The sports industry has come a long way, and technology has played a significant role in its growth. Technology has always helped develop the sports sector, but in recent years the sports market has broadened its horizons, conquering both the digital and physical world. As one of the best sports tech companies, Hawk-Eye Innovations has created new and innovative technologies to empower athletes, fans, and the entire sports landscape.
Sports tech is a well-rounded sphere comprising players, companies, broadcasters—and fans. Hawk-Eye Innovations aims to transform the sector through unique solutions and technologies to enhance the live sports arena and help athletes improve their performance.
Founded in 1999, Hawk-Eye Innovations began revolutionizing the sports sector one step at a time, starting with tennis and cricket. The company began with a mission to make sports more ethical, fairer, engaging, and informed. After decades of reforming, diversifying, and developing the field, Hawk-Eye has cemented itself as one of the world’s leading sports tech companies, assisting sports organizations, athletes, and sporting events globally.
Hawk-Eye Innovations is an integral part of the Sony Sports Innovations Group and aims to deliver world-class and cutting-edge officiating, digital, and broadcasting solutions to the sports environment.
Hawk-Eye is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionized the sport. The opportunity for further outsized growth is vast given a peerless reputation for innovation and operational excellence. — Rufus Hack, CEO.
With its SMART (Synchronised Multi-Angle Replay Technology) solution, Hawk-Eye Innovations expands its video capture, review, clipping, and distribution services. The company’s SMART Video Review Systems deliver synchronized audio and video capture and playback technologies that help officials analyze and assess the videos to make independent and informed decisions.
The SMART Production Systems support broadcast functionalities, bringing fans closer to game recordings, gameplays, and other sporting events. The production systems comprise replay, remote replay, clipping, connect, Multi-Angle Replay System (MARS), and Every Shot Every Hole (Golf) tools.
Hawk-Eye’s SMART solution also includes analyst systems that provide new field play perspectives for analysis. The SMART Analyst Systems merge Video Reviews with data tools to generate filtered and relevant information. Hawk-Eye Innovations also delivers customized Bespoke technology, comprising a stage manager, 180/360 cameras, and football tactical camera service to meet individual player and company requirements.
TRACK is another Hawk-Eye Innovations solution that uses optical tracking and camera calibration technologies to monitor performance, ball tracking, and object tracking. The TRACK systems use SkeleTRACK (Hawk-Eye’s proprietary skeletal tracking) to enable combination tracking, biomechanics, and Pit Road Officiating.
The Ball Tracking feature captures the ball movement and rotation using optical tracking technologies, such as Baseball Pitch Tracking System, BeachTrack and BeachTrack Lite, VolleyTrack, Shuttlecock Tracking, and the GAA Point Detection System. The TRACK systems also help athletes and coaches design creative strategies using Match Day Vision, Object Tracking, Vehicle Inspection System, and Virtual Offside Line-Grid/Cross-Hair/Triangulation.
INSIGHT is the third Hawk-Eye Innovations solution that provides data management and collation, storage, calculation, delivery, and visualization tools. Hawk-Eye’s Graphic Systems create a visually appealing broadcast using real-time virtual skeletal replays, digital applications, and data-driven graphics, such as 3D graphics (Virtual Recreation, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Ads) and 2D graphics (Hawk-Eye Graphics, Data Enhanced Graphics, and VARdict).
In addition, INSIGHT content and data platforms are tailored to the unique sports-specific requirements of each client. This solution allows players to view a post-match analysis, video review streaming, VAR remote center dynamic streaming, SONY Ci, Baseball Score Keeper, and Focus, an application for referee training and courses.
INSIGHT also keeps all stakeholders in the loop by continually building new products, such as Cricket Time Keeper, Innings Timer, and DRS Timer, that help officials make confident and informed calls.
Hawk-Eye Innovations has helped sports organizations worldwide host sporting events and improve their athletes. In 2023, a leading European Sports Confederation officially selected Hawk-Eye as the officiating technology partner for their tentpole events.