- On Demand Wimbledon Scales New Peaks with IBM
- Web Site Refresh, Wireless Updates, WiFi and Hawk-Eye Keep Wimbledon 'Clicking' Over
London, June 23, 2003 - IBM today announced that it will deliver extensive, new and enhanced levels of technology support to The Championships, Wimbledon 2003 for the duration of the Wimbledon Fortnight. Providing wireless, web hosting and integration solutions on demand, IBM will enable players, officials, broadcasters and fans to source more real-time score updates, match information and action from The Championships than ever before.
"IBM is enabling The Championships to respond on demand to huge surges in web site activity, and to offer all sorts of wired and wireless audiences real-time access to specialised Wimbledon information," said Mark McMurrugh, Project Director, IBM.
www.wimbledon.org
Design, management and hosting of The Championships web site www.wimbledon.org is at the heart of IBM's support for Wimbledon.
"In the past, www.wimbledon.org has handled more than eight hundred thousand users in one day during The Championships, such is the popularity of the site, " added McMurrugh. "Unpredictable peaks in users - caused by varying match times, time zones, weather breaks and fans following Wimbledon from all over the world - mean that an on demand environment is absolutely essential.
"By building a responsive and resilient infrastructure that can cope with such high numbers of visitors -- and even more at peak usage -- IBM is helping the Club to handle enormous variance in site activity."
This year, a refreshed web site features improved navigation, design updates and a new shop area that incorporates enhanced security. In addition, an on-screen match ticker will offer 'up to the minute'
highlights at a glance - providing information that encourages the user to drill down further into the site.
"A key issue with the site's success is ensuring that content is truly engaging," said Rob McCowen, Marketing Director, All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC). "Last year, average duration of visits to the site was two hours nine minutes. With refreshed formats, interesting and lively up to date content, the Club aims to encourage users to stay on-line even longer."
The Club has also introduced a new subscription area that includes exclusive player interviews, highlights, match summaries and video clips.
The subscription area will also feature a Radio Wimbledon dedicated match commentary channel.
Game, Handset and Match
This year, IBM has also optimised the web site for PDA display. For the very first time, fans all over the world will be able to access The Championships site from PDAs over GPRS networks. Enabling users to access score updates and Championships information on the move, Wimbledon is now available in real-time on fans' desktops, laptops, PDAs and mobile phones.
"Wimbledon is a true global sporting event, and one of our key challenges is to expand the ways in which we communicate results to fans," added Rob McCowen, AELTC. "It is fantastic that this year, fans all over the world will be able to access live score updates on PDAs. It's a natural evolution of our SMS update service and a great addition to our web site for PDA users."
Broadcast Wimbledon
In partnership with the Club, IBM will provide a comprehensive match data service with an array of fully-integrated information for television and radio broadcasters. IBM's specially-trained team of 40 court-side analysers will use IBM technology to collect, collate and aggregate virtually every piece of singles on-court action. As many as a half a million items of match data will be collected and processed.
Selected from international, national and county junior tennis players, IBM's match analysers collect the wealth of match statistics that help 'fuel' www.wimbledon.org.
IBM will also use match data to create detailed reports for use by players who can review not only their own performances, but also the strengths and weaknesses of their next round opponents.
In addition to this information-rich service, IBM & The BBC will also integrate 'Hawk-Eye' into TV coverage analysis. Hawk-Eye is a ball-tracking system that enables television viewers to get the most information about how players are really performing against each other on court. It uses five high speed cameras strategically-placed around the court to follow every ball in flight.
Broadcasters commentating on Centre Court and No. 1 Court will use Hawk-Eye in several different ways. These include line calls; comparing first and second serves; and, identifying areas where returns of serve are being made. Match umpires will not use Hawk-Eye to assess line calls. Its primary benefit is to help viewers better understand the game of tennis by illustrating placement, bounce, speed and swerve of the ball during matches.
Wimbledon WiFi
IBM is bringing WiFi technology to The Championships. By installing a secure campus-wide wireless LAN at Wimbledon for the duration of the Fortnight, IBM will enable officials, hospitality guests and media to log into the internal Wimbledon Information System network throughout the grounds.
In addition, broadcasters, journalists and photographers will be able to access the Internet wirelessly from WiFi-enabled laptop computers.
"Year by year, it feels like new technology moves on very gradually. But looking back over the past 14 years of IBM's involvement in Wimbledon, things have moved on phenomenally ? making huge leaps forward over time,"
said Jeff Lucas, IT Director, AELTC.
"Keeping Wimbledon at the forefront of technology in sport, maintaining the brand values of both organisations and ensuring a close working partnership is central to what we are trying to achieve. This success of the Club's relationship with IBM is the consistency of the two organisations working together."
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.
Voor meer informatie of foto's:
Anouk Bikkel
IBM Communications
Tel: 06-20435155
Mail: Anouk Bikkel@nl.ibm.com