Accenture, partnership with Wta to bring AI to women's tennis

A game that is no longer only played on the clay of Rome or Roland Garros, or on the grass of Wimbledon. It is played in data, in platforms, in the ability to transform a global circuit into a digital machine that is simpler for the athletes, more efficient for the organisation and more engaging for the fans.

This is the meaning of the multi-year partnership announced by Accenture and the WTA (Women's Tennis Association): not a sponsorship, but a technological agreement to modernise the infrastructure of the WTA starting, in its practical declination, from the redesign of the 'Player Zone', the platform with which players manage tournaments, rankings, programmes, travel and information. Behind the operation is not a simple sponsorship, but an industrial and technological project.

The Wta, which organises over 50 tournaments in 26 countries, is aiming for a technological leap forward to support the global growth of the circuit. Mauro Macchi, ceo of Accenture Emea and president of Accenture Italia, summed up the sense of the operation as follows, speaking to the Sole 24 Ore: 'Women's tennis is one of the most popular and successful sports in the world and we believe that its future will be defined by what we build today'. For Macchi, the game will be played on the ability to use technology and AI to reinvent the relationship between athletes, organisation and audience: 'There is ample opportunity to bring technology, data and AI together to reinvent the athlete experience and support the growth of the game around the world.

In this context, 'sport in general represents an ideal field for experimenting with technologies such as artificial intelligence, reinventing the consumer experience, as well as that of athletes'. And the moment, adds the ceo of Accenture Emea, is also propitious because, going beyond the partnership and the sporting theme, 'there is an increasing focus by companies on AI with the aim not so much of efficiency but of growth'. If it is true for the more traditional sectors, then it can only be true for sport.

The partnership will last five years and is led by Accenture Europe, including the Middle East and Africa, in line with the new international axis of the WTA and the role of the Riyadh Finals. Accenture will bring investment, engineers and operational expertise: several dozen people will already be working in the initial phase of the project. The model looks at other experiences developed in global sport, from the Nfl to golf. And for the future 'we look at other possible agreements, such as with the America's Cup'.