IBM and the U.S. Open: Revolutionizing the Fan Experience with AI
Many brands leverage the U.S. Open to entertain clients or display flashy signage. IBM, however, goes far beyond these traditional marketing tactics. As a century-old technology titan, IBM operates behind the scenes as the invisible force shaping the fan experience, powering the U.S. Open app, and engaging over 14 million fans worldwide. Through this partnership, IBM is demonstrating that sports arenas like the U.S. Open could be the ideal environment for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The servers behind each serve
At first glance, the fan experience appears simple: open the app, check scores, maybe watch a highlight or two. But delivering this seamless interaction requires monumental real-time data processing powered by IBM and the United States Tennis Association (USTA). They harness AI alongside human review to ensure a balance between speed and accuracy. One striking example is the “Serve Quality” metric, which analyzes 21 data points across a player’s body and racquet 50 times per second. This generates approximately 4.6 million data points per match and over 1.2 billion across the entire tournament.
Additionally, the app features “match chat,” an AI-powered bot that allows users to ask conversational questions about the sport, such as “what is the record for x?” This innovative tool enriches the fan’s engagement by providing instant, contextually relevant responses.
The reception to these AI-driven features has been overwhelmingly positive. In 2025, more than 14 million unique devices interacted with the U.S. Open’s digital platforms, culminating in nearly 47 million visits—an impressive 19% increase from the previous year.
Scaling operations and securing the tournament
The U.S. Open isn’t merely a sporting event; it’s a colossal, time-sensitive business operation. With millions of customers, vast data influxes, and a strict three-week timeline, the USTA faces challenges ranging from infrastructure scalability and bandwidth management to content production and cybersecurity. IBM’s expertise and technology solutions help the USTA navigate these complexities efficiently.
With only a few hundred core staff, the USTA relies on IBM’s AI-powered tools to manage and optimize costs, streamline infrastructure, and bolster operational resilience during the tournament. For example, the USTA’s editorial team benefits from custom AI solutions that generate match summaries, which human editors then refine—boosting the team’s content production capacity by 300%.
Security is another critical arena where IBM’s impact is profound. IBM’s AI agents monitor and protect the USTA’s digital infrastructure by identifying and prioritizing nearly 500 million suspicious requests annually. This proactive defense helps safeguard the tournament’s data and digital assets from cyber threats.
Rallying fans around the world
This year’s fan experience centers around the all-new Live Updates homepage, offering a smarter, personalized way for fans to follow the action that matters most to them. Users can prioritize their favorite players and quickly access relevant matches, insights, and stories. In an era where global demand for sports is booming but stadium seats remain limited, digital platforms become essential for connecting millions of fans who cannot attend in person.
These digital innovations allow fans to feel closer to the action, whether they live across the country or around the world. Among the enhancements introduced in the U.S. Open app are:
- Match Chat: An AI-powered assistant enabling fans to ask free-text questions about live matches and receive instant, data-driven insights based on statistics, player info, historical performance, and tournament data. AI models trained in the USTA’s editorial style ensure responses feel authentic and informative.
- Live Likelihood to Win: A real-time predictive feature that updates each player’s chances of winning as the match progresses, leveraging live scores, statistics, and expert analysis. This visual representation of match momentum acts as the match’s dynamic heartbeat.
- Key Moments: A generative AI feature nested within Live Likelihood to Win that explains why a player’s chance of winning shifts by identifying crucial points, rallies, and sequences impacting momentum.
Despite widespread public skepticism about AI, IBM’s 2026 Sports Survey reveals that sports fans are relatively receptive. The study found that 80% of fans appreciate AI-powered sports experiences, especially real-time statistics, personalized content, and translation features. Among tennis fans specifically, 64% expressed trust in AI-generated sports content.
Moreover, the survey underscores the importance of digital engagement—73% of tennis fans use sports apps generally, and this figure jumps to 91% during live events. This highlights how delivering reliable, real-time digital experiences is critical to how fans consume and interact with sports today.
Playing the long game
IBM’s involvement in sports extends beyond the U.S. Open. The company collaborates with other premier events like the UFC, the Masters, and Wimbledon, providing digital platform support and data services. But IBM’s sports strategy also focuses on grassroots innovation and nurturing startups poised to shape the future of sports technology.
Earlier in 2026, the USTA launched the inaugural USTA Connect Innovation Challenge, inviting tech innovators, engineers, and startups nationwide to develop high-impact digital solutions for tennis. Participants gain access to exclusive USTA and U.S. Open data sets to power their prototypes. A panel comprising USTA representatives, venture capitalists, and IBM experts evaluates submissions. The top three finalists earn fully funded travel to the USTA Connect event at the 2026 U.S. Open to pitch their ideas, with the grand prize winner receiving $10,000 and significant exposure within the USTA ecosystem.
Additionally, IBM introduced the IBM Sports Tech Startup Challenge, providing founders opportunities to showcase their solutions at major global tech events such as Web Summit in Rio, Vancouver, Lisbon, and a16z Tech Week in New York and San Francisco. This initiative offers startups a platform to engage audiences at the intersection of sports, technology, and entrepreneurship.
From quietly orchestrating the fan experience behind the scenes to actively fostering the next generation of sports innovators, IBM underscores how even the world’s largest corporations are taking sports seriously—and why entrepreneurs should pay attention, too.
