Background
Newcastle United Football Club has deployed an AI-powered fan engagement platform at St James' Park, developed by Newcastle-headquartered Invisionary Media with compute infrastructure from Lenovo and edge-AI technology from Intel. Announced in London on 3 June 2026, the platform is designed to turn stadium and retail spaces into interactive, revenue-generating environments and to deliver measurable audience insight.
The deployment
At the centre is Invisionary Media's LUX-75, a large AI-powered interactive display pitched as an evolution of traditional digital signage. Two fan-facing experiences run on it:
- Goalkeeper Challenge — a gesture-controlled game in which supporters try to save penalties from club captain Bruno Guimarães in real time and compete for high scores.
- Matchday Moment — an AI-powered virtual try-on that lets fans see themselves wearing official Newcastle United kits and merchandise, turning the screen into an interactive retail touchpoint that drives product discovery and purchase intent.
Hardware and software
- The LUX-75 interactive display anchors each unit.
- A Lenovo ThinkStation P5 workstation acts as the central compute device inside each display, executing the AI-driven interactions and real-time content.
- An Intel Xeon W5-2565X processor handles real-time processing and high-throughput data capture.
- Intel Open Edge Platform powers the real-time analytics layer, detecting presence, movement and interaction.
- Invisionary Media's Real-World Analytics system captures every fan interaction — footfall, dwell time, behavioural engagement and demographics.
Measuring engagement
The analytics layer is designed to let the club quantify audience value and link engagement directly to revenue outcomes. Invisionary Media, a division of Aircards Studio, frames the system as a shift beyond one-way signage toward measurable, two-way fan engagement that blends retail, entertainment and real-time audience insight. Executives from Lenovo, Invisionary Media and Intel, quoted below, position the deployment as a benchmark for AI at the edge in sport.
