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In India, Cricket isn’t only a sport; it is a religion and has the ability to stop traffic, clear out offices and connect and unite billions of people in India. And while fans may see the huge sixes and diving catches on TV and so forth, the behind-the-scenes work of running a massive, intricate operation to put on a cricket match is a complex, large-scale operation that receives little or no television coverage.
Picture putting on a single cricket match, that is difficult, now imagine running an entire tournament? A logistical mountain. Like running a large corporation the product is the cricket match that is sold to millions of fans.
A very large backend team will need to coordinate thousands of moving parts to deliver a 20/50 Over Product successfully. The backend operations must involve many skilled people to coordinate the complex logistics involved.
Teams would need to be able to book the correct grounds months in advance coordinate travel schedules for hundreds of players and support staff, find suitable hotel accommodation and manage the complex legal contracts associated with players. It will take an army of administrators continuously working 24/7 ensuring all things are in place for the official to say Play
However, what if you didn't need an army of administrators? What if you could outsource the entire backend operation to Artificial Intelligence?
This is exactly what is happening in India right now, and it is set to change the sports industry forever!
The Old School Way to Organize Pro Cricket Tournaments
To really understand this new way of running a tournament we need to look back at the way things have been done in the past.
When you are running a ten-team league, you have to create a fixture list (schedule of matches) where every team plays every other team. You have to ensure no team has excessive travel requirements from one match venue to another; you cannot double book venue(s) on the same day or time. There are hundreds of players, coaches and support staff with contracts that need to be managed, and each of those contracts needs to ensure everyone is paid according to their individual match payment and retainer agreement; on time, and at the rate they had contracted for.
Then, of course, there is all the different types of hospitality associated with an event, as well as the logistics associated with getting everyone to/from their flight connections; arranging transport from the airport to the hotel as well as coordinating from the hotel to the stadium. Organizing catering, security, ticketing and broadcasting logistics occurs in a similar manner. If one flight is delayed, it creates a chain reaction that can disrupt practice times for the teams involved, the press conferences and, sometimes, even the match itself.
In order to accomplish a successful tournament under this historical management practice will require massive spreadsheets, numerous email correspondence back and forth, and numerous tournament managers that are putting out "fires" each day. This method is extremely susceptible to human error, extremely inefficient and extremely costly.
Emergent and Diligence AI Enter the Scene
The rules have changed; an Indian company is taking AI and putting it into the cricket administration’s mainframe.
The MPCA has entered into a formal partnership with Emergent and Diligence AI for automated processing of the entire backend functions we discussed earlier. We're not just talking about using AI to look at how a player's swing or predicting game outcomes. We're talking about using AI to run the day-to-day operations of the tournament.
The first tournament of this type will be the upcoming Madhya Pradesh League (MPL). The MPL will continue to grow; there are new franchises for the MPL; and provide more young cricketers with an opportunity to advance to the major leagues. With growth in the number of teams, there will be even greater logistical challenges for the MPCA. Instead of simply expanding their human workforce, the MPCA is looking to smart technology for its solution.
Understanding What ”Automating the Backend” Means
Now that you have a clearer picture, how does this work in real life? When Emergent and Diligence AI support the backends of tournaments such as the MPL, the AI acts as the ultimate general manager.
Below is an example of what a fully automated cricket tournament would look like:
Dynamic Scheduling: Rather than spending weeks preparing schedules the old-fashioned way, AI will produce the best possible schedule for an entire tournament in mere seconds. The system will use AI algorithms to generate and check if a tournament contains travel, fatigue, stadium availability, and broadcast window variables as well as use historical weather (at 3-month historical average, for example) to optimize the season for a given tournament. If there is a rain out, the AI will recalculate the entire schedule on its own and propose the best alternative dates to hold any affected matches.
Logistics & Travel: The AI will automatically sync with airline/hotel systems and will provide the best travel routes/rates for teams. If a match goes long, the AI will automatically delay the departure time of the bus and will inform the hotel staff to keep their kitchens open late for the players.
Contracts and Roster Management: The complexity of a player’s contract can be overwhelming due to various components such as base salary, bonus for performance, and injury protection. The use of an automated solution allows you to track the involvement and performance of players for payroll, and payment distribution. An automated method provides flawless and timely payroll without the need for daily manual accounting.
Resource Allocation: AI can accurately predict the amount of security personnel needed to accommodate anticipated ticket sales and the amount of catering needed for the event. By utilizing AI to manage physical resources, you reduce the amount of waste which ultimately saves you money.
