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NFL Partners with Microsoft for Teams for Virtual Fan Cams

Imagine Patrick Mahomes looking at you after scoring a winning touchdown for the defending Kansas City Chiefs champion.

Now imagine yourself looking back, sitting in front of a screen, and then giving Mahomes a virtual high of five. That’s what will happen from the start of the NFL season on Thursday, when Microsoft launches a new version of its fan cheering sections through its Teams video chat app.

Microsoft describes the NFL version of the cheer section “like virtual mirrors,” or LED screens that will appear in every end zone during NFL games, allowing players to celebrate with fans who aren’t. not present. (Most NFL teams will play in empty or nearly empty stadiums due to local restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.) After a team scores, players can gather around the screen to see each other. celebrating with fans in teams.

The wider collaboration shows how a leading sports league is harnessing technology to put on compelling live events for large audiences when many people cannot attend in person due to the coronavirus.

It’s also an extension of Microsoft’s technology partnership with the NFL that began in 2013, when league coaches and staff began using Microsoft’s Surface tablets on the sidelines. Neither the NFL nor Microsoft have commented on the value of these offers. The virtual fan cameras used during this season’s games will also be a big showcase for Microsoft’s Teams product, which had grown rapidly even before the pandemic sparked a work-from-home technology boom.

“Part of watching a game on TV is seeing the fans react,” Jeff Teper, Microsoft’s corporate vice president in charge of teams, told CNBC on Wednesday. “It’s a chance to make games more appealing to this television audience.”

Video streams will also come on TV shows, with fans appearing in windows around a player who has scored. Think of it as a digital version of the Lambeau Leap. Teper said the NFL wanted to create “energy for the players in a large stadium, so the players know they are always playing for real people who care passionately about them.”

In a blog post on Thursday, Teper wrote that cheer screens, known as fan mosaics, will appear on large screens in stadiums for “key matches” – likely those without spectators. Microsoft will provide the audio of the streams to the NFL so that the league creates “personalized augmented crowd noise for each stadium,” Teper wrote.

Microsoft has a similar partnership with the NBA and controls its virtual incentive section for the Disney bubble. Anheuser-Busch occupies the sponsorship of the cheers section of the NBA and will also take the NFL version, dubbing it the “Bud Light Showtime Camera.”

While Covid-19 still restricts large gatherings in some states, Microsoft has leveraged its partnerships with both leagues to maintain fan engagement and help NBA and NFL broadcast partners with game presentations. .

The leagues are studying metrics of virtual fan engagement opportunities and monitoring changing consumer habits as sports gambling continues to gain traction in the United States.

“As demographics and viewing habits change and society becomes more digital in the way they consume information, places must change too,” said Bennett Indart, vice president of NTT Smart World Solutions, a information technology company.

“And the leagues need to change in the way they serve this experience,” added Indart, whose company has partnerships with Indianapolis 500 and the Tour de France. “I think you’re going to find a lot more different ways to view sporting events than just going to the site.”

In this still image from video provided by the NFL, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks from his home in Bronxville, New York, during the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft on April 23, 2020 (Photo by NFL via Getty Images)

NFL photo via Getty Images

Learn from the draft

In April, Microsoft worked on the NFL Draft when it deployed teams to replicate the draft experiences in person. The NFL scheduled the 2020 Draft in Las Vegas, but the event was postponed due to the pandemic and ultimately took place in a virtual setting.

While working on the draft and NBA projects, Teper said Microsoft has learned that fans still want to “speak out” even though they are not physically present.

“The potential to show up on TV – to show up on a big screen similar to the gaming experience where a camera walks through the stands and puts you on the big screen – there is excitement to that,” said James Bernstrom , director of sports and partnerships at Microsoft.

NFL teams will select 30 fans per session to join fan mosaics and integrate social media engagements from Twitter.

The Los Angeles Rams use teams to scout and rate player films, Teper said. The company is working with teams to ensure that players can participate in chats and calls in the Teams software, he said.

However, it’s not so much about maximizing the number of NFL players using Teams each day – although Microsoft likes to report an increase in the number of daily active users of the app, which is part of the bundle. Office 365 for business customers.

“If we can help them in more of the process, if you want, by scouting the athletes, working on their promotions, getting their facilities safe for the next game, we don’t have that big push on the number of ‘Broncos users yesterday versus today, ”Teper said.

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