UFC AND 4D SIGHT ANNOUNCE MULTI-YEAR DEAL TO USE AI TECHNOLOGY FOR VIRTUAL BRANDING IN THE OCTAGON
New Agreement Expands Pilot Program to Digitally Place Sponsors’ Logos on the Octagon Canvas During Live Telecasts
UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and4D Sight, a native video monetization and compliance platform, today announced a multi-year agreement to utilize 4D Sight’s patented deep learning technology to digitally place sponsors’ logos on the Octagon canvas during select live UFC telecasts.
The collaboration is an expansion of the original pilot program UFC and 4D Sight launched in 2021 to introduce new virtual ad tech aimed to further localize broadcasts for viewers and sponsors. With this agreement, UFC has become 4D’s first multi-year client.
With 4D Sight’s groundbreaking AI technology (‘4D AI’), UFC can now hyper-target brand exposure in specific regions to create more relevance for their fans around the world, allowing them to see different logo placements throughout live events without limitations on specific camera angles or the location of the placement.
4D AI is able to handle virtual ads in UFC’s dynamic and fast-moving environment. 4D AI enables UFC to maximize sponsorship opportunities and increase the value of UFC’s biggest marketing platform-- its live events-- by digitally inserting logos on the Octagon canvas and moving beyond the limitations of the physical logos traditionally placed on the canvas.
“4D AI opens up a world of opportunity for UFC to maximize corporate partnerships by localizing brand exposure and creating greater relevance and engagement with viewers,” said Grant Norris-Jones, UFC Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships. “This tech is a game changer in branded integrations with one of the most visible sports settings in the world, the UFC Octagon.”
“We are personalizing a painted logo on a mat or an empty wall in a video game at the regional and individual level - enabling use cases such as covering sports betting ads in specific regions or replacing an alcohol brand for an underage viewer,” said Erhan Ciris, Founder and CEO of 4D Sight. “This is all happening in real-time with no room for error - real-time video content understanding enables real-time content generation cycle with infinite ending options”
UFC will begin implementing 4D AI on select international feeds of its Pay-Per-View events to accommodate different partner logos on the Octagon canvas tailored for specific markets.
“Virtual ad integration is something we have been experimenting with for some time, but we discovered we needed a downstream solution - one that could place logos on the Octagon canvas using computer vision to parse the scene and dynamically mask around fighters, the ref and all of our on-screen graphics,” said Alon Cohen, Senior Vice President, Research and Development, UFC. “4D Sight has provided the only solution that is capable of working alongside how we shoot our sport. We’re looking forward to working with them to use this technology to enhance the value we provide our brand partners.”
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