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Forbes
Forbes
Business
Joseph Wolkin, Contributor

WSC Sports Provides NTT IndyCar Series With Enhanced AI Highlights

NTT IndyCar Series driver Alex Palou (10) leads a pack through turn two during the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on February 27, 2022, at the Streets of St. Petersburg. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Tel Aviv-based WSC Sports continues to take the international sports world by storm. This time, the artificial intelligence technology platform is partnering with the NTT IndyCar Series to provide the series with automated highlights during live events.

The partnership between WSC and the IndyCar Series is the first time the open-wheel motor sports division is utilizing this technology to create enhanced highlights.

“The fierce physical challenges and unrelenting pressure of driving in the NTT IndyCar Series will now be conveyed to millions of digital consumers in real-time thanks to this partnership with WSC sports,” SJ Luedtke, IndyCar’s vice president of marketing, said. "In partnership with NTT, we’re in the midst of an aggressive and dynamic transformation that will extend the reach of our sport and convey our bold and unique narrative in increasingly relevant ways.”

WSC Sports, an Israeli firm, is expanding to work with the NTT IndyCar Series this year to provide live AI-produced highlights. WSC Sports

WSC Sports works with more than 200 leagues and broadcast partners now, including the NBA, NHL, ESPN, YouTubeTV, Nascar, Extreme E and Tencent. But this new collaboration with the IndyCar Series is a milestone for WSC Sports.

“IndyCar came about through some of our friends and partners at NTT, of course the title sponsor of IndyCar,” Joe DaCosta, the North America business development manager of WSC Sports, said. “They introduced us pre-pandemic, so it’s been a few years in the making. Our first project went live last year on a smaller pilot concept.

“This year, we released our new automated project with them. We’re really excited about the partnership overall. It will help them automate race highlights and scale content. They’re really excited about it. We’ve broken into the motor sports space in the last two years, so they’re a marquee pillar of that space.”

The AI technology being utilized for WSC Sports is already enhancing the series’ live coverage. Not only does it help the broadcast production of races, but it can also be utilized on IndyCar’s social platforms.

“Racing is a unique sport, so we had to teach our platform to learn the sport itself,” DaCosta said. “We had great partners on the project when we first started two years ago. It’s been a lot of hard work on both sides to bring this to life.”

The addition of IndyCar to WSC Sports' growing portfolio comes as the organization announced it raised $100 million in series D funding, led by ION Crossover Partners.

The company plans to use the new funding to support its aggressive growth plans for 2022 and beyond, continuing its expansion into new geographies, sports, and platforms such as sports betting, OTT, NFTs and more.

In addition, the company is set to recruit more than 150 new employees this year, both in Israel and at its regional offices in New York, Sydney and London.

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