AI APPLICATIONS
Machine learning transforming how sports think and compete This Premier League coup is just the latest move in Microsoft’ s entry into the world of sports. The company has been methodically locking up partnerships with major leagues: NFL, NBA, LaLiga, Formula One. Each deal follows a similar pattern – Microsoft provides the AI brains and cloud muscle, leagues get capabilities they could never build in-house.
The Premier League deal lands in the middle of sports’ AI gold rush, as the market explodes from US $ 4.56bn in 2024 to a projected US $ 27.87bn by 2032, according to Market Research Future.
ML’ s impact spans three key areas that matter to business leaders: operational efficiency, predictive analytics and personalised fan engagement.
The 2024 Paris Olympics showcased all three simultaneously – ML algorithms monitored hundreds of thousands of social media accounts for athlete protection, generated multilingual highlight packages automatically – and optimised energy consumption across venues in real-time.
The predictive analytics revolution is perhaps most striking. Companies like Catapult Sports have built US $ 100m businesses around wearables that
60 September 2025