AC Milan enhances fan experience & performance with tech

AC Milan has modernised its IT infrastructure with the adoption of Pure Storage's data storage platform, aiming to enhance both fan engagement and on-field performance through technological advancements.

AC Milan, the football club with a notable global following, sought to leverage technology to achieve its dual objectives: providing the best possible fan experience through online content and using data and AI to improve team performance. The club's Media House, responsible for producing and delivering video and social content as well as supplying critical data to the training centre, faced challenges due to a rise in data volume and inefficiencies in its legacy data storage system.

The implementation of Pure Storage platform has addressed these challenges by providing a robust, efficient, and secure storage infrastructure pivotal to AC Milan's technological transformation initiative. The platform has enabled AC Milan to manage large volumes of unstructured data with low latency, greatly enhancing productivity. The Media House team now experiences a tenfold increase in the speed of content production and delivery, enabling AC Milan to connect with over 500 million global fans through improved digital experiences.

The advent of enhanced data security and ransomware protection is another significant advantage. AC Milan has implemented Pure Storage's ActiveDRTM for near zero Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) metrics. Additionally, SafeModeTM Snapshots protect data from deletion, modification, or encryption in the event of a cyberattack, thus mitigating the impact of ransomware threats.

The Pure Storage platform also fosters cutting-edge AI innovation. Video footage of training sessions stored on the platform can be analysed using AI alongside player data captured via sensors, with the objective of enhancing performance. Moreover, AC Milan is constructing a data lake consisting of players' medical and performance data to further this aim.

Maurizio Bonomi, Information Technology Director at AC Milan, stated, "Our team's mission is to support the Club and the business across all departments so that we're achieving excellence on and off the pitch. Pure helped AC Milan modernise our Media House so that content can be delivered across multiple platforms in one tenth of the time that it used to take. The project has been a great success and has marked a new step in our ongoing evolution into a media company."

Joao Silva, Vice President of EMEA and Latin America at Pure Storage, added, "We're thrilled to support AC Milan in its mission to transform the way it connects with fans, and its highly innovative use of AI to improve all-round player performance. The club's legacy storage couldn't keep up with its modern, innovative data demands. AC Milan's Pure Storage platform meets their complex needs. These are cutting-edge initiatives that showcase how the delivery of real time content and AI can benefit football clubs and the welfare of their players."

Amy Rushall, ANZ Area Vice President for Pure Storage, remarked, "AC Milan's success with Pure Storage highlights the benefits a modern data infrastructure can have on performance on the field and driving fan engagement off the field. In Australia and New Zealand, where sporting success depends on even the most minute differences, technology is changing the game. As digital and AI innovations accelerate in our region, Pure Storage's solutions can empower leading sporting organisations to elevate their game on and off the field."