Building an Innovative Non-Profit Sports Company with AWS Services
Starting a non-profit company can be morally gratifying. You get the chance to address an issue that plagues our society. A personal belief is that non-profit companies can do a better job of answering matters directly and more efficiently than government organizations, which sometimes fall into corruption.
Countries in Africa see this issue often. Government officials for decades have used improper benefits to support their lifestyles and not those whom they serve. This problem is prevalent in all industries, especially sports. South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup — which was supposed to be the defining experience to reshape soccer in Africa. Instead, it left the country with abandoned stadiums and talent.
We’ll save that for another day, though, back to building an innovative non-profit company.
Non-profit companies using sports to achieve their mission and deliver their message is not uncommon. The Africa Yoga Project (AYP) uses yoga practices to teach and empower people in 21 African Nations. Through the project, they teach yoga to those without the resources and develop Yoga instructors through their Yoga Academy. Baron Baptiste, a notable figure in the yoga industry, personally prepares the local AYP teachers. While obtaining a vocation, learners give back by teaching in jails, schoolhouses, HIV/AIDS comfort groups, and rural villages.
AYP is an example of a not-for-profit company that can produce sustainable living conditions for those in the slums of Africa.
For our AWS case study, we’re going to create an organization that dives into the impoverished areas of different nations, including those in Africa. The primary goals of the organization will be:
- Develop Athletes through camps while using technology to increase exposure.
- Connect youth from impoverished and disadvantaged regions with leading organizations in the sports industry.
- Build a sustainable financial foundation.
Achieving all three goals drives the company’s mission and purpose to fulfill basic social needs such as education and job training within undeveloped communities.
The Company
Company X is a sports media company that reports on both the amateur and professional levels. They concentrate on “preserving the essence” of the game by uniquely creating content around what they believe is essential to the audience and the athlete. Instead of chasing the juicy stories or viral attention, Company X prefers to discover the most distinct stories around the most prominent athletes and events in the sports industry.
The unorthodox approach led them to become a hidden force within the sports industry.
Company X celebrated athletes they’ve covered on the high school level who eventually went on to become young stars in professional leagues across the globe. Over the decade, they began to support those interested in working in the sports media industry. After a few years with Company X — learning the trade from unconventional hands-on training — many ventured off to work with more established entities.
This knack for finding young talent, on and off the field, was not intentional, but it grew into becoming the focal point of the company’s mission.
The Problem
Company X achieved its goal of producing organic content without the use of virality.
Like most media start-ups, they struggled to create resources to expand the company. They spent the decade experimenting with different ideas to generate cash flow, but nothing stuck, and the company continued to sink financially.
The founder early on chose essence over money. He underestimated the value of having a designated product to sell in his first attempt to start a business. Company X’s audience grew into a cult following. Most have been on the journey from the beginning. This cult following wasn’t large enough to create partnerships with more significant corporations looking for sponsorship opportunities, which media companies need to continue operations.
The constant battle to establish a financial foundation put a strain on Company X and the founder’s ability to create consistent content. The lack of resources hindered Company X, and the founder began to distance themself from the sports media industry.
Redesigning The Company
Company X continued to release content but moderately. The founder spent the majority of time observing the climate of the industry, hoping to catch a spark.
The spark came after the France National Team won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which featured a large number of french-born players with African roots. He was intrigued by how much influence these players had on the world’s best team.
Another spark ignited when he dove deeper into the landscape of African sports. African sports don’t leave the borders and travel around the World like American sports. They watched highlights of the Premier Soccer League based in South Africa, which features a unique football form. They didn’t understand why this highlight-driven style hasn’t connected with the rest of the football world.
And then they witnessed two proteges form lanes for themselves in the sports media world.
These three events formulated a new direction for the founder. He understood how much virality and a strong social media presence mattered for a media company to succeed financially, and they also recognized it was a game they did not want to play.
But these events birthed a new idea, one that kept Company X values secure; convert into a Non-Profit organization.
While not-for-profit companies also need money to persevere and reach their mission, the mission is what drives the organization. Company X’s founder examined the history of their start-up and realized, subconsciously, that Company X focused on providing opportunities to those deserving, not just the big names.
That realization redefines the mission of Company X.
Mission Statement: The organization that delivers innovation, integrity, inspiration, and innocence back into sports.
The fresh approach to Company X gave the founder a new set of goals to conquer. The focus has transitioned from producing content to creating opportunities without changing the essence of the brand.
Amazon Web Services provides Company X the cost-efficient, innovative, industry-leading services needed to achieve its goals and attract supporters and donors.
Machine Learning On AWS
AWS has revolutionized professional sports with its Machine Learning services. The NFL, Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship, and Formula1 race cars use AWS technology and Machine Learning to provide more in-depth stats and analytics, enhancing the fan experience.
Fan experience is not the only benefit of machine learning. Leagues and teams also use this technology to track player development.
AWS is the official cloud, artificial intelligence, and Machine Learning provider for the Seattle Seahawks, which gives the Seahawks advance technological information about the players during practices. The technology allows coaches to trace player developments daily and compose better game plans for Sunday.
Company X’s first initiative will be to create scouting camps for athletes in impoverished regions. Cities like Baltimore, Chicago, and Philadelphia are flooded with talented youngsters who can not fulfill their athletic dreams due to circumstances. These poverty-stricken environments strip them of the opportunity to focus on developing their abilities.
In contrast, they must adapt to their environments, which can conceive poor judgment and a lack of confidence.
Company X's innovative camps solve the problem of lack of exposure for these young athletes. With AWS Machine Learning technology, data is tracked to create portfolios for each attendee. This advanced data will be available for athletes, coaches, and scouts all around the world. On the surface level, the information helps athletes retain confidence by being able to visualize how far they can take their talents.
Here is a breakdown of how COMPANY X will track and collect data using AWS Machine Learning services:
Amazon SageMaker: With AWS SageMaker, Company X can build, train, and deploy machine learning models that take the data from the camps and formulate data sets about the athlete. Company X’s ML data sets will aim to predict players’ future growth in multiple sports, not just the one they are performing.
Why would Company X want to create data for multiple sports?
Because sports connect in one form or another, an athlete attending a basketball camp might be a great soccer player or lacrosse player based on the data channeled through Amazon SageMaker. Coaches can analyze that data and find a diamond in the rough with untapped potential. And for the athlete, they’re introduced to a new sport and possible opportunities.
Amazon Insight: Company X can become a leader in the evolution of athletics with ML services like Amazon Insight.
This service presents insight into the data created by the athletes. Athletes are supplied with a personalized dashboard showcasing their performance results. Scouts and Coaches also have access to these interactive dashboards, being able to examine prediction stats.
Amazon Rekognition: This unique but simplistic technology adds analytics to pictures and videos for a more reliable deep learning experience. As coaches watch scouting videos of different camp attendees, they will see a unique analysis of player movements such as footwork and mechanics.
Amazon Rekognition allows Company X to design custom labels to help athletes, scouts, and coaches identify players with skillsets from other sports.
The Machine Learning Solutions Lab offered by Amazon Web Service implements innovation into the organization’s nucleus. These industry-leading services in Machine Learning are cost-efficient, reducing costs by 70%, becoming a perfect tool for Company X.
Data Storage
A secure storage arrangement will be needed to handle scalability from the conclusion of each camp.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3): Company X plans to conduct camps throughout the world while sharing information in real-time to scouts globally. Amazon S3 makes it attainable for Company X to hold and store the various data generated by the athletes.
Having a secure storage service also allows Company X to keep data and information personal between a scout and an athlete’s family.
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud: Also known as Amazon EC2, this web-based cloud service attracts Company X for the off-the-field element of the organization.
While remodeling the evolution of athletes, Company X will also educate and train the future generation of sports media. Thanks to the elasticity element, Amazon EC2 provides space to launch virtual training applications and remove them when they are no longer needed.
Content Delivery
Even though Company X is changing its course, it must remain as a content producer. Company X's hands-on media training will have students complete media trades such as videography, photography, journalism, and broadcasting. They will be the storytellers of the athletes and events in the Company X coverage zone.
AWS Media Services makes producing content affordable, intimate, secure, and efficient. Company X can determine its benchmarks for its students to follow on its content delivery interface.
Amazon CloudFront — MLB, PBS, Discovery Channel, and Hulu all use Amazon CloudFront for various reasons.
CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that enables organizations to deliver content globally with speed and security. Applications, videos, data, and any other form of content can be distributed with CloudFront services.
Company X plans to host tournaments and other sporting events on the amateur level. A reliable workflow is developed and managed to produce live-streaming and on-demand videos with CloudFront.
AWS Media Services: AWS Media services provides the infrastructure needed to produce live streaming and on-demand videos. Grouping these services gives Company X the proper tools to design an OTT streaming platform.
This is the first step for Company X to achieve its goal of financial stability. Creating a network or channel to broadcast events and other video content offers traditional marketing opportunities to other brands looking to associate with non-profit organizations.
The media services present a workflow to create live streaming for multiple devices, cloud-based broadcast distribution, low latency in video streaming, and personalized ads.
Conclusion
Starting a Non-Profit is not easy; it may be harder than starting a for-profit company. Amazon Web Services makes the process easier and can attract supporters from everywhere. Innovative non-profits are becoming more relevant and essential in answering the world’s problems. Sports are entertainment, and there are more pressing issues to address, but athletics can achieve amazing things for individuals and communities.
