AI / ML
IBM
KEVIN FARRAR
TITLE : UK HEAD OF SPORTS PARTNERSHIPS
COMPANY : IBM INDUSTRY : IT LOCATION : UNITED KINGDOM
Kevin Farrar has responsibility for managing the client relationship for all the services that IBM provides to The Championships as part of its role as the official IT provider to the AELTC . He also has responsibility for the IBM marketing and innovation programme for the partnership with Wimbledon .
Until Summer 2021 Kevin was also responsible for managing the IBM sports rights relationship with the RFU , where IBM were the Official AI and Analytics Partner .
“ Unlike the ATP and WTA rankings , which are in a 52 week rolling window and don ’ t allow fans to see what ’ s happening now , our Power Index updates every day .
“ From there you can start to put this data into a leaderboard , and you can start to see who is flying up a leaderboard and if they might be a player to watch . It shows where potential upsets could be in the tournament and that ’ s used for this likelihood to win percentage .”
For this year ’ s tournament , the team at IBM thought to extend that capability across the whole draw , enabling further insights to help tennis fans uncover anomalies and potential surprises in the singles draw .
“ When the draw comes out before the tournament fans are often looking to see how favourable or difficult their favourite player ’ s draw is going to be and how fortunate to be in
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