Reimagining the future of sports with generative AI
Just a few years ago, artificial intelligence in sports felt like a distant dream. Today, it's transforming every aspect of the industry, from fan experiences to team performance. In Saudi Arabia alone, the sports market has grown from $6.4 billion in 2022 to $7.2 billion in 2023, with projections reaching over $22.4 billion by 2030. This rapid growth is reshaping how we play, watch, and understand sports.
It's no wonder AI is fueling innovation across the industry. The Saudi Formula One Grand Prix is a celebration of speed, engineering excellence, and as a powerful showcase of how technology and sport are converging. From the roar of the engines on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to the cutting-edge AI tools running behind the scenes, the event revealed how AI's role in motorsports extends well beyond race day. It reflects a broader, long-term shift in the industry, delivering more personalized content, powering predictive insights, and enhancing performance.
Our multi-year partnership with Scuderia Ferrari HP highlights the pivotal role IBM is playing in this transformation and underscores how technology and professional sports have become inseparable.
As part of this partnership, IBM launched a fully redesigned Scuderia Ferrari HP mobile app, featuring an all-new Race Center and Racing Insights built with IBM watsonx. The app delivers a more immersive and personalized fan experience with interactive features such as fan messages, interactive live polls, and race summaries that highlight some of Ferrari's most iconic wins across the decades. For the first time, the app is now fully accessible to Ferrari's global Tifosi in both English and Italian.
This is more than just a technological upgrade; it's a bold reimagining of the digital fan experience. Through AI-generated race summaries, post-race insights, dynamic data visualizations, and historical driver and team comparisons powered by large language models on watsonx, including IBM Granite, the app deepens the connection between Tifosi, F1 fans, and the world's most renowned F1 racing team both during and outside race weekends. Additional features will be rolled out throughout the year 2025 onward.
By applying IBM's deep AI and consulting expertise, we're helping clients like Ferrari, and enterprises across sectors, deliver smarter, more engaging experiences on a scale.
The future of sports isn't just about speed or intelligence, it's about creating more connected, inclusive, and impactful experiences.
Ayman Al-Rashed
IBM has long equipped sports organizations with AI-powered tools to elevate performance and deepen fan engagement. As a part of Wimbledon 2025, IBM has partnered with the All England Lawn Tennis Club to create Match Chat, an interactive AI assistant that can answer fans' questions during live singles matches.
Built with technologies on watsonx Orchestrate, AI agents, and large language models, such as IBM Granite, Match Chat is trained on the Wimbledon editorial style and the language of tennis. Additionally, IBM has enhanced the 'Likelihood to Win' tool, which generates AI-powered analysis of player statistics, expert opinion and match momentum. The tool leverages IBM technologies including Red Hat Openshift.
In golf, IBM's Hole Insights 2.0 tool enhances The Masters experience with real-time shot analysis. The tournament also leverages watsonx Orchestrate to process increasingly granular predictive data and showcase top-tier player performance with unprecedented clarity.
Across sports, these collaborations are reshaping how decisions are made, how fans connect, and how teams compete. A 2024 IBM study found that 72 percent of top-performing CEOs believe competitive advantage depends on leading in generative AI. The sports world is no exception.
But at IBM, innovation doesn't come at the expense of responsibility. As AI continues to redefine the future of sports, we are committed to ensuring this transformation is not only smart and impactful, but also responsible. In an industry where trust and fairness are paramount, tools like watsonx.governance provide transparency, bias detection, and model explainability. They ensure that AI is deployed responsibly, preserving the integrity of sport while enabling progress.
We believe the future of sports must balance cutting-edge technology with ethical values preserving the passion, fairness, and human element that make sports so powerful.
Saudi Arabia is emerging as a major player in global sports, fueled by its Vision 2030 agenda and over $2 billion invested into its sports infrastructure, talent, and major events. Since 2019, the Kingdom has hosted over 100 elite international events across 40 sports such as F1, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the World Athletics Championships, showing a clear commitment to becoming a premier destination for global sports.
With over 75 years of presence in the Kingdom, IBM is proud to support this transformation. We are working closely with local institutions to bring advanced AI solutions into the heart of the growing sports ecosystem, enhancing performance, fan engagement, and operational excellence.
At IBM, we believe the future of sports isn't just about speed or intelligence, it's about creating more connected, inclusive, and impactful experiences. And we're proud to help shape that future, both on and off the field.
• Ayman Al-Rashed is the regional vice president of IBM
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