Microsoft Extends NFL Deal, Equips Teams with Surface Copilot+ PCs and AI Tools

Microsoft is deepening its ties with the National Football League, signing a multi-year deal to equip all 32 teams with its Surface Copilot+ PCs and AI tools aimed at streamlining operations and boosting performance. The agreement marks an expansion of a partnership that began more than a decade ago, when Microsoft became the NFL’s official sideline technology sponsor.

Combined with the league’s Sideline Viewing System, the Surface Copilot+ PCs will provide teams with real-time game data and analysis tools. It comes equipped with a new GitHub Copilot-powered tool that filters plays based on down and distance, scoring plays, penalties, and other criteria to help analyze formations, determine coverage, and make “more data-driven and strategic decisions.”

A Microsoft 365 Copilot-powered dashboard is also featured to aid club analysts sitting in the coaching booth in rapidly determining the next best play to influence game strategies, such as personal groupings and snap counts.

Does this mean that AI is displacing the role of human coaches? Not so, according to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay. “Making sound decisions and putting players in the best spots on the field is a coach’s ultimate responsibility,” he remarks in a statement. “Microsoft Copilot enhances our efficiency and accuracy by breaking down complex data into digestible insights that can be quickly communicated to our players and help them realize their highest potential.”

As Fortune notes, the prior Surface tablets used on the field provided offensive and defensive plays, along with multiple camera angles of how players were lined up. Most calculations done in the booth were done by hand. The introduction of Surface Copilot+ PCs is a much-needed upgrade for NFL teams to be competitive on the field.

Coaches like McVay and his players operate under constant pressure, with no time to sift through mountains of data and film during game day, especially when the outcome can hinge on a single yard or even inches. The addition of new AI tools could help teams select the right play at the right time.

Microsoft’s AI partnership also reaches beyond the sidelines, benefiting the support staff as well as front- and back-office operations. The company will be providing Azure AI video tools for teams to use during practice sessions to review coaching, evaluations, and player injury assessments. There are also plans to provide AI tools to analyze draft prospect performance outside of the NFL Combine, assist in player scouting, and address salary cap management.

“The NFL and Microsoft partnership is entering a new era, and we’re proud the league is once again putting its trust in Microsoft to bring AI to the NFL,” Bryson Gordon, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of global marketing, shares in a statement. “Extending our work together is more than just a football story, it’s a blueprint for transformation. Whether you’re preparing for the championship or running a global enterprise, the principles are the same: insights matter, preparation is essential, and the ability to act quickly is critical.”

Microsoft isn’t the only AI provider to the NFL. Amazon Web Services has long provided its services to the league since 2017. That partnership was extended in 2024, and since then, AWS has launched its AI-powered Next Gen Stat, which analyzes football tackles. The cloud computing provider also used its technology to help NFL players create custom cleats in support of their favorite causes.

The Surface Copilot+ PC was introduced in June 2024, being positioned as a response to AI’s growing role in daily life. “It puts knowledge and expertise at your fingertips and helps you act on it,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at the launch. “It works across devices, every role, function, and industry. Copilot is empowering every person and every organization on the planet to be more knowledgeable, productive, creative, and really be more connected to everything that matters to all of us.” Originally designed with consumers in mind, the devices are now proving their worth in the enterprise—the NFL being the latest example.

Let’s hope this time, players don’t try to smash these expensive tablets.

Featured Image: Microsoft