Sportvision
Sportvisionwas a private company, launched in January 1998, that provided varioustelevisionviewing enhancements to a number of different professional sporting events. They worked withNFL,NBA,NASCAR,NHL,MLB,PGAandcollege footballbroadcasts.[1]Sportvision was co-founded by CEO Bill Squadron, CTO Stan Honey and COO Jerry Gepner, who had all worked together at Fox Sports and its parent company, News Corporation.
The Emmy-award winning technology company introduced numerous groundbreaking innovations for sports broadcast, including the 1st & Ten yellow line for football and the K Zone pitch-tracking system for baseball, both done with ESPN. Sportvision's inventions paved the way for increased use of technology across sports and sports media.
By way of background, in 1996, Rick Cavallaro, working forStan Honeyat Etak (then owned by Fox/News America) developed a way to trackhockey puckswith a blue halo as seen by television viewers. It was assumed at that time that viewers had a hard time keeping track of the puck. Released as theFoxTraxpuck, it was not a success but led to the 1998 formation of the Sportvision company and later that year the development of the1st & Tencomputer system, which generates and displays the yellowfirst downline that a TV viewer sees during a live football broadcast. The system became a major hit with television viewers when used during a broadcast of theSuper Bowl.It has since become part of all standardAmerican professionalandcollege footballandCanadian pro footballbroadcasts.
Another popular Sportvision product is seen in broadcasts ofNASCARraces. It is calledRACEf/x,and creates virtual flags above the cars to make them easier to follow by the viewers.
Sportvision also created thePITCHf/xsystem used byMajor League Baseballto provide pitch data to users ofMLBGameDayand viewers ofFox,Fox Sports Net, Rogers Sports Net and TBS, until its replacement byStatcastin 2017.[2]
The latest attempt for hockey was tested for deployment during the2015 NHL All-Star weekend.The new system usedcomputer chipsto standardize and increase the volume of data tracked during the course of a game.[3]
In a deal finalized on October 4, 2016, Sportvision was acquired bySMT.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Company Profile".Sportvision.
- ^Braff, Carolyn (8 October 2010)."TBS, Sportvision Offer HD Viewers New Angles With PITCHf/x".Sports Video Group.Retrieved31 March2011.
- ^"NHL to unveil player-tracking for All-Star Game".Sportsnet.ca.5 January 2015.Retrieved7 January2015.
- ^"Industry Powerhouse SMT Acquires Sportvision".Sportvision.5 October 2016.Retrieved4 December2017.
External links
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