In a move to bring fans closer to golf, the PGA Tour announced a new partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday, which makes AWS the official cloud provider for the Tour.
“This transformational partnership with AWS will give our fans the opportunity to experience the PGA Tour like never before,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan via a release. “Growing and diversifying our fan base is a top priority for us, and thanks to the collaboration and innovation from AWS, we are creating more ways to experience the game of golf, while personalizing our content to enable fans to engage with the tournaments and players they support.”
So, what does this new partnership mean for fans?
AWS will power Every Shot Live, an app that will provide viewers live access to every shot from every player in a tournament. Using the upcoming Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass as an example, fans will be able to see more than 32,000 shots and follow players in real time.
Fans will also be able to control their viewing experience with AWS’ TOURCast, a new, innovative leaderboard that will provide new camera angles, course navigation, speed rounds and on-demand stats.
AWS will also assist the First Tee in developing an online community for its teachers and youth leaders in order to grow the program.
The Tour will also move “nearly 100 years of media content to AWS – including video, audio, and images dating back to the 1928 Los Angeles Open” into a data lake, where live footage from future tournaments will also be streamed.
“The partnership and experience we create with the Tour will be unique,” said AWS CEO Andy Jassy. “Unlike other sports, there’s more than one ball in play on a golf course, which makes it harder for fans to follow how every player is performing. Our collaboration with the Tour will change the way that fans will be able to connect with the sport by giving them real-time access to virtually every moment on the course and letting them determine how they experience the game.”