As the sports world — and Ontario sports betting world — wait to see what operator becomes the official sportsbook of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the company still had some big news related to the topic.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment announced this week that it is teaming up with Amazon Web Services, an Amazon company, to enhance fan engagement around MLSE’s sports franchises — the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto Football Club and the Argonauts.
With the selection of AWS as its official cloud provider, and official provider of artificial intelligences (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning cloud services, Maple Leaf will use AWS’s comprehensive portfolio of cloud capabilities, a news release said. That includes ML, advanced analytics, computer, database and storage services to support the teams and lines of business. There are also several Toronto Online Casinos that use AWS services for reliable client services.
Basically, MLSE, with AWS, will build solutions that will support how teams play, how players stay healthy, how these franchises operate internally, and how fans connect with each other and experience games, according to the release.
On-Demand Sports Betting
On-demand sports betting is a big part of this, since fans will be able to track their favorite players and get enhanced game insights in real time via Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications and Amazon Kinesis to power a “Game within the Game” digital experience.
“We built Digital Labs at MLSE to become the most technologically advanced organization in sport. As technology advances and how we watch and consume sports evolves, MLSE is dedicated to creating solutions and products that drive this evolution and elevate the fan experience,” Humza Teherany, chief technology & digital officer at MLSE, said in the release. “We aim to offer new ways for fans to connect digitally with their favorite teams while also seeking to uncover digital sports performance opportunities in collaboration with our front offices.
"With AWS’s advanced machine learning and analytics services, we can use data with our teams to help inform areas such as: team selection, training and strategy to deliver an even higher caliber of competition. Taking a cloud-first approach to innovation with AWS further empowers our organization to experiment with new ideas that can help our teams perform their very best and our fans feel a closer connection to the action.”
April 4 is Ontario Launch Date
The online sports betting and casino markets are set to launch on April 4.
In early February, the first online sportsbook operators received approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Another cool thing to watch out for with this Maple Leaf-AWS deal: an at-home and in-stadium mixed reality experience combining visual data from cameras around the arena with sensors in players’ jerseys and the puck or ball. We’re a long way from Fox Sports’ televised green puck tracker from a few decades ago.
This week it was announced that FanDuel Sportsbook Ontario would be the official sports betting partner of the Buffalo Sabres. Maybe we’re getting closer to an announcement with MLSE as the April launch date for an open, licensed sports betting market in Ontario gets closer.
