The United Soccer League (USL) announced a partnership Monday with WSC Sports, an Israeli tech company that has been producing automated sports highlights for the NBA since 2015.
The Division II soccer league, which includes several sister teams of Major League Soccer franchises, will use the artificial intelligence platform to automate and expedite its video creation for broadcast highlights and distribution. The video technology will also be used behind-the-scenes to assist scouts with finding new talent and coaches with post-game review film sessions.
WSC’s platform analyzes live sports broadcasts, identifies each event that occurs during a game, and edits together short-form video content. The technology is currently used by media rights owners such as Turner Sports, Perform Group, as well as professional sports leagues, including the NBA, Cricket Australia, World Surfing League and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
The company says its platform enables partners to instantly generate and distribute professional-grade clips at scale, which engages fans and maximizes video monetization opportunities.
“Our partnership with WSC is a groundbreaking digital initiative for us,” said Vincent Wiskowski, the USL’s director of digital projects and emerging technology, in a statement. “It allows the league and USL clubs to create an almost unlimited opportunity to engage their fans and grow their brands through video. We are leveraging artificial intelligence to convert our games into thousands of videos that clubs can use to drive fan engagement and generate sponsorship in real time across a vast network of social and digital accounts.”
The soccer league first began working with WSC in 2017 prior to the USL Cup Playoffs. Since then, the USL has been leveraging WSC’s platform to capture video of every in-game moment, from goals and saves to key moments, such as clutch passes, that might be more difficult to pin down. The Nashville SC’s 2-0 victory against Louisville City FC on May 13, for example, produced an output of 348 separate primary clips, and additional replays of the game’s 35 most important moments.
With WSC’s technology, the league can easily search through those clips and piece together customized short-form video content.
“WSC’s technology not only provides sports leagues and teams with ‘search engine capabilities’ to find every play according to its metadata, but also enables brands to create any type of video compilation you can think of,” said Shaka Arnon, WSC Sports’ head of U.S. operations.
The USL will also use the video technology to assist its scouts with recruitment and its coaches with team training. Club coaches and front offices can access a database to create customized highlight reels of individual player or team actions that can be used for scouting or instructionally in film sessions.
“We are opening up the floodgates with how our clubs can create customizable video that suits their fans interests. Whether it’s Didier Drogba’s free kick against Tulsa Roughnecks FC that went viral recently, or a highlight reel of their center back’s performance each month, there is an audience for each of those, and we are tapping into that.” said Wiskowski. “By the time a player checks his phone after a game we can have a custom video of their best plays ready for them to share on their social accounts. This allows us to scale our video creation and distribution, helping us grow the USL fan base.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Automatically-produced video highlights have become an important tool for professional sports teams and leagues to scale content and enhance training capabilities for athletes. A number of companies are now competing in this space, each with their own differentiating set of features.
While WSC Sports has been expanding its presence across the NBA, Keemotion has been working to implement its automated video technology in the NHL, having struck a deal with the Buffalo Sabres this winter. PlaySight also offers automatic video, and has expanded into a number of sports, including basketball, hockey and soccer, though it targets scouting and training specifically.