NEW INNOVATION BY ENGINEERS AT THE BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY IN UTAH PROMISES A SIGNIFICANT CUT DOWN ON TIME AND COST INCURRED BY FOOTBALL TEAMS IN STUDYING POSITIONS, FORMATIONS AND PLAYS ON FILM THROUGH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI).

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform the world of sports, engineers at Brigham Young University have found a unique application for AI tools that can significantly enhance game strategy for American football teams. 

The cohort of engineers and researchers have created an algorithm powered by deep learning and computer vision to identify and label players in post-game footage to analyze player formations, plays and positions—a process that was previously tediously labour-intensive and time-consuming, often requiring a large group of video assistants. 

“We were having a conversation about this and realized, whoa, we could probably teach an algorithm to do this,” commented D.J. Lee, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at BYU in a statement. 

“So we set up a meeting with BYU Football to learn their process and immediately knew, yeah, we can do this a lot faster.”

Although still in the early stages of research, the algorithm has achieved an astounding level of accuracy. The automation tool can identify and label player positions with an accuracy of over 90%, whilst being able to determine offensive team formations with an 85% accuracy. 

The researchers state that automating the process of analyzing game footage can provide significant value to football coaches and players alike. By accurately identifying and labelling players, as well as determining offensive team formations, the algorithm can provide valuable insights into the different aspects of team plays, enabling data-driven strategic analysis that can enhance overall team performance.

The findings of the research have been recently published in the MDPI Journal of Electronics. 

The use of AI technology also helps reduce the potential for errors in the analysis process, while also saving considerable amounts of time and money that would otherwise be spent on manual labour. With these benefits, it is evident that AI has the potential to transform the way football teams prepare for games, giving them a competitive edge and potentially changing the course of entire seasons.