NTT has signed a new technology deal with Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O) to extend its technology partnership with the Tour de France until 2024.
NTT is a newly launched group brand consisting of 28 sub-brands including Dimension Data (who intiatied the deal with A.S.O in 2015) and Arkadin.
The extension of the agreement aims to give NTT more opportunities to continue to provide innovations to enhance viewing experience and carve out a fan base from the younger generation.
Some of the new technologies to be introduced this year include:
- Enhanced TV graphics.
- Augmented reality for home-based fans.
- “Le Buzz” – a machine learning model that analyses movements to predict key moments.
- Enhancements to the “Catch the Break” predictor, that predicts different race strategies in play.
- Live stage favourites.
- Cloud platform automation.
- Platform-delivered managed services.
Jason Goodall, CEO at NTT, said: “As Dimension Data, we increased the appeal of the Tour de France and brought its supporters closer to the action and their favourite cyclists. As NTT, we now enter a new and exciting era, driving the continuous innovation of software-defined technologies to support the transformation of our client’s business. We’re excited to continue working with A.S.O. on the biggest cycling stage in the world to engage millions of fans with this compelling story of innovation.”
Since the partnership began, A.S.O. says it’s seen social media followers grow from 2.7million to seven million. It also reports a 14% growth in traffic to live-tracking website while video views have seen an increase of more than 1000%.
Yann Le Moenner, CEO at A.S.O. said the combination of A.S.O. and NTT has revolutionised the viewing experience for Tour de Franc fans.
“Together, we’ve accelerated the digitisation of the Tour de France to engage younger fans. By launching a new mobile app, developing an all-in-one digital platform to follow the race in real-time, and creating @letourdata, we’re allowing dat to tell the story of the race. NTT’s real time analytics platform and our co-developed “content factory” allows us to produce around 2,000 exclusive pieces of content every year to be broadcast on all types of screens. New additions to add extra colour to the tour have also been incorporated including graphical charts, 3D mapping and even an interactive ‘palette’. Through this partnership we’re confident that we can face the challenges and achieve even greater things in the coming years,” said Moenner.
The 106th Tour de France takes place between the 6 – 28 July 2019.
