IT sports sponsorship goes beyond the signage

When watching your favourite sport on TV or at the stadium, it’s not uncommon to see signage from technology vendors.

Today though, sponsorships are going beyond the signage, as IT vendors use their tech to improve the game and the fan experience.

By Jeff JedrasImage courtesy of Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

HP and Renault F1

As part of Hewlett Packard Co.’s sponsorship of the Renault F1 racing team in 2010 and 2011, HP supplied the team with its latest workstation computers and worked to tweak them to their

needs, from car design and simulation at the office to real-time performance monitoring at the track. Team officials say faster processing of data and results can give the team an real edge on the track on race day.

IBM and The MastersIBM Corp.’s sponsorship of the 2012 Masters Golf Tournament included an interactive web site with live video and audio, up-to-date leader boards, and analytical integration on desktops,

mobile phones, tablets and apps. But this year the spotlight was on new IBM CEO Virginia Rometty. As a title sponsor, past IBM CEOs have been made members of the Augusta National Golf Club. But the club doesn’t admit female members, so Rometty’s ascension to IBM’s top job put this policy in the national spotlight.

Cisco Systems and London 2012After Nortel Networks dropped-out, Cisco Systems Inc. stepped-up as official network infrastructure supporter of the Olympic Games in London. It supplied a network that transmitted 40 GB of data every

second. It included 30,000 connections across 94 locations, 2,200 switches and 1,800 wireless access points. One thing they couldn’t account for? Twitter. During a bicycle race, tweeting spectators overloaded the network transmitting GPS updates to the broadcaster. The official timing system was never compromised though, so it wasn’t a #fail.

RIM and the NHLAs a Canadian company, it’s not surprising to see Research in Motion turn to hockey. RIM was a title sponsor of the 2012 NHL All Star Game in Ottawa, and also provided BlackBerry Playbooks to select players as

part of a promotional campaign with the NHLPA. Players such as Maple Leaf Joffrey Lupul used PlayBooks to record and edit videos of their off-ice adventures, from train rides and family life to trips to the tattoo parlour. Don’t blame the sometimes shaky video on the PlayBooks, though. The players are used to being on skates.

IBM and the US Open

As a sponsor of the 2012 US Open, IBM Corp. brought predictive analytics, cloud computing and mobile technology to fans watching the prestigious tennis tournament.

The IBM Social Sentiment Index analyzed buzz around the tournament, and every volley and serve on the court was captured for fans to analyze in the SlamTracker tool, a real-time stats and analytics visualization platform. A new iPadapp also fed real-time facts and statistics to tennis fans, as well as streaming video coverage.