Microsoft renews its partnership with the Billie Jean King Cup

The GIST: On Thursday, the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup extended its partnership with Microsoft through 2026. It focuses on developing tech solutions for the women’s national team tennis tournament by utilizing the Azure cloud platform, allowing Microsoft to flex its computing muscles in women’s sports amid explosive sector growth. A data set.

The details: Microsoft first partnered with the tourney in September 2020, when the tech giant gave BJK Cup Finals teams access to data through an Azure-supported dashboard that tracked player movement, scoring, and shot data.

• Microsoft reported a strong Q3 thanks to its Azure cloud sector spurring 31% revenue growth, which caused total revenue to increase 17% YoY. The company is now doubling down on analytics and AI as it projects $64B in revenue during its next quarter.

Women’s sports involvement: Aside from its BJK Cup partnership, Microsoft has made calculated moves to promote its Azure platform in a sports capacity. The WNBA has used Azure to rate buzzer-beater heroics to calculate win probability, and Microsoft has also assisted individual teams such as the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream in 2022 and the NWSL’s Reign FC in 2016.

• Microsoft is an early adopter in the women’s sports space, which bodes well for a tech company looking to leverage its data analytics in an increasingly crowded sports market. BJK Ltd chair Ilana Kloss noted that Microsoft was one of the first partners to join the event after it rebranded in 2020. Signed on.

Zooming out: Microsoft competitor IBM has been in the tennis space for over 30 years through its US Open partnership, proving that it’s a friendly environment for AI and analytics. It’s smart to see Microsoft apply this to women’s tennis, especially as the sports analytics industry is expected to jump from $3B to $12B by 2030. Keeping an eye on the top servers.