Rekognition (AWS’s service for automated image and video analysis) and Amazon Kinesis (AWS’s service for easily collecting, processing, and analyzing video and data streams in real time), MLSE will be able to process and analyze video footage from cameras installed at team training facilities and game venues in real time to better prepare for crucial decisions during games. For example, the critical game data stored and analyzed on AWS can be viewed by coaches on the bench to help them strategize their next play.

Humza Teherany, Chief Technology & Digital Officer at MLSE

“We built Digital Labs at MLSE to become the most technologically advanced organization in sport,” says Humza Teherany, Chief Technology & Digital Officer at MLSE. “As technology advances and how we watch and consume sports evolves, MLSE is dedicated to creating solutions and products that drive this evolution and elevate the fan experience.”

Teherany says MLSE aims to offer new ways for fans to connect digitally with their favorite teams while also seeking to uncover digital sports performance opportunities in collaboration with the front offices.

“With AWS’s advanced machine learning and analytics services, we can use data with our teams to help inform areas such as: team selection, training and strategy to deliver an even higher caliber of competition,” says Teherany. “Taking a cloud-first approach to innovation with AWS further empowers our organization to experiment with new ideas that can help our teams perform their very best and our fans feel a closer connection to the action.”

MLSE will use AWS’s comprehensive portfolio of cloud capabilities, including ML, advanced analytics, compute, database, and storage services to support their teams and lines of business. Innovating together, MLSE will build solutions that will support how teams play on the ice, court, pitch, or field; how players stay healthy; how fans connect with each other and experience games; and how sports franchises operate internally.

Jordan Vader, Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships at MLSE

“We are always searching for innovative organizations to partner with that will disrupt the norm and create the very best experience for our fans. Our partnership and what we plan to achieve with AWS will help transform Toronto’s sports and entertainment industry,” says Jordan Vader, Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships at MLSE. “Tapping into the technology developed by AWS will also enhance how we engage with fans, giving them exciting, personalized experiences in and out of our venues from before the puck drops in the rink to after the final buzzer on the court.”

MLSE will develop new technology for sports fans as well, using AWS’s broad portfolio of cloud services to create extended and unrivaled experiences for its teams’ supporters in the arena, at home, and in the metaverse. MLSE will use augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications and Amazon Kinesis to power its planned “Game within the Game” digital experience. With it, fans will be able to track their favorite players, access enhanced game insights in real time, take part in free-to-play gaming, and participate in on-demand sports betting. Moving forward, MLSE will work with AWS to build an at-home and in-stadium mixed-reality experience by combining visual data from cameras around the arena with sensors in players’ jerseys and the puck or ball.

MLSE’s goal is to create a more powerful sense of community through platforms such as Digital Arena (also known as “Game Time” in the MLSE teams’ mobile apps). The platform offers fans an interactive, second-screen experience where fans can share and chat with other fans, alumni, and team mascots. The experience also includes a virtual t-shirt toss and trivia game, allowing fans to connect with each other. Digital Arena aims to help fans feel closer to the game and one another, no matter where they are watching. By running Digital Arena on the world’s leading cloud, MLSE can provide a consistent real and virtual fan-engagement experience.

Matt Garman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Amazon Web Services

“AWS supports many of the world’s most exciting sports organizations with the most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud offerings,” adds Matt Garman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Amazon Web Services. “We help organizations like Formula 1 to redesign their cars, the National Football League to train their players, and the National Hockey League to pull fans deeper into the game with a growing roster of real-time stats. We’re thrilled to grow our global sports community with MLSE and help them build a winning suite of analytics and machine learning capabilities.”

Canadian hockey fans experienced the winning combination of AWS and hockey viewing with the June 2021 debut of the U.S. National Hockey League’s (NHL) two new advanced analytics during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Shot Analytics and Save Analytics real-time stats, powered by AWS, appeared as on-screen graphics and data visualizations during NHL games, giving fans a better understanding and deeper appreciation of how their favorite players and teams perform during crucial moments. For more information about AWS and its involvement with the world’s premier professional hockey league, visit https://aws.amazon.com/sports/nhl/.