ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL: THE NEW AGREEMENT BETWEEN CORINTHIANS AND IBM

In today’s world, dominated by technological innovation, more and more companies are turning to artificial intelligence to monitor activity and conduct market research.

The world of football, in its managerial sense, is also adapting to these prospects, innovating further and embracing the profitable world of technology.

Following recent regulatory developments that have led to numerous changes on the field, the adoption of artificial intelligence-based technologies is gaining more ground outside the playing field as well.

At the end of December, the news of a partnership between Corinthians, a Brazilian football club, and IBM, a global technology giant, emerged. This ten-year sponsorship deal promises tangible benefits for both companies.

The partnership is aimed at renovating the Corinthians Arena, the club’s new stadium, which will see increased interaction with fans. Thanks to the use of a cloud-based system, fan engagement will be significantly enhanced. The club has already registered almost 120,000 fans in its new loyalty program, “Fiel Torcedor,” hosted on the IBM Cloud. Growth prospects are highly promising.

Another key initiative of this collaboration is the introduction of IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence platform. This new platform will facilitate greater interaction between the club and its fans, resulting in increased ticket sales feeds and a new data analysis system. It will allow for intelligent stadium management, from common areas to the organization of staff in the stands.

Reactions from both parties have been positive. For Luis Paulo Rosenberg, marketing director of Corinthians, the partnership will enable the club to implement a new fan loyalty policy, with supporters becoming even more immersed in the team’s affairs.

On the other hand, IBM is entering a new sector to implement its technologies, choosing the highest-grossing non-European club. According to Antonio Martins, General Director of IBM Brazil, this partnership represents a new way of experimenting with AI in football, offering the advantages that such a collaboration can bring.

In today’s sports world, driven by economic interests and profit logic, artificial intelligence represents the present on which to focus in order to gain a competitive advantage in the near future.

The innovation train is speeding toward its destination, which is not so much an endpoint but rather a new starting point.

New challenges await us in the era of digital revolution, with many clubs increasingly willing to invest in artificial intelligence. There are many areas for intervention: we will see who will be able to envision, in the coming years, new synergies between sports and technology.