Infosys keen to renew Australian Open partnership

The Indian tech giant is undaunted by the tournament’s depressed crowd numbers, declaring its digital innovations a success.

Australia Open tournament director and Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley, Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis and Infosys Australia and New Zealand head Andrew Groth at Melbourne park after announcing Infosys as Australia Open's new tech sponsor, replacing IBM. Picture : David Geraghty / The Australian.

The Australian boss of Indian consulting and outsourcing company Infosys says his company is keen on renewing its partnership with the Australian Open, with the company undaunted by the tournament’s challenging circumstances and depressed crowd numbers.

Speaking to The Australian in the midst of the Australian Open, Infosys Australia and New Zealand boss Andrew Groth said

Infosys took over from IBM as the tournament’s technology partner in 2018, and is at the end of its initial three-year agreement.

“We’re really proud about the partnership. It’s been a great relationship with Tennis Australia and we’re very happy with the partnership. Quite frankly, at the moment that the focus has been on getting this year ready to launch and getting the job done, but we’ll have some discussions once the show’s over and done. It’s been very, very positive, and we’d love to continue the relationship but those are discussions to be had after the event.”

The executive said the snap lockdown placed across Victoria last Friday has only emphasised the critical need for enhanced digital experiences that organisations, like the Australian Open, can deliver in the absence of physical event attendance.

“There is no doubt we all want physical events to return, however there are clear benefits to having a complimentary digital event experiences on offer,” he said.

Infosys global COO Pravin Rao with Australian CEO Andrew Groth. Aaron Francis/The Australian

“There were times during the year where it was unknown [if the tournament would happen] but the one thing we knew very clearly it was going to be different. So our team was very busy working on that digital element. To be frank, you know, we didn’t have time to sit around and speculate, on ‘is it going to be on is it not going to be on’ we knew it was going to be different, so we had to take the digital technology and design that in a way to deliver the excitement and the passion digitally.”

Fan attendance has been limited but Mr Groth said the company’s emphasis on digital capabilities had allowed fans to stay connected to the on-court action.

New innovations delivered by Infosys this year include 3D Court Vision, which allows fans to watch tournament matches in an animated form, with data overlay for each shot, and an AI Video Analysis feature in the Australian Open player and coach app, which gives live strategy notes.

“Tennis is a great vehicle for us, and not just for our business in Australia, but for our business globally,” Mr Groth said. “With around 800 million fans across the globe, who will access the event in one way or another, the exposure we get has great global reach. It’s a sport that translates internationally.

“While there might not be physically the number of people on the ground, we get great exposure through the fans and the coaches are loving what we’re doing with some of those new features. It’s been a really great partnership.”

Tennis Australia chief revenue officer Ben Slack said digital engagement with fans, players and coaches had never been higher.

“Our focus this year is delivering new digital experiences and insights that are accessible for everyone involved, regardless of where they are currently located,” he said.

“Having Infosys on board as our digital innovation partner for the third year running has allowed us to optimise engagement with all our stakeholders, not only our fans, players and coaches but our broadcast partners and sponsors as well. Despite access restrictions this year the team has excelled, enabling us to continue delivering new and improved digital experiences for this year’s tournament.”