Sportvision

Sportvision was a private sports-broadcasting technology company launched in January 1998 in the United States. Its work centered on making live sporting events easier to follow by adding computer-generated graphics, tracking information, and analytical overlays to television pictures. The company became particularly associated with technologies that translated complex or rapidly moving events into simple visual cues for viewers, including the yellow first-down line in American football, pitch-tracking graphics in baseball, and vehicle-identification graphics in NASCAR. The company emerged from a chain of experimentation in sports television during the 1990s. In 1996, engineer Rick Cavallaro, working for Stan Honey at Etak, developed a system for tracking a hockey puck and displaying it to television audiences with a colored halo. The concept was commercialized by Fox Sports as the FoxTrax puck. Although the puck treatment was not a lasting success with viewers, the underlying effort demonstrated the potential of combining live video with real-time positional data. It also provided technical and organizational experience that contributed to Sportvision's creation in 1998. Sportvision was co-founded by Bill Squadron, Stan Honey, and Jerry Gepner, who had previously worked together at Fox Sports and its parent company, News Corporation. One of the company's earliest and most influential systems was 1st & Ten, developed with ESPN later in 1998. The system electronically generated a yellow line showing the distance required for an American-football team to gain a first down. After attracting broad attention during a Super Bowl broadcast, the technology became a familiar component of professional, college, and Canadian professional football coverage. Its success helped normalize the use of virtual graphics as part of standard live sports production rather than as an occasional novelty. Sportvision also developed systems for other major sports. Its K Zone technology used pitch tracking to display the virtual strike zone in baseball broadcasts. The company's PITCHf/x system captured and analyzed pitch movement and location, supplying data for MLB.com GameDay and appearing in broadcasts carried by Fox, Fox Sports Net, Rogers Sportsnet, and TBS. In NASCAR, RACEf/x added virtual flags above cars to help viewers distinguish competitors during races. The company also worked with broadcasters and leagues covering the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, the PGA, and college football. Sportvision's contribution was broader than any single graphic. Its systems helped establish a production model in which tracking data, computer vision, and broadcast presentation were integrated in real time. This approach influenced the wider adoption of augmented-reality overlays and data-driven sports coverage. The company received Emmy recognition for its technology work, although the available reference material does not specify individual awards or years. The company continued testing new approaches to hockey tracking, including a system evaluated for possible deployment around the 2015 NHL All-Star weekend. That effort used computer chips intended to standardize and increase the amount of game data captured during play. Sportvision was acquired by SMT in a transaction finalized on October 4, 2016. Following the acquisition, Sportvision ceased to operate as an independent company; the available material does not establish the precise extent to which its products, personnel, or intellectual property continued under the SMT brand.

Sportvision's origins can be traced to a mid-1990s attempt to make hockey easier to follow on television. In 1996, Rick Cavallaro, working for Stan Honey at Etak, developed a system that tracked the puck and surrounded it with a colored halo in the broadcast image. Fox Sports presented the concept as the FoxTrax puck. The treatment did not become a successful long-term presentation format, but the engineering work showed how live sports pictures could be combined with location data and electronically generated graphics. Sportvision was launched in January 1998 by Bill Squadron, Stan Honey, and Jerry Gepner. The three founders had worked together at Fox Sports and its parent company, News Corporation. Their new company concentrated on television enhancements for professional and college sports. Its most consequential early project was 1st & Ten, a system developed with ESPN to draw a yellow virtual line across an American-football field. The line represented the distance required to gain a first down. After receiving prominent exposure during a Super Bowl broadcast, it became a standard visual element in American professional and college football and in Canadian professional football coverage. The company expanded the same basic principle—capturing live positional information and turning it into useful broadcast graphics—across several sports. In baseball, K Zone displayed a virtual strike zone, while PITCHf/x tracked pitch location and movement. PITCHf/x supplied information to MLB.com GameDay and was used in broadcasts distributed by Fox, Fox Sports Net, Rogers Sportsnet, and TBS until the later adoption of Statcast as its replacement in 2017. Sportvision also created RACEf/x for NASCAR, adding virtual flags above cars to make them easier for viewers to identify during races. Sportvision's client and application base covered the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, NHL, MLB, PGA, and college football. Its technologies contributed to the growing use of augmented-reality graphics and real-time statistical information in sports media. Rather than merely displaying a replay or a static score, these systems attempted to interpret live action and place explanatory information directly into the television image. The company received Emmy recognition for its technology work, although the available source does not provide a complete award list. Hockey remained an area of continuing technical development. Around the 2015 NHL All-Star weekend, Sportvision tested a newer tracking approach based on computer chips. The stated purpose was to standardize tracking and increase the volume of information collected during play, reflecting the industry's movement toward more comprehensive event data. Sportvision was acquired by SMT in a deal finalized on October 4, 2016. The acquisition marked the end of Sportvision as an independent company. The available reference material does not document the detailed transaction terms, the post-acquisition organizational structure, or the exact disposition of every Sportvision product. PITCHf/x was subsequently replaced by Statcast in MLB-related use in 2017, but the sources do not establish whether that change was directly caused by the acquisition. Sportvision's most visible legacy is the normalization of virtual lines, zones, and tracking overlays in live sports broadcasting.

• 2017

  PITCHf/x is replaced by Statcast in MLB-related use

  [1]Sportvisionen.wikipedia.org

  The reference material identifies 2017 as the point at which PITCHf/x was replaced by Statcast, although it does not specify the commercial or organizational relationship between the two systems.

• 2016

  Acquisition by SMT

  [1]Sportvisionen.wikipedia.org

  SMT finalized its acquisition of Sportvision on October 4, ending the company's independent corporate existence.

• 2015

  Hockey tracking technology is tested

  [1]Sportvisionen.wikipedia.org

  Sportvision tested a computer-chip-based system around the NHL All-Star weekend to improve the standardization and volume of hockey tracking data.

• 1998

  Sportvision is launched

  [1]Sportvisionen.wikipedia.org

  Bill Squadron, Stan Honey, and Jerry Gepner founded the company to develop television enhancements and real-time graphics for sports broadcasts.

• 1998

  1st & Ten virtual first-down line is developed

  [1]Sportvisionen.wikipedia.org

  Sportvision and ESPN developed the yellow virtual line that shows the distance required for a first down in football broadcasts.

• 1996

  FoxTrax puck experiment

  [1]Sportvisionen.wikipedia.org

  Rick Cavallaro developed a system at Etak for tracking a hockey puck and displaying it with a colored halo in television coverage. Fox Sports later presented the concept as the FoxTrax puck.

A specialist provider of real-time tracking, data visualization, and augmented-reality production technology for televised sports.

• American football broadcast graphics · 1998

  1st & Ten

  A computer-generated yellow line displayed on the field during football broadcasts to show the distance needed for an offensive team to gain a first down. Developed with ESPN in 1998, it became one of the most recognizable virtual graphics in sports television and was subsequently used widely in professional, college, and Canadian professional football coverage.

• Baseball broadcast graphics

  K Zone

  A pitch-tracking system used to create a virtual strike-zone graphic for baseball television coverage. The system illustrated the relationship between a pitched ball and the strike zone, giving viewers a visual aid for understanding pitch location.

• Baseball data and tracking

  PITCHf/x

  A baseball system that tracked pitch location and movement. Its data was made available through MLB.com GameDay and was incorporated into broadcasts on Fox, Fox Sports Net, Rogers Sportsnet, and TBS. The reference material states that it was replaced by Statcast in 2017.

• NASCAR broadcast graphics

  RACEf/x

  A NASCAR broadcast system that created virtual flags above cars. The overlays were designed to help television viewers distinguish and follow individual vehicles during races.

• Hockey broadcast graphics · 1996

  FoxTrax puck

  An early puck-tracking concept developed before Sportvision was founded. It displayed a colored halo around the hockey puck in television coverage. Although the presentation was not a lasting success, the underlying work influenced the technical development that preceded Sportvision.

• 2016

  Sale to SMTM&A

  Background

  Sportvision had built a portfolio of real-time sports tracking and broadcast-graphics technologies used across major North American sports.

  Action taken

  SMT acquired Sportvision in a transaction finalized on October 4, 2016.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition ended Sportvision's status as an independent company. The available sources do not provide transaction value, detailed integration arrangements, or a complete account of the fate of all products.

  Source

1. 1Sportvisionen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Sportvision official websitesportvision.com