The Premier League and Microsoft announced a five-year strategic partnership on Tuesday that will transform how 1.8 billion fans across 189 countries engage with the world's most-watched football league through artificial intelligence technology.

Under the agreement, Microsoft becomes the official cloud and AI partner for the Premier League's digital platforms, modernising the league's digital infrastructure, broadcast match analysis and organisational operations. The partnership represents one of the most significant technology transformations in the league's history.

At the centre of the collaboration is the new Premier League Companion powered by Microsoft's Copilot, which launches today on the official Premier League mobile app and web platforms. The AI-driven service leverages Azure OpenAI to provide fans with personalised information drawn from over 30 seasons of statistics, 300,000 articles and 9,000 videos about their preferred clubs and players.

"We are delighted to welcome Microsoft as a partner of the Premier League," said Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League. "This partnership will help us engage with fans in new ways - from personalised content to real-time match insights. We look forward to working together over the next five years to deliver more innovative experiences to all Premier League supporters around the world."

The Premier League Companion will be enhanced throughout the upcoming season with additional functionality including open-text questions and answers in fans' native languages through text and audio translation. Later in the season, Microsoft AI will be integrated into the enhanced Fantasy Premier League experience, providing each fan with a personal assistant manager to help manage their fantasy squad.

The partnership focuses on four key areas: fan engagement, match insights and analysis, cloud transformation, and organisational productivity. Microsoft Azure AI Foundry services, including Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, will enhance the live match experience with real-time data overlays and post-match analysis.

"We are pleased to partner with the Premier League to bring innovative and interactive experiences to football fans around the world," said Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft. "By leveraging our secure cloud and AI technologies - including Azure AI Foundry Services with Azure OpenAI, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Dynamics 365 - we will transform how football is experienced, delivered and managed on and off the field."

The Premier League also said that it is migrating its core technology infrastructure to Microsoft Azure, enabling scalability, security and agility across its digital ecosystem. Microsoft 365, Power Platform and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations will modernise the league's internal operations, streamlining workflows and enabling data-driven decision-making.

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