Case Study: Game the Green @ Players 2025

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Introduction

In early 2025, at the iconic TPC Sawgrass course, we helped launch a bold new type of interactive sports companion experience: Game the Green. What started years prior as a shallow golf guessing game quickly became a testbed for what the future of live event engagement could look like.

My Role & Process Highlights

I served as senior UX strategist and product designer on this multi-team collaboraive project. I helped shape the product experience from early ideation through development. My responsibilities included:

• Evolving the user experience and game mechanics beyond choosing landing site A or B.
• Developing adaptive scoring model concepts that balanced golf knowledge, AI insights, and challenging fun.
• Partnering with GenX engineers to integrate real-time live game telemetry data into the experience.
• Collaborating with Comcast Business stakeholders, Generative Experiences Team, and Global Sports team to align product goals with brand data narrative and engagement strategy.

Early in the process, I helped run unstructured freeflowing ideation sessions to generate interactive mechanics and engagement hooks grounded in real-time sports behavior. Mid-project, I developed new approaches to make the game more fun, replayable, and challenging.

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Concept and Vision

The idea was simple: what if you could use your phone to predict where a pro golfer’s shot would land—in real time—as it was happening on TV or on the green in front of you? But executing this vision meant blending real-time sports data, predictive AI, 3D simulations, and synchronized mobile-TV interaction into a seamless, elegant fan experience.

Designing the Gameplay

The 17th hole at Sawgrass, known for its island green and high-pressure tee shots, was the centerpiece. Using a custom-built H3 hexagonal grid inspired by geospatial data science, we transformed the green into a living canvas for strategic course-wide scalable gameplay.

Leveraging Delay to Drive Engagement

While live broadcast delays are usually a challenge, we used the 27-second delay to our advantage. Users had time to preview AI simulations, analyze odds, and place predictions before each shot. This created a compelling interaction loop: predict, watch, react.

Intelligent Scoring and Strategy

We introduced a nuanced scoring system that rewarded bold, informed predictions. Points scaled based on risk level, proximity to the actual shot, weather, and golfer history. Players could follow AI suggestions or attempt to outperform them using intuition and data.

Engagement and Community

Over just four days of gameplay, users made over 7,200 total predictions with an average of 25.9 predictions per player. Leaderboards sparked friendly competition and return visits. Some users created private pools, generating social buzz and FOMO.

Business Impact

Game the Green demonstrated how Comcast Business can lead the future of sports innovation through design and storytelling. The Product Experimentation team delivered a repeatable framework for AI-powered, gamified, live-synced experiences that blend entertainment and data seamlessly.

What’s Next

Looking ahead, this model could extend to sports like soccer, F1, esports, award shows, or even real-time political events. We envision a platform powered by AI caddies, AR interaction, expanded course support, and gamified brand partnerships to increase engagement and reach new audiences.

We’re proud that we took golf’s most iconic hole and turned it into something unforgettable: predictive, social, strategic, and fun.