Shorts: Hawk-eye, Feldspar, Twenty First Group

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has renewed its longstanding partnership with Hawk-Eye Innovations.

Hawk-Eye’s ball tracking technology first debuted at the 2007 edition of the Grand Slam tennis tournament, and today’s multi-year extension will see the Sony Sports-owned company’s technology continue to be implemented at Wimbledon in various capacities.

Bill Jinks, Technology Director at the All England Club, said, “I am delighted to extend our collaboration with Hawk-Eye. Since 2007, Hawk-Eye has delivered line-calling to the high standard expected at The Championships and has evolved their solution to fit the unique needs of the only Grand Slam played on grass. I am looking forward to working with Hawk-Eye on future innovations.”

Ben Crossing, Hawk-Eye Managing Director, added, “We are beyond thrilled to continue our very successful relationship with the All England Club for multiple years to come. Tennis is at our core and we are excited to continue bringing our very best innovation and technology in order to deliver exceptional experiences at The Championships that the All England Club, the players and millions of fans around the world deserve.”

UK-based technology company Feldspar has announced its intention to create the first ‘sensor-enabled performance running track’.

According to a statement, the new track ‘will incorporate advanced sensors in addition to camera-based methods to directly measure the movement of athletes through their footsteps and stride to capture data in real-time, bringing new levels of precision in analysing running performance.’

Production of the track, which will offer advantages for both sport science and audience engagement, is expected to begin in 2025.

Alvina Chen, Founder and CEO of Feldspar said, “While we have seen a high level of innovation in running shoes, apparel, and training methods in recent years, it’s incredible that the modern synthetic running track itself has remained largely unchanged since the 1968 Summer Olympics.” 

“There is a huge opportunity in revolutionising this sport. By digitising the running track Feldspar is not only providing new avenues for athletes’ development and pushing the boundaries of human performance but also moving athletics towards a new era of exhilarating, high-energy live international events, similar to what we see in other sports, like football and motorsports.

“Our ambition with our next generation running track is to set a new benchmark for athlete performance and fan engagement for future world competitions, including the Olympic Games, and beyond.”

Sports intelligence company Twenty First Group has announced a multi-year partnership with the Northern Ireland Football League’s (NIFL).

The news follows the release of the NIFL’s match schedule for the upcoming football season, which has been produced using the London-headquartered company’s ‘TFG Scheduler_’ product.

Ben Marlow, TFG Chief Strategy Officer, said, “Competition schedules are a key and often under-utilised lever for commercial growth for rights holders. The ‘TFG Scheduler_’ has been designed to cut through complexity and create schedules that adhere to often complex constraints while also optimising for commercial growth, all in a timely and cost effective way. We’re delighted that NIFL recognise this and have signed a multi-year partnership with us to optimise their schedules across its 3 divisions. For example, in previous years NIFL have had as many as 13 iterations in compiling their schedule, which we managed to reduce to two iterations before landing on a workable and optimised schedule.  I couldn’t be more happy that we’re putting this into practice with Steven and the NIFL”.

Steven Mills, NIFL Chief Operating Officer, added, “As a league it is our priority to produce a balanced and equitable set of fixtures that consider both league requirements and a range of club specific constraints. This season we have worked in collaboration with Twenty First Group to enhance our schedule by using key data including previous results and rankings plus attendance and broadcast figures to develop schedules that maximise the chances of excitement and interest throughout the whole season. The support from the team at Twenty First Group has really helped us better understand our data and we are confident our supporters will benefit from the added value the ‘TFG Scheduler_’ has brought to our league.”

Ahead of the SailGP Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco, the global sailing series has announced the deployment of new augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) features in its official app.

According to SailGP, for fans watching at home or at the event, pointing an iOS device towards the action will enable an immersive 3D experience, featuring ‘a 360-viewing angle of the racecourse, plus on water graphical overlays, live stats and F50 boat tracking.’

SailGP Chief Technology Officer, Warren Jones, said, “SailGP has been at the forefront of technology and innovation in sport and these experiential app upgrades are fueled by our continued desire to revolutionise and enhance the viewing experience for our fans. The inclusion of AR and VR in the SailGP app will provide tech-savvy and data-hungry fans with an even greater understanding and passion for the sport, which continues to grow in popularity worldwide.”

The end-of-season San Francisco SailGP event takes place 13th and 14th July.

Blackpool Football Club has revealed TreadTracker as its principal front of shirt sponsor for the 2024/25 football season.

Under the new agreement, the company’s logo will feature on the Seasiders’ home shirt for the next League One campaign.

TreadTracker uses app based technology to help commercial vehicle fleet organisations.

As announced earlier this month, Blackpool’s away and third kits will be sponsored by local resort Pleasure Beach.

“Our company is deeply rooted in the community, and we are committed to supporting and giving back to the place that shaped us,” said Steve Richardson, Owner of TreadTracker.

“This sponsorship is not just a business venture, it’s a celebration of our shared passion for the town and its beloved football club.”