Chelsea fans will have a new way to watch their club when it faces Wrexham this week. In fact, they’ll have dozens of choices.
Three months after announcing a partnership with video and data tech company Tempus Ex Machina, Chelsea has integrated the startup’s newly unveiled Match View X technology into the team’s Chelsea FC app, allowing users to customize graphical elements, view game highlights, change camera angles or add a possession tracker to their in-app live stream. More traditionally inclined supporters can also opt for a view that strips every bit of graphic from the screen, leaving just the game.
“This gives the viewer the ability to be like, ‘That’s great that you can tell me the exit velo of a football when it’s kicked from 37 meters, but I don’t want to see that stuff,’” Tempus Ex Machina CEO Charlie Ebersol said in a video interview.
Ebersol added that Tempus has built the package in such a way that other properties could easily integrate similar offerings. The company’s core technology, FusionFeed, synchronizes any incoming video or data streams, timestamping them so they can be combined and separated for different functions. “Once you start to think about deconstructing the broadcast,” Ebersol said, “then you can do anything.”
Already, the NFL’s operation department uses Tempus tools to review and tag plays, while the Pac-12 integrated its tech to give players clips of their action for social media distribution.
Founded by former Alliance of American Football executives Ebersol, Annie Gerhart, Mike Naquin and Erik Schwartz, Tempus raised a Series B round from the likes of Silver Lake and Endeavor in 2021.
Tempus’ vision, Ebersol said, is to offer a foundation of linked video and stats feeds that leagues or other developers could then use for novel products. By way of example, the company often points to how Uber was built off Google Maps’ API.
Recently, Tempus Ex has added a machine-learning based tool called FusionStat to “view” live video data and other tracking inputs, translating that data into play-by-play and event log formats. Part of the new Chelsea offering includes the ability to see on-field, persistent rings placed wherever players have attempted shots from. Adding new views and graphics also opens up the opportunity to expand commercial partnerships, or bring in new advertisers. Ebersol hinted at recent acquisitions by Tempus to strengthen its computer vision and AI know-how while also expanding into other areas, such as performance, player health and safety, and social media management.
“Our fans deserve the best technology, and our partnership with Tempus Ex will provide many features they have never seen before,” Chelsea Football Club co-owner Todd Boehly said in a statement when the team announced a seven-year deal with Tempus. “We believe passionately in the opportunity we have with Tempus Ex to reshape parts of the fan experience.”
In its first full offseason under new management, Chelsea is playing in North Carolina, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks. All preseason tilts are broadcast in the club’s app, and on its website.