The National Football League, like most professional sporting industries, is embracing artificial intelligence. Through a partnership with Amazon Web Services called Next Gen Stats, the NFL is hoping that intelligent algorithms, with the help of high-tech data collection tools, will be able to extract meaningful data from games and decipher patterns in player performances. AWS says it was inspired by submissions to the 2023 Big Data Bowl, an annual software competition organized by the NFL, when it set out to invent a new category of analytics that pertains to the analysis of “pressure” in the game of football.

AWS helped build out AI-powered algorithms that can analyze player behavior on the field and can pick up on how aggressive a defender played, how fast they were and even how quickly a quarterback responded. This granular data quantifies pressure and in doing so, allows game analysts to dissect the strategies that might influence plays. This innovative suite of analytics rises above traditional statistics that are limited in how much they can reveal. While traditional data can tell you if a rusher passes a quarterback, it may not be able to provide insights on how much of a fight was put up. This is where the pressure probability being tracked by “Next Gen Stats” delves into more detail.

The AWS and NFL partners have focused on developing machine-learning models that can provide data relating to three areas in game play, according to Amazon. The first application is giving the AI the ability to identify blockers and pass rushers in pass plays. Second, teaching the tool how to quantify “pressure” in a game. And lastly, the development of a process to detect individual blocker-rusher matchups. Ultimately, the development of this AI-tracking technology provides professionals in the football league with valuable information on player stats that can help scouts or coaches select new players. For example, knowing which player blocked or passed a rusher may help determine if they are a good fit for an offensive lineup.

In the game of football, quantifying the performance of offensive players and the rushers that tackle them can be a difficult feat, even for game experts who have the eye for these quick movements. Player reactions can happen in split moments and an individual’s performance in these high-speed exchanges can be hard to track and let alone quantify. Things like how close a defender got to the offensive lineup can help a coach understand the strength of their plays.

The NFL collects data for these AI-powered processing softwares using tools it installs in its own fields. In every participating NFL venue, there are at least 20-30 ultra-wide band receivers inside the field and there are 2-3 radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags inside each players’ shoulder pads and on other game gear, like balls and posts. These data transmitters collect information that is fed through a graphic neural network model (GNN), which allows the data to be relayed in real time. Using AI, the stats being extracted can be made into meaningful insights.

These insights can look like a number of interactive graphics found on the Next Gen Stat game landing page. You can get a breakdown of individual player movements in any given game in 2D models and graphs. For example, you can track the movement of both players and the ball during a 40-yard passing play in the San Francisco 49ers' game vs. the New York Giants on September 21.

While the AI tool is hosted on AWS infrastructure, the final product is a compilation of a multidisciplinary partnership between the NFL, Zebra Technologies, and Wilson Sporting Goods. The Next Gen Stats project, which began in 2017, now makes up a data pipeline that contains historical data available for every pass play since 2018.

Meanwhile, in a parallel project, AWS engineers shared that they are working on automating the identification of blockers and rushers so that eventually, the AI models could autonomously ID players’ roles on the field. Currently, this kind of information is gathered manually through charting is prone to label errors, and often takes hours to generate by humans.

Max has revealed that it's giving subscribers access to live sporting events for free — for a limited time anyway — confirming a previous Bloomberg report about the offering. The streaming service formerly known as HBO Max will launch the Bleacher Report (B/R) Sports Add-On tier on October 5. It will give audiences access to all the live sporting events airing on Warner Bros. Discovery's linear networks, including NBA, MLB, NCAA, NHL and US Soccer matches. The add-on is launching just in time for MLB's National League Division Series, the regular NHL season and NBA Opening Night.

Subscribers in the US will be able to enjoy the add-on at no additional charge, whether they're paying for the ad-supported or the ad-free membership options, until February 29, 2024. After that, they'll have to start paying $10 a month for access. In its report, Bloomberg said that the company discussed using the March Madness college basketball tournament as a selling point for the new product. The tournament begins shortly after the promo period ends and could be compelling enough for fans to pay for the add-on for at least a couple of months, seeing as it ends in April. 

In addition to live game coverage, the sports add-on also gives viewers access to all of WBD's live pre- and post-game programming. They'll be able to watch video-on-demand content, as well, including Bleacher Report's highlights, sports documentaries and vodcasts featuring sports personalities and athletes. 

If you're a premium subscriber to the social media site X, formerly Twitter, you now can hide your likes tab from the public, the company said in a tweet.

When enabled, the tab for likes is supposed to disappear completely from an X Premium user’s profile. The new feature can be turned on when you change your preferences through the early access period.

This move is the latest appeal Musk’s X is making to paying patrons. It's a continuation of X’s galvanized effort to appeal to more subscribers, especially considering the company’s US advertising revenue is down 60 percent, and also a way for premium subscribers to hide the fact that they are liking hateful or otherwise questionable tweets. You can subscribe as a premium member for as little as $8/month or $84/year, which will also grant you early access to new features, and of course the verified blue check mark.

We may see more public figures and officials take up X on their premium offering after this announcement. Historically, we have seen PR crises ensue for politicians like Ted Cruz, who forgot his likes were public when in 2017, his account “hearted” a pornographic clip that left the internet howling.

Major League Baseball is ready to test its virtual ballpark for a regular-season game. Fans can “enter” the digital stadium on Wednesday, September 20, to watch the Tampa Bay Rays host the Los Angeles Angels. The league debuted the digital park earlier this summer for a celebrity softball game during this year’s All-Star Game activities. Next week’s game will mark the first non-exhibition game to deploy the metaverse-like digital park.

The game will include a “3D representation” of on-field avatars corresponding to the game’s real-time action, tracked using the same Sony Hawk-Eye cameras used for the league’s Statcast data. In addition, participants who prefer a traditional view can watch the game’s television broadcast on the virtual park’s giant Jumbotrons floating around the field and parking lot. There should be plenty to keep you occupied if the on-field play gets dull: The stadium supports spatial audio, and you can talk with nearby fans, play trivia games and take part in a scavenger hunt to win NFT collectible “cards.”

The entire setup sounds like something you’d eventually use with a VR or AR headset like the Meta Quest or Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro. While it may be a precursor to those more immersive experiences, you’ll access this game on flat screens through a web browser. MLB says a desktop or laptop provides the best experience, but it recommends Safari on iOS or Chrome on Android if you want to tune in on mobile.

The experience begins at 6:40PM ET on September 20. You’ll need to create an MLB profile to join. After that, you can head to the park’s webpage to create a custom avatar (rocking your favorite team’s apparel) and start exploring.

I’ll admit that, between Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport, I’m more of a Horizon player. I’m interested in driving and crashing beautiful cars in exotic locations, and occasionally entering a low-stakes race, rather than perfecting my times on professional tracks with top-tier equipment. Despite this predilection, I’ve had a lot of fun tinkering around in the first few hours of Forza Motorsport’s serious, car-obsessed world.

I played a near-final version of the new Builders Cup Intro Series, which features three tracks and three cars — a 2019 Subaru STI S209, 2018 Honda Civic Type R, and 2018 Ford Mustang GT. On top of the actual races, the Builders Cup career mode includes a robust vehicle-customization system and the Challenge the Grid betting module. Developers at Turn 10 Studios have discussed this section of the game at length, but the preview marks the first public playtest of these roads, cars and systems.

Put simply, they feel fantastic.

Turn 10 Studios

Turn 10 knows how to build a smooth, responsive racing game with dynamic vehicles and tracks. Forza Motorsport is the ultimate showcase of these skills. Each car in the intro series handles differently, but none of them feel unwieldy. The Ford can’t cut corners as sharply as the Subaru or Civic, but it’s a powerhouse on the straightaway; the Civic is more floaty than the Subaru; the Subaru can handle quick braking better than the other two. These unique features are baked into each vehicle, but the customization screen also allows for fine adjustments that truly affect the way they drive.

The beginning of Forza Motorsport is inviting in numerous ways. It offers a difficulty slider, three modes of play, a bounty of training and real-time assist options, and a rewind button (my absolute favorite feature). In Driving Assists, I turned the Global Presets down to light, set the Suggested Line on for braking only, and I kept ABS on, with automatic shifting. This configuration helped me feel in control on the tracks, and the customization made me comfortable experimenting with new angles and turn speeds in practice laps.

Turn 10 Studios

This is also where the rewind button became my best friend. If you’re new to Forza, rewind might seem like a silly feature for a game that takes racing so seriously, but it’s absolutely necessary for the pacing of practice rounds specifically. Rewind allows racers to mess up and quickly reset without leaving the track, and it encourages players to try, try again. It encourages play, and it’s a lovely feature — one you can turn off at any time, if you think gaming should be pure punishment.

One of the main reasons Forza Motorsport feels so great is its framerate. Motorsport runs at 60 fps on all platforms, including Xbox Series S, and I didn't notice any dropped frames during my playthrough on that console. This is vital for a racing sim, but feels especially notable when many AAA games today are either locked at 30 fps or fail to hit 60 fps on Series S. Microsoft requires feature parity between the Xbox Series X — the most technically powerful console on the market — and the Series S, Microsoft’s less powerful, cheaper and most popular option this generation. In the case of games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Redfall and Starfield, developers have prioritized high resolutions in big, dense worlds over framerate, often to the detriment of combat and animations on the cheaper console.

Responsiveness is paramount in a racing game, and Turn 10 clearly knows this. The studio prioritized the proper things in order to hit 1080p and 60 fps on Xbox Series S, and the result is a game that looks pretty, but plays beautifully. Ray-traced global illumination and dynamic lighting make the cars and roads sparkle, and the environments along the tracks are busy without being distracting. So far, Forza Motorsport offers a strangely serene, high-octane experience, and I’m eager to dive into the full game.

Turn 10 Studios

There was drama recently over some features that won’t be in Forza Motorsport at launch, namely spectator mode, AI racing in featured multiplayer, and splitscreen — and that last one is a sensitive topic for Xbox owners. In August, Baldur's Gate III creator Larian Studios had to delay the game's Xbox versions because they couldn't make splitscreen work on Series S, despite it running fine on Series X. Larian eventually worked out a deal with Microsoft and it plans to release Baldur's Gate III on Series S without the feature later this year, but Xbox players still remember that sting.

After playing Forza Motorsport's Builders Cup intro series, I’m finding it hard to be concerned about the missing features. Turn10 is crafting a solid racing sim that nails the basics of responsiveness, customization and accessibility. It's a clean, polished foundation for years of DLC to come, and there’s already plenty to mess around with in the game’s first hours.

Forza Motorsport is made to be replayed. After 18 years and seven installments, 2023’s Motorsport is the final game that Turn 10 plans to release in the series, and it’ll serve as the foundation of a live-service system. The goal is for Motorsport to be a hub for regular content drops (new maps, vehicles and challenges) over the coming years, with social and sharing features built into the experience. It makes a lot of sense for the franchise.

In the game’s introductory stages, Motorsport strikes a compelling balance between customization and complexity, making each track bingeable off the bat. The game’s forgiveness stems from its malleability; nearly every setting is customizable, from vehicle upgrades, to AI difficulty, accessibility options and actual driving mechanics. This means that, when something goes wrong during a race, it doesn’t feel like the game’s fault. Forza Motorsport offers a true, repeatable test of player skill. Plus, it’s really pretty, even on Xbox Series S.

Forza Motorsport is scheduled to hit Xbox Series X/S and PC on October 10.

Max looks set to move into the sports streaming business in the coming weeks. Warner Bros. Discovery may try to get users hooked by offering live sports at no extra cost for several months before charging extra for them.

When WBD revealed the new-look Max (formerly HBO Max) in April, it indicated that it would reveal plans for live sports streaming at some point this year. The company airs NBA, MLB and NHL games across its linear networks and, according to Bloomberg, it has been working with the leagues to determine if it has the rights to stream the games as well.

The report suggests that Max may offer live sports to subscribers at no extra cost until February or March before WBD starts requiring users to pony up more cash for them. That's because the March Madness college basketball tournament is one of the biggest sports events of the year and WBD may feel that could help it to get users to pay a premium for live sports on Max.

Live sports are big business for media companies and they're one of the safest bets to make. Still, broadcast and cable viewership has been waning for years as consumers' attention shifts elsewhere. Some organizations are trying to face that head on by streaming live sports as well.

Disney is reportedly planning on offering a standalone ESPN streaming service. Paramount+ and Peacock (both of which are run by legacy media companies) place a major focus on live sports. YouTube, meanwhile, now holds the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket. Offering access to baseball, basketball and hockey games could help WBD get people who may have already ditched cable TV to sign up for its service, even if they need to pay more than they would for a base Max plan to watch live games.

In what can only bode poorly for our species' survival during the inevitable robot uprisings, an AI system has once again outperformed the people who trained it. This time, researchers at the University of Zurich in partnership with Intel, pitted their "Swift" AI piloting system against a trio of world champion drone racers — none of whom could best its top time.

Swift is the culmination of years of AI and machine learning research by the University of Zurich. In 2021, the team set an earlier iteration of the flight control algorithm that used a series of external cameras to validate its position in space in real-time, against amateur human pilots, all of whom were easily overmatched in every lap of every race during the test. That result was a milestone in its own right as, previously, self-guided drones relied on simplified physics models to continually calculate their optimum trajectory, which severely lowered their top speed. 

This week's result is another milestone, not just because the AI bested people whose job is to fly drones fast, but because it did so without the cumbersome external camera arrays= of its predecessor. The Swift system "reacts in real time to the data collected by an onboard camera, like the one used by human racers," an UZH Zurich release reads. It uses an integrated inertial measurement unit to track acceleration and speed while an onboard neural network localizes its position in space using data from the front-facing cameras. All of that data is fed into a central control unit — itself a deep neural network — which crunches through the numbers and devises a shortest/fastest path around the track. 

“Physical sports are more challenging for AI because they are less predictable than board or video games. We don’t have a perfect knowledge of the drone and environment models, so the AI needs to learn them by interacting with the physical world,” Davide Scaramuzza, head of the Robotics and Perception Group at the University of Zurich, said in a statement.

Rather than let a quadcopter smash its way around the track for the month that its controller AI would need to slowly learned the various weaves and bobs of the circuit, the research team instead simulated that learning session virtually. It took all of an hour. And then the drone went to work against 2019 Drone Racing League champion Alex Vanover, 2019 MultiGP Drone Racing champion Thomas Bitmatta, and three-time Swiss champion, Marvin Schaepper. 

Swift notched the fastest lap overall, beating the humans by a half second, though the meatsack pilots proved more adaptable to changing conditions during the course of a race. “Drones have a limited battery capacity; they need most of their energy just to stay airborne. Thus, by flying faster we increase their utility,” Scaramuzza said. As such, the research team hopes to continue developing the algorithm for eventual use in Search and Rescue operations, as well as forest monitoring, space exploration, and in film production.    

The annual Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) speedrunning charity gaming event is returning in January. It’s going to be an in-person affair once again, the first time since COVID. It all takes place in Pittsburgh at the Wyndham Hotel from January 14th to the 21st. Despite the change to an in-person format, you’ll be able to stream the festivities via the Games Done Quick Twitch channel.

For the uninitiated, AGDQ is a speedrunning marathon event that runs all day and night throughout the week. AGDQ 2024 will be held in support of the Prevent Cancer Foundation and you’ll be able to quickly donate to the charity on Twitch or via the Games Done Quick website. The event raised over $3.5 million for the foundation back in 2022 and $2.6 million last year. There’s also a sibling event held in the summer that has raised millions of dollars for Doctors Without Borders.

AGDQ 2024 is still months away, so the organizers have yet to issue a list of participants and games. Past years have seen speedrunners take on hundreds of releases, from newer titles like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to retro-flavored gems like Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Doom. Yes, labeling 2010's Super Mario Galaxy 2 as retro makes me feel old too, but it is what it is. 

Games Done Quick has stated that speedrunners don’t have to head to Pittsburgh to take part, as there will be remote runs available for those unable to travel. The organization is accepting speedrunning submissions from September 1st to the 10th, so start practicing your runs now.

Three major American sports leagues want to speed up Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns. In a letter posted and reported by TorrentFreak (viaThe Verge), the UFC, NBA and NFL urged the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to make the removal process for illegal livestreams nearly instantaneous. The organizations say the global sports industry is losing up to $28 billion from fans watching pirated live feeds instead of paid ones.

“The rampant piracy of live sports events causes tremendous harm to our companies,” legal representatives for the UFC, NBA and NFL allegedly wrote in the letter. The leagues say online service providers often take “hours or even days” to take down infringing content — leaving illegal sports streams plenty of time to complete the event without removal. “This is particularly damaging to our companies given the unique time-sensitivity of live sports content.”

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s language in Section 512 is at the heart of the complaint, which states that content must be removed “expeditiously.” The UFC, NBA and NFL want the wording changed to “instantaneously or near-instantaneously” to help with their revenue problems. “This would be a relatively modest and non-controversial update to the DMCA that could be included in the broader reforms being considered by Congress or could be addressed separately,” the posted letter reads.

The letter didn’t address sports fans’ distaste for regional blackouts, which many viewers likely use the pirated feeds to bypass.

The leagues also ask the USPTO to consider more stringent requirements for online service providers to verify users posting livestreams. They ask for “particular verification measures,” including blocking the ability to stream from newly created accounts or those with few subscribers. “Certain [online service providers] already impose measures like these, demonstrating that the measures are feasible, practical and important tools to reduce livestream piracy,” the letter reads.

Sending a letter is the first step in communicating intent, but the UFC, NBA and NFL will likely have a long road ahead if they want to change the DMCA. The law, signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1998, has faced numerous calls for change in the following decades — both from media companies wanting stricter measures and users who believe it gives copyright holders too much power. Changing it would require Congress to pass a law revising it, which is never a quick or easy process.

Google TV is about to get a heavy dose of NFL Sunday Ticket. The service, which Google won the bidding rights for last year, will soon be available (and likely promoted with gusto) on the platform. Google also offers the NFL subscription service on YouTube and YouTube TV.

“Starting this football season, NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube and YouTube TV will be fully integrated into Google TV in the U.S.,” Google TV product managers Nick Staubach and Sal Altayyar wrote in an announcement blog post. “This means you can now access live out-of-market Sunday afternoon games, see top highlights and get recommendations for top games of the week, all right on your Google TV home screen.” The authors added that YouTube TV subscribers who add an NFL Sunday Ticket subscription would soon see the service in the app’s live tabs.

Google won the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, reportedly outbidding Apple and Amazon in late 2022 after DirecTV held the rights for nearly three decades. Annual packages for the service currently start at $399 through YouTube or $299 when bought alongside a separate ($73 / month) YouTube TV membership. Packages that include the NFL RedZone channel (for “whip-around coverage of every game on Sunday afternoon”) add an extra $40 onto each plan.

Google also announced today that it’s adding more than 25 new free channels to Google TV. The company (strangely) didn’t specify the channels, but it mentioned that it would include shows like Top Gear and Baywatch. The unknown networks will join Google TV’s lineup of over 800 FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channels.