Digital & Dirt
00:10:07 · Monica Ellingson, Ian Dallimore
[00:10:07] S1: Yeah. I still think it is. [00:10:08] S0: Yeah. Still is. Yeah. I also still don't trust it either. But to your point, like, we as consumers, we now expect that. And then now they even... Within the NFL, as I'm thinking about it, another New Orleans native, the Manning Brothers. Like, now there's an entire station on ESPN that you get to listen to the Manning Brothers. And we were just talking offline. I'm glad you're not a Abby Falcons fan because you could make fun of us today as the the Falcons beat the the Saints in our twentieth year before Katrina. But the fact that now... And I think the stat that you shared with us, it's 72% surveyed sports fans use an app with 40% saying having information in one place is leading motivation. And that's that's another level now. So now we're... You're telling us that, like, you're watching sports, but then also you may have your iPad and you're watching the stats and the data behind it as well.
00:10:59 · Monica Ellingson
[00:10:59] S1: Exactly. I mean, we've... We're seeing a move where, let's say, even now, you know, we're thinking about apps as a secondary screen. Right? So you're you're watching your, your team on TV, on your live streaming channels, etcetera. And, you know, the app is secondary, but we're actually seeing the shift so that, you know, one of the funny stories I have is, you know, we several years ago redid our basement, put a big media space in, and, you know, my kids were home at that time. I said, hey, guys, you know, now you can, you know, watch everything here. They all were just watching right there on their stuff. Okay. I mean, it started with a certain behavior, you know, that people are are using their apps as their primary screen and knowing that those apps are... You know, we can take advantage of all of these interactive interfaces and features to be able to feed content up while users are ingesting and enjoying that sports content.
00:11:59 · Ian Dallimore
[00:11:59] S0: Yeah. And it's interesting because the way people follow sports, it's, I guess, the question to you and in your role, it feels like there's not too much information and data to share. Like, you guys are going to continue to evolve and show as much as possible. And then you, we, the consumer get to dictate like, you know, hey, I I don't need that in-depth of of data where, you know, you and I are are old enough to where you just needed to know just enough to where you showed up on Monday and you could talk about football, you could show up on Wednesday and you could talk about the baseball game. But now, I mean, it's on another level, But it's important because I feel like people are more invested in sports than ever. Like you said, beyond just before they even walk onto the field, like, what shoes are they wearing? What, you know, what dress did that tennis player wear before she came out on the court and put into another dress?
00:12:49 · Monica Ellingson
[00:12:49] S1: I think it's an interesting balancing act, though, because, you know, at the... At these events, we have a massive volume of data that we have access to. I mean, one of the stats we were quoting for the US Open, which just finished a couple of weeks ago, was 1,200,000,000 individual data points that we're collecting over a typical tennis match. Anything from traditional stats all the way to 21 joints and for in terms of biometric data. But data is not the end result. Mean, we still have to... The focus has to be on the fan experience and being able to bubble up insights that are relevant and, you know, contextually relevant at that time because we wanna make sure that they're, you know, we don't take away from the experience of an of an enjoying, you know, watching your your team or your favorite player. But the power of being able to sift through that data, especially using Gen AI and, you know, to create new insights that are that are insightful and to to bubble them up when it's relevant so that we're not taking away from it. So the fan experience still has to be, you know, the most important thing. Data is just another source of content that we're able to pull through and create, you know, new insights that help fans better understand their particular player or their team or the sport as a whole.
00:14:20 · Ian Dallimore, Monica Ellingson
[00:14:20] S0: Yeah. And I love that comment. And sorry for referencing the the Saints Falcon last night, but it it was the twentieth year since Katrina and then Gleason that blocked the punt. So it was very, you know, and I'm a New Orleans native. And... But it was interesting because last night they were showing replaying that blocked punt where the broadcasters let for thirty six seconds, which is an eternity. [00:14:44] S1: That is you. [00:14:45] S0: And the broadcast... Right? Like, most people would be like, hey, do you have [00:14:47] S1: I know. Did I lose you? Yeah. [00:14:49] S0: But it was interesting because, you know... And I'd love for you to talk about that as well, like speed, accuracy over speed. But in that moment to finish that thought, it was thirty six seconds that the broadcasters just went blank because they were cheering so loud. And it was such an emotional moment. The Superdome was housed, thousands of people that were displaced during the hurricane, but also understanding, like, time and place. And I love that about... You you spoke about it in Deer Valley and then, you know, reiterating it here. But, you know, touch on, like... Everyone wants to be, like, speed and data as quick as possible, but you have some research that talks about, like, accuracy over speed all day.
00:14:49 · Ian Dallimore, Monica Ellingson
[00:14:49] S0: But it was interesting because, you know... And I'd love for you to talk about that as well, like speed, accuracy over speed. But in that moment to finish that thought, it was thirty six seconds that the broadcasters just went blank because they were cheering so loud. And it was such an emotional moment. The Superdome was housed, thousands of people that were displaced during the hurricane, but also understanding, like, time and place. And I love that about... You you spoke about it in Deer Valley and then, you know, reiterating it here. But, you know, touch on, like... Everyone wants to be, like, speed and data as quick as possible, but you have some research that talks about, like, accuracy over speed all day. [00:15:28] S1: Yeah. For for users really value the accuracy of that data. So about 44%, you know, you know, when surveyed said that accuracy was more important than speed, only about a little over 20% of users value speed over accuracy. So they just want to make sure that they can trust data, the insights, the stats that we're feeding up. And that's something that's really core to what we at IBM do in terms of fan experiences is to ensure that we're closely governing, especially the content that is created using AI, ensuring that, you know, they can trust us when we're when we're, you know, providing that content to our to our fan base.