Alan Smith Partners with Veritone Voice to Cover the World Cup

While much of the world's eyes are focused on the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar, many of its ears are tuned to voice technology from Veritone.

U.K sports commentator and former pro soccer player Alan Smith is using Opta Voice by Stats Perform, powered by Veritone Voice, to bring life to the sport stats and game details to fans around the world. Smith is a regular commentator in the United Kingdom for Sky Sports for the English Premier League coverage.

Now, through AI voice, soccer fans around the world can hear real-time game updates from the announcer on their phones or computers in their local languages.

"The ability to reach audiences around the world in their local language opens up a host of new opportunities for broadcasters and provides the best possible experience for the passionate fans," Smith said in a statement. "Providing one voice creates consistency for audiences, and it's a privilege that the selected voice will be the AI version of mine."

Veritone recently partnered with Stats Perform to combine its ynthetic voice AI technology with Stats Perform's Opta sports data for real-time play-by-play, pre-game, in-game and post-game updates.

"We're thrilled to already see the impact of our recent partnership with Veritone coming to life," said Stats Perform Chief Revenue Officer Steve Xeller in a statement. "Broadcasters and sports organizations can now leverage life-like voice options in a wide range of languages for their stats reporting, reaching new fan bases around the globe and providing better services to those who may not speak the host language as well as those with visual impairments."

"We continue to expand our offerings and capabilities in sports and to help broadcasters and other organizations scale their reach and best engage their audiences," said Veritone President Ryan Steelberg in a statement. "We're excited to help Alan Smith reach fans around the world with his beloved sports commentary and insights."