Penske Entertainment transforms data into an exceptional fan experience

Accelerating the fan experience

Increasingly sophisticated sports fans demand an exceptional experience, and events taking place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the Indianapolis 500, the largest single-day sporting event in the world, need to deliver this.

To bring fans — at the venue and around the world — as close to the action as possible, Penkse Entertainment and NTT worked together to take the data generated during an INDYCAR race and deliver it to fans.

“In an Indianapolis 500-mile race with 33 cars going 200 laps, we take something like 8 million data records through telemetry off the cars,” says Roger Penske, Founder and Chairman of the Penske Corporation. “Fans are very much on their A-game. They want more data; they want to know what’s going on. It’s not just watching cars go around the track; it’s how come this happened or why this is happening, what’s going on with this driver or that driver.”

This data supports innovative solutions such as the INDYCAR App ‘Powered by NTT DATA’ that turbocharges the racing fan experience with real-time race data and media-rich features to fans worldwide, including the United States, Sweden, Mexico, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Netherlands, Spain, Brazil among many other locations.

The vast amount of data also forms the foundation for innovative fan experiences such as the INDYCAR Data Insights, which provides fans with real-time data on the state of the race — leveraging more than 140 separate live data points along with the use of historical and real-time data to predict future performance, viewable across multiple TV and digital channels.

This activity typically processes over 2 million messages per race event, informing over 2,000 race-strategy predictions and more than 41,000 intercept predictions.

Fans can track the progress of the race with insight into featured head-to-head battles, race team strategy, pit stop efficiency and other highlights as they unfold. These unparalleled insights are available during every event of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES^®.

Smart venues optimize fan experiences

For fans attending a race, Penske Entertainment and NTT created a Smart Venue at IMS, the largest sports venue in the world as measured by capacity and includes grounds that cover more than 1,000 acres. With the ability to host more than 350,000 fans, artificial intelligence (AI) provides IMS operations and security teams with complete visibility of the venue, with data calibrated every 30 seconds at greater than 90% accuracy.

This includes using AI-enabled optical detection technologies, combined with real-time entry gate flow rate data, to give IMS staff better visibility into current and possible scenarios. With a real-time view of the venue, including visitor and vehicle traffic flow, congestion and social distancing data, they’re able to optimize their resources in real-time using faster, data-driven decisions, allowing them to focus their resources on optimizing fan experiences.

This unified, digital solution also allows IMS to process transactions — like digital ticketing and parking transactions — anywhere at the venue, further enhancing the experience for fans.

NTT Smart Solutions power these experiences through its secure, distributed platform that captures video and sound data via sensors and micro data centers in designated areas. Integrating this information with historical and real-time data sources, such as traffic, weather and social media, allows platform users to leverage cognitive analytics to spot patterns and alert operations teams to any potential issues.

Driving innovation for the future

The partnership between Penske Entertainment and NTT has enabled Penske Entertainment to deliver next-generation experiences to their fans anywhere and at any time. With its strong technological foundation underpinning motor racing, INDYCAR provides the perfect environment for exploring the limits of what technology can deliver.

“The sport of INDYCAR racing has always been built on technology innovation. Our relationship with NTT is so important for the future of INDYCAR. They can take us in new directions with their commitment to technology as we work with them to develop new ways to engage with our fans,” says Penske.