Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal

Emerging technologies and sports events: Innovative information and

communication solutions
Lidija T. Petrovi# Dragorad Milovanovi# Michel Desbordes
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Lidija T. Petrovi# Dragorad Milovanovi# Michel Desbordes , (2015),"Emerging technologies and

sports events", Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, Vol. 5 Iss 2 pp. 175 - 190
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Emerging technologies Technologies

and sports
and sports events events

Innovative information and

communication solutions 175
Lidija T. Petrović
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ALFA University, Belgrade, Serbia

Dragorad Milovanović
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade,
Serbia and School for Football Coaching and Management,
Belgrade, Serbia, and
Michel Desbordes
Université Paris-Sud XI, Orsay, France

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the development and potential applications
of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) in sports. The case studies
are presented in details: computer system for tracking and visualisation in TV broadcasting
and players/teams performance analysis in football. The paper concludes with the authors’ opinion
that future implementation of digital technologies, in the first instance, goal-line technologies,
to support accurate, practical and reliable decision making in sports is highly needed and
represent a basis for further increase in the commercial value of the pre-eminent global sport.
Design/methodology/approach – The research utilised an exploratory approach to data
gathering due to the fact that the topic is new and data are difficult to collect. The topic is analysed
using case study method.
Findings – The research found that there is an emerging market to extend the reach of digital
technologies adapted for sports industry and sports events. Increasingly, developers are exploring
and exploiting the vast potential of the ICTs to create value in the field of sports events.
The development of emerging technologies create new opportunities that sports industry demands
a growing range of innovative solutions for the purposes of decision making to be tested and accepted
in the near future.
Research limitations/implications – The research is based on data limitations related to the
innovative ICT solutions, the rules of the game which significantly limit the scope for product
innovation and a need to make a decision on application of an adequate solution within a short time
period. In order to develop the extensive research results in the future, more information will be
available after the termination of ongoing testing procedure.
Practical implications – It is evident that digital video processing has found many applications in
sports content analysis and TV broadcasting of competitive sports. The governing bodies should be
aware of their role to support successful innovation which requires the coordinated action of all the
actors who play vastly different roles in its commercialisation process.
Originality/value – The paper emphasises how much technology has added to communication
and economic potential of sports events, underlying that issue of video technology application to
ease decision making in football is currently one of the most pressing matters due to constant
arrival of new cases concerning “incorrect” decisions that add fuel to the controversy. The football
Sport, Business and Management:
authorities have finally recognised that the game has to be responsive to the concerns and An International Journal
suggestions of its customers. Vol. 5 No. 2, 2015
pp. 175-190
Keywords Innovation, Sport event, Digital video technology © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2042-678X
Paper type Case study DOI 10.1108/SBM-06-2012-0021
 SBM 1. Background information
5,2 Due to the high significance of sports events in practice, it does not come as a surprise
that the scientific world has begun to address the phenomenon of the sports event.
Professional sports events possess unique characteristics, both in how they operate
and how they are allowed to exist that distinguish them from any other industry.
Live sports events in particular offer a compelling proposition to different industry
176 participants – from free-to-air broadcasters seeking viewers and advertising revenues
and pay-TV broadcasters looking for loyal subscribers, to sponsors moving away from
traditional media, event organisers, athletes and spectators. Therefore, one of the most
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important insights achieved by the research done until now is that management in
sports industry and of sports events in particular, must be seen as an interdisciplinary
task field requiring efficient and effective cooperation among diverse parties.
Today’s global sports industry is worth between €350 billion and €450 billion,
according to a recent A.T. Kearney (2011) study of sports teams, leagues and
federations. This includes infrastructure construction, sporting goods, licensed
products and live sports events. While the economic size of the professional sports
events themselves is not large, their importance to gross domestic product (GDP)
is significant. It can be said that the global sports industry is growing much faster
than GDP rates around the world. The worldwide sports events market defined as
all ticketing, media and marketing revenues for major events, was worth €45 billion
in 2009. Football remains the king – global revenues for this sport equal €20 billion
yearly – in Europe alone, football is a €16 billion business, with five biggest leagues
(the UK’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga and
France’s Ligue 1) accounting for half of the market and the top 20 teams comprising
roughly one-quarter of the market (www.atkearney.com).
One can also see how much technology has added to both economic and social impacts
of sports events. The role of technology in sports industry has been intrinsically involved
in the development of sports events, not just for communication potential of events to
enlarge spectators and viewers’ number only, but for the revenue increase through
various types of sponsorships and advertisements to all kinds of innovation.
Computer analysis of sports video and events broadcasting are important research
topic with the great potential commercial value. There is a growing demand for efficient
acquisition, archiving and post-processing of video sequences in competitive sports.
Television production requires new improvement in monitoring and presentation
technologies adapted to the profile of various categories of viewers. Sports video is
well-structured as a result of competition rules and regulations. The research objectives
in computer analysis of sports video are efficient indexing and video search based on
higher semantic level query, as well as post-production and 3D graphic reconstruction
of the sports competition (Rao et al., 2002, 2005). Computational algorithms for tracking
the players and ball in sports video are based on a decision support system and
the competition rules, as well as performance analysis of players and teams in the
training process.
After the introduction, the second part of the paper describes the process of
innovation in sports industry as a precondition of renewal and economic growth
emphasising that market-driven paradigm takes the form of a search for the best
technology or product to meet the anticipated or expressed need. The third part
presents an overview of digital video technologies and analyses the sports video
structure, detection, tracking, 3D reconstruction and visualisation of sports event.
The fourth part of the paper presents the systems in research and development stage of
 post-production, multi-camera and sensor networks on the football field. In the fifth Technologies
part, football-market requirements, selection criteria and implementation of computer and sports
application and innovative information and communication solutions for performance
analysis of football players and teams are systematised. In addition, the importance
events
of implementation of video goal-line technology in football has been discussed as well
as significance of the effects of commercialisation which make the application of the
latest technology innovations profitable. 177
2. Football market-driven innovation
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There is an emerging market which is beginning to extend the reach of digital

technologies adapted for sports industry and sports events. Increasingly, developers
are exploring and exploiting the vast potential of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) to create value in the field of sports events. Technology applied in
this filed functions for the purposes of communication, online interaction, events
monitoring, results display, access control and adapted software applications.
Increased use of technology in sports is due largely to the growing professionalisation
of sports organisations and clubs, while the importance of broadcasting (above all,
of television) to sports has contributed to improved monitoring and the technologies
that enable virtual representation of athletes’ performance. Advances in technology
have helped creation of innovative information and communication solutions that have
become increasingly commonplace in many of today’s sports-related fields. Given their
increasing use and further potential, professionalism, the parallel development of
emerging technologies and the ICTs that will create new opportunities, it is fair to
predict that sports industry will demand a growing range of innovative solutions and
technology development in the near future.
Emerging technologies are at the forefront of technological innovation and research.
Technological innovation can be defined as the socially and economically useful
application of knowledge. It is generally accepted that there are four basic conditions for
technological innovation: acknowledging the existence of a need; existence of effective
knowledge; existence of scientists and technological researchers; regulatory bodies’
support (Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), 1995). Technological innovation is
essential to the future well-being of sports industry. The growing capabilities of
competitors around the world increasingly challenge the ability of companies to convert
the science and technology base into a competitive advantage. Such concerns have
prompted much debate about the role of governing bodies in encouraging innovation and
the commercialisation of emerging technologies. Innovation is a complicated process
in which markets often stimulate development of new technologies and product
development stimulates scientific and technical research.
Sometimes new product is not initiated by new science dominantly, but instead it is
an attempt to meet perceived market needs by drawing on existing technology and on
the pool of scientific knowledge. This process may be considered demand articulation;
through this process, the need or specific technology or set of technologies is expressed
and research and development (R&D) efforts can be targeted towards developing them.
In the market-driven paradigm, innovative activity takes the form of a search for the
best technology or product to meet the anticipated or expressed need. Often, the similar
technology already exists and needs to be acquired and modified for a new application
only, although additional R&D is necessary to its implementation.
The rapidness and quality of the advancement in digital technology and its use as
an off-pitch officiating tool has led to many experts to urge for its implementation in
 SBM football. A lot of passion has been created via football due to its status of the
5,2 pre-eminent global sport. The level of frustration may be sometimes incomprehensible
when a team is wrongly disallowed a goal – even president of FIFA and a figure
heavily opposed to implementation of the goal-line technology (football must retain its
“human face” – Sepp Blatter, Gibson, 2010) felt the need to apologize after the television
replays clearly showed Frank Lampard’s goal crossing the line after play was allowed
178 to continue in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in the match between Germany and England.
He also continued to say that FIFA would reopen the discussion on the goal-line
technology implementation, clearly realizing how damaging and embarrassing
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situations like this could be to the football and its governing bodies. Technological
development of broadcast equipment and innovative solutions such as Hawk-Eye
Officiating System has led to the idea of introducing its applications in football to
educate viewers and significantly help accurate, reliable and practical decision making.
Desbordes (2012) emphasises that although innovation is often presented as a
precondition of renewal and survival in classical industry, it is frequently more difficult
to innovate in the context of the sports events due to, in case of football, in the first
instance the rules of the game which are fixed by the International Football Association
Board (IFAB), and the equipment used by athletes (balls, goals, etc.) which is strongly
controlled and standardised that can limit the scope for product innovation. The rules
of the game of football are the preserve of the IFAB and are laid out in the Laws of
the Game (FIFA, 2011). At the heart of football success as the global sport is the fact
that the game is governed by a set of playing rules, straightforward in their simplicity
and universal wherever they applied. Their efficient management has played a critical
role not just in the development of football as a participation sport, but also in its
commercial success (Hamil, 2012). Any changes to football rules must be made by the
126-year-old IFAB, which comprises officials from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland
and Wales, who each have one vote and world governing body, FIFA, which has four.
Therefore, as Hamil (2012) pointed out, the effective governance and custodianship of
the Laws of the Game by the IFAB has played a critical role in the successful
development of football as the pre-eminent global sport, and the way this governance
role is managed have significant commercial implications.
The issue of goal-line technology has been on and off IFAB’s agenda over the last
decade, but the FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, once a staunch opponent, changed his
mind after the Frank Lampard’s infamous phantom goal for England against Germany
in the 2010 World Cup. Finally, the goal-line technology was approved in principle by
the football lawmakers on 3 March 2012 to be used for the first time at the end of the
year. The eight-man IFAB decided that the technologies of two companies, Hawk-Eye
Innovations from the UK and GoalRef, a German-Danish company, would be subject to
further tests until the final decision to be taken at a special IFAB meeting, after the
EURO 2012, in Kiev, Ukraine, on 2 July 2012 (FIFA, 2012). According to the statement
of the General Secretary of the England Football Association (FA), Alex Horne, who
hosted the IFAB meeting in London, eight goal-line technology systems were tested in
the Test Phase 1 conducted between November and December 2011, and now two are
going forward to final testing. Both will go into Phase 2 of testing, between March and
June 2012, to rigorously assess the reliability and accuracy of each system, as well as
how robust the technology is. Both technologies will be tested to “destruction”. The
Hawk-Eye Officiating System is based on optical recognition with cameras while
GoalRef uses a magnetic field with a special ball to identify a goal situation. Following
the conclusion of the Test Phase 2 by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials
 Science and Technology – EMPA, should one or more companies will fulfil the criteria, Technologies
a special meeting of the IFAB in Kiev on 2 July 2012 will decide on a definitive approval and sports
of goal-line technology:
events
Once the technology is approved on July 2, then there is nothing to stop it being used on July 3,
but in reality, the first FIFA competition it might be used at would be the Club World Cup
finals in Japan in December. It should also be used at the Confederations Cup in Brazil next
year before the World Cup in 2014 (stated Jérôme Valcke, FIFA’s General Secretary). 179
A number of issues remain to be settled regarding technology including future
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licensing agreements, the costs involved and to what playing level the systems can be
used. Nevertheless, it is essentially that in this area the room to manoeuvre in football
exists, Desbordes (2012) emphasises. Motivated by the fact that the IFAB – the game’s
rule-making body, has recently approved two scientific systems to go head to head in
testing before a final decision is made on 2 July 2012 with possible implementation
across major leagues for the season after the following, the authors have found a clear
motivation for the analysis to be presented in this paper.

3. Digital video technology

The development of ultra-fast digital camera techniques and video processing methods
has launched a research in all sports: shooting and playback of networked cameras,
tracking the ball and players, video analysis and review production, extraction of key
events.
One of the main applications of sports video analysis is summarising of the tactics of
the sports team in the training process. The methods for the classification of video
sequences in the tactical patterns have been explored. Tennis is a well-structured
sports game; football and basketball are loose structured. Analysis of tactics in
competitive tennis is based on the classification of video sequences on the identification
of player movement and trajectory of a tennis ball (58 tactical templates to win points).
Analysis of the performance of the team or player is based on motion and activities in
the game. Coaches and players are interested in the results of the analysis, in order to
improve team performance in future competitions. The results are presented to TV
users as additional statistical information. Basic techniques of analysis are detection
and tracking of players and ball, analysis of behaviour and active play (Wang and
Parameswaran, 2004). Methods of tracking players, balls and referees are the basis for
further analysis. The basic technique is the estimation of networked camera footage
covering sports field. Synchronised cameras track the entire trajectory of the ball;
images are 3D processed in a computer system (Hawk-Eye) and estimate the position
of ball contact with the ground. The system is successfully applied in the production of
TV broadcast; however, it requires a previous calibration, the accuracy is limited, there
are problems of robust communication and speed of computation (Yu and Farin, 2005).
Automatic insertion of advertising and other content in the sports video is a
commercial demand of TV broadcasts. This requires an additional version of production
of the video for the local market in a way that additional content is inserted in a fixed
position as well as in precisely determined intervals of time. Insertion techniques are based
on monitoring and extraction of features in video clips.
Decision support methods for referees are based on the rules of sports games,
active and passive monitoring techniques of the ball/player as well as detecting the
boundary-line of playground. The Hawk-Eye system for displaying position of
the boundary lines of the field and automated in/out call has been developed in
 SBM tennis. In football, a system for detection of off-side play situations and goal-line
5,2 call has been tested. The techniques require precision, short-time response and
robustness.

3.1 Sports video structure and semantic analysis

The most popular sport events are happening in controlled conditions (tennis and
180 football field). A set of cameras is set to cover the field and broadcast event from
different perspectives (close-up, panoramic view, slow-motion, rewind, etc.). Selection of
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recording is done on the basis of the rules of TV production which allow consistent
broadcast that helps the audience to follow the competition. For example, a video
sequence that follows the service in tennis starts with the close-up plan of the player,
followed by a panoramic view of the ground when the service ends with close-up of
the player who won the point. As a consequence, there is a close relationship between
the change of plans in time and video semantics of sports events on the ground.
Reverse engineering allows reconstructing of the semantics structure of the game
based on the recognition of the changes of plans in sports video (Wan et al., 2004).
The structure of the video indicates the grouping of video sequences in time.
The analysis of sports video is not only based on the detection of sequences; it is
necessary to combine the competition rules with the general methods of structural
analysis of digital video. Tennis is the sport game with a clear structure: the sets are
divided into games, which are composed of points. Football game is more complicated
and less structured.
Structure analysis of the video defines the syntax segments; although additional
modules are required in order to detect the semantics of sports events. However,
detection of semantic units and production of highlights are based on subjective
criteria. The additional modules for processing are specific for individual sports
(Xu et al., 2009).
Automatic extraction of key events and summary of the production are important in
the parallel monitoring of sports events, the preparation of short news, views or
subsequent analysis of sport events. Categorisation of semantic units and formation of
the table of content, allow TV users better control when selecting video clips and
reduces the probability of failure of interesting scenes.

3.2 3D reconstruction and visualisation of sports event

Presentation of the sports event could be improved using two basic techniques.
The first technique is a 3D reconstruction of sport games and production of arbitrary
plan for the clip viewer. Another technique is insertion of graphic elements on the
original video footage or additional display windows for illustrations that enhance
viewers’ experience of video broadcast. The example is a graphical line which mark
the distance between the players.
Progress of digital image processing, computer graphics and video processing have
enabled systems for 3D reconstruction and 3D video. Systems are developed to
generate 3D virtual scenes that allow the viewer to observe the scene from the
perspective of a referee or a player. Developed 3D reconstruction systems improve
the experience of watching sports events. Synchronised networked cameras covering
the sports field and generate a virtual scene and fly-through repeated images in
a panoramic view of 360 degrees. For reasons of economy, the goal is to achieve a
realistic synthesis of the virtual scene by using the least possible number of cameras.
 The importance of selected objects in the analysis of sports video is well defined. Technologies
In some sports, the position players (tennis, football) or silhouettes and athletic and sports
movements are of interest only. Automatic analysis of video requires segmentation
algorithms. The precise boundary of objects is essential in estimation the position and
events
behaviour of players, as well as 3D reconstruction of the newly synthesised video
plans. Additional algorithms have been developed for tracking the position of the ball
and players. That requires robustness of the algorithm for detection of the ball in the 181
video sequence. Monitoring of the player determines the position in the image
coordinate system, but not the position on the sports field. In order to determine the
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geometric mapping of image coordinates and real positions, parameters of the camera
are necessary. Camera calibration is based on linear markings of sports field.
In the next step, a set of networked cameras is used for full 3D reconstruction of the
sports field and generate images from different positions. A set of fixed cameras is use
that the calibration is simplified, reducing the execution time and increasing precision
of calibrations. An additional advantage is covering of the entire sports field, unlike
the existing TV broadcasting, covering only the individual parts of a field.

4. Technology innovation and research

4.1 Sports video and events broadcasting
The automatically identification of the content of interest in long sports coverage is
a basic requirement of the new applications such as video indexing, highlights
generation, structural analysis of the broadcast.
Semantic analysis of video material is the basic technology of automatic editing.
However, the extraction of video semantics is a complex task due to that it is based on
vague concepts of subjective perception of TV viewers. Systems in development are
restricted to a limited set of events detected within the domain of individual sports and
types of video material.
Digital video editing and montage are complex time-consuming and labour-intensive
processes in post-production. Digital video standards and numerous computer tools are
developed. However, they are not specifically designed for sports video broadcast and
production due to their limited performance. Therefore, the automatic editing of sports
video is extensively researched and the systems for non-linear editing, composition,
visualisation and virtual reality are developed.

4.2 Multi-camera and sensor networks

Television production improves continuous broadcast of sports events. The goal of
development of Hawk-Eye Officiating System for tracking and 3D reconstruction of
the ball trajectory is cost-efficient improving of the tennis competition in a way that
network of static TV camera and computer information are used to generating graphic
for rewind video, as well as the statistical information used by TV commentators
(Owens et al., 2003). A 2D monitoring technique of the individual cameras and a 3D
reconstruction based on combination of partial 2D trajectory are used. Advantages
are in distribution of computer calculations on individual video camera footage, and in
reducing both the complexity of combining paths and communication requirements.
For each video frame on individual cameras, pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) camera position are
calculated based on tracking bounds of field. In each video frame, the position of the
ball is detected, and the motion vector in the coordinate system of image is estimated
that correct camera movement based on the calibration parameters of the single frame.
 SBM Motion vectors are passed to the module for the 3D reconstruction determining the
5,2 point of intersection of two estimated ball trajectories. Completed trajectory of ball
is passed to software for visualisation and analysis.
Passive monitoring of football players position on the field is based on a fixed
camera (Needham and Boyle, 2001), a mobile camera (Lefevre et al., 2002) or a set
of synchronised fixed camera (Iwase and Saito, 2002; Xu et al., 2005). In the case of
182 networked cameras, the basic requirement is extracting meaningful information from
the individual cameras, integration with all sources and 3D reconstruction. Interface
between the two procedures is the first video segmentation of boundary boxes in
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the individual frames and joining the corresponding parameters (estimated position
in the plane of the ground, boxing category and indication of the obstacle object).
With the development of different systems for monitoring, evaluation of the
entire system is more important: different algorithms for monitoring and operating
parameters are compared, the situations in which algorithms cannot give good results
that are identified and which investigate the applicability of algorithms in different
sports. In competitive football, precision camera calibration and synchronisation are
practical limits on accuracy of the positioning of players on the field. New algorithms
for determining the 3D position of the ball are needed. Application of the monitoring
system determines the significance of individual parameters. The target application
is determined and appropriate metrics used to evaluate the complete system.
The evaluation system for monitoring can be divided into two categories based
on whether reference data are used to position objects (obtained by analysing video
recordings on your computer) or are not. One approach to collecting reference data
and evaluation of tracking algorithms based on networked fixed cameras is explored
(Li et al., 2005). The reference position data are obtained by manual processing of TV
video. The operator uses a computer programme and specifies the coordinate system of
the player and the ball, by manual selection of one of the cameras that cover the ground.
Based on the calibration parameters of cameras, the points from the coordinate system of
the images are transformed into the specified coordinate system. In addition, an estimation
of the depth of stereoscopic images is possible, based on the approximation that all
activities take place in the plane of the field. It is assumed that the players in the flat filed
and the position are determined as the midpoint of the line connecting the player’s feet.
If the ball is on the ground, positioning is trivial; in opposite case, two methods for
determination of the ball have been developed: triangulation of the two camera shots
(wide-baseline stereo), or the application of the parabolic model (neglecting friction) in
3D interpolation of the ball position between the endpoints of paths in a given time
interval. In the first step, start-point of the trajectory is determined when the operator
selects the best shot cameras and two points in the TV image to determine the vertical
component of the initial ball speed. Based on initial conditions of motion, the trajectory
of the ball is iteratively calculated in the specified intervals of time. The calculated
reference position of players and the ball have to be compared with the estimated
positions obtained by tracking algorithms based on calculated distance metrics and
the observed relative performance monitoring system.

5. Implementation of innovative ICT solutions

5.1 Football-market requirements and products
The basic requirement in the selection and implementation of analytical software tools
in football is the optimal set of relevant information presented to users through an
effective (numerical and graphic) interface.
 Relevant information can be grouped into three categories as follows. Technologies
Video play of specific events. The events are grouped in tables. The user selects an and sports
event to play as a video sequence, or animated computer graphics. This is necessary
for the possibility of chronological events. For the analysis of individual situations, it is events
necessary to determine a choice of cameras covering the event from different angles.
For all 22 players, a graphic visualisation of the movement on the ground is needed,
marking the distance to the ball and rival player. It is necessary to mark off-side line 183
and the density of coverage by a team (calculated by the distance furthermost team
player). Graphics are used for editing video clips from one or more competitions.
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Production of video summaries is important to educate coaches and players.

The tactical view. The purpose of tactical views is analysis of all actions in the
precise context that explains the origin and consequences of events. Actions of players
and team strategies are analysed in detail. Evaluation of the performance of individual
players and the entire team in all phases of the game is based on effective
measurement. The tactical view allows for an interactive presentation that contains
animations and video review supplemented by statistical information in graphical
form. All events are mapped (goals, shots, passes, crosses, clearances, ball gains, lost
ball, running with the ball, dribbles, headers, throw-ins, free-kicks, tackles, fouls,
off-sides, trajectories, zone coverage, player positioning, etc.) in competition with a list
of players who participated. The map contains precise information on the spatial
positions on the field during the game (covered area, averaged positions). It
is necessary to predict the possibility of comparing tactical review of selected
players, striker of the team with the defence the other team or the analysis of each
individual player.
Summary of physical fitness. Purpose of the review is a detailed analysis of the
physical fitness of all players. Summary contains measurements of the total distance,
running, walking and sprints, movement profile, average speed, maximum speed,
average time of recovery between sprints, etc. It is necessary to compare the selected
players in different games, the players of one team or the opposite players. Precise
measurement of the player movement profile can be used in future studies of physical
performance. Summary of physical fitness can be used for short-time intervals
(one competition) or at longer intervals (season) for detecting and preventing injuries.
The collected data are used to create individual training plans.
Software analysis tools process additional information that does not rely only on
numerical and graphical displays. For example, one can monitor individual team
formations (defence, midfield, attack) and the manner of a movement, cooperation
and respect for the tactical demands of trainer. It is necessary to connect the
analytical tools with a database of all games of one season and allow users to access
the database. The main reason for use of analytical tools is to identify the chains of
causal events (defensive, possession, attacking, goalkeeper, free kick and dead ball,
match official, miscellaneous events) and analysis of events that lead to specific
situations. Reconstruction of the specific situation in the competition, which ends
with the achievement of goals, is the relevant information for the coaches. It is
required to present an optimum amount of relevant information in a precise context.
There are numerous software products and internet services for football analytics in
the market. Most important systems are classified in Table I based on the technique of
data collection by monitoring competitors: analysis of video sequences, active/passive
sensors and manual image processing.
 SBM The two largest companies integrators are ProZone and SportUniversal. Monitoring
5,2 technology of ProZone system is a semi-automatic analysis of video recordings
in combination with additional manual processing. A set of fixed networked cameras
that cover the field are installed at the stadium. Processing results are the statistics of
ball possession, maps and adding of the path of individual players and other. However,
the results are not generated in real-time. SportUniversal has similar features but the
184 analytics is in real-time. Systems require significant financial investment by the clubs
and FA. Company service providers Orad and Trakus are orientated towards the
market of digital media. SportsTec products are designed for editing sports
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programmes and support the analytical work only, which is fully executed manually.
DigitalSoccer service is the analytics of football competitions that are entirely based on
manual processing of information.
ProZone 3 software package for monitoring physical, technical and tactical
performance of players and teams consists of five main sections (team sheet, overview,
animation and video analysis, fitness). Data acquisition is based on eight to 12 fixed IP
networked cameras in strategic positions of the stadium. The acquisition frequency is
10 Hz synchronised cameras and all the data are stored in digital format on the server.
After the game, a semi-automated analysis for monitoring players starts from
calibrated video cameras. The players are manually identified and independently
monitored simultaneously on camera footage, and then the estimated coordinates and
continuous trajectories of players and the ball automatically combined in one-tenth
second as a single data set. Player tracking data and classified events in the game
(MatchViewer) are presented and interpreted for users in the form of interactive
distribution map, 2D graphics and animation playback video sequences.
ProZone MatchViewer is the software package for post-analysis of technical and
tactical performance of players and teams based on the footage of one camera,
comprising four modules (team sheet, overview, video, analysis).
Analyst or coach who views the images in the programme enters information on
the event classification, identification and position of players on the field. Classification
list contains 55 events which are relevant (defensive events (bloc, clearance, tackle),
possession events, attacking events, goalkeeper events, free kick and dead ball situations,
match official events, miscellaneous events) and 252 derived data that makes an
average of 2,500 events per game. When the labelling process is complete, the software
verifies accuracy and consistency of data. It allows detailed analysis of data,
presenting the users interactive maps, statistical tables and plays of video sequences of
selected events.

Analysis video sequences Active/passive sensors Editing of video sequences

Table I. ProZone3 (player tracking) SporTrack SportsCode

Comparative MatchViewer (post-analysis) ToPlaySoccer
overview of MatchInsight (performance)
technologies applied Trend (multi-game database)
in commercial Recruiter (trading decision) (www.orad.tv) (www.sportstec.com)
analytical systems (www.prozonesports.com)
for football AmiscoSystem DigitalSportsInformation DigitalSoccer
competitions (www.sport-universal.com) (www.trakus.com) (www.digitalsoccer.it)
 5.2 Goal-line technology has to come into the game Technologies
Advances in technology have affected every competitive sport. Football, as “the most and sports
important side issue in the world” connecting many people all over the globe, whether
through playing or watching. Debates about football often dominate conversations and
events
there is no doubt what the majority think when it comes to asking whether or not goal-
line technology should be implemented into the game of football:
The question of the inclusion of goal-line technology began to be raised in 2005 after a game 185
between Manchester United F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., in which Tottenham midfielder
hit a shot 45 yards from goal. United goalkeeper caught the ball and then dropped it at least
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a yard over the line before hitting it back out, but neither the referee nor the linesman saw the
ball cross the line. In response to this, FIFA decided to test a system in which a football with
an embedded microchip would send a signal to the referee if it crossed a sensor going through
the goal. However, those trials did not materialise and by 2008, Mr Blatter had rejected the
system outright, describing the technology as “only 95% accurate”. Another incident
occurred in August 2009 in a league match between Crystal Palace and Bristol City. Crystal
Palace striker knocked the ball over the line from close range, but the ball bounced off the
stanchion below the net and then came back out. The goal was not given and Palace manager
was furious. Following several refereeing errors at the 2010 FIFA World Cup – including the
disallowed goal in Germany’s 4–1 victory over England, when Frank Lampard hit a shot from
outside of the penalty box that bounced off the crossbar and over the line; the ball came back
out and the goal was disallowed because the assistant referee did not call for a goal – Mr
Blatter announced that FIFA would reopen the goal-line technology discussion. Another
instance of a controversial call was Chelsea’s 2–1 victory over Tottenham in 2011. Frank
Lampard hit a shot just before halftime that slipped through the legs of the goalie, and almost
crossed the line before being tipped back into play, however the assistant called for a goal and
Chelsea tied the game. Yet another incident occurred in the final of the 2012 FA Cup in the
match between Chelsea and Liverpool, when Liverpool’s striker headed the ball toward goal
at close range in the dying minutes when a goal would have equalised the score. No replay
showed that the ball had entirely crossed the goal line, vindicating the decision of the
assistant referee not to signal a goal (www.wikipedia.org).
While each argument differs depending on the individual sport, the concept of
officiating technology implementation has undoubtedly enabled advancement for
many sports (Ross, 2010). The issue of video technology in football is currently one of
the most pressing matters in sport, and the constant arrival of new cases concerning
“incorrect” decisions only adds fuel to the controversy. The football authorities have
recognised that the game has to be responsive to the concerns and suggestions of its
customers. Good customer practices are not exclusive to the running of the football
events business – they are vital components.
Despite the discussion of what technologies are needed or wanted, it is clear
that creating and implementing the technology is not a major factor. The first man of
Hawk-Eye Innovations, the company that has successfully implemented the officiating
system in both cricket and tennis, stated that “the Hawk-Eye system for football is
easier than for cricket, technically” (Skinner, 2010). In fact, it is the disruption of the
“game flow” that seems to be the primary concern of video goal-line technology,
although the time needed is often less than a typical substitution. In the beginning it
looked like that the football governing bodies were more inclined to give chip
technology a place in the game believing that the ability to know almost instantly
whether the ball has crossed the goal would prevent any loss of and disruption of
the flow to the game. According to The Guardian (2005), the football authorities were
strongly against the use of video evidence to decide the referees’ decisions – and
 SBM “the only thing that could be considered is the technology to decide whether the ball has
5,2 crossed the line or not if and so far it is not the case – a suitable technological solution
is found”. As Gibson (2010) mentioned, the first man of Hawk-Eye Innovation said that
“goal-line incidents are the only decisions which are entirely definitive and the answer
can be provided to the referee within 0.5 seconds of the incident happening”. Therefore,
if the technology is not the issue – what is?
186 There are still a number of people who believe that the element of controversy
within the game adds to the popularity and excitement, Grotticelli (2009) explained.
Professor Mike Caine, Institute Director and Head of the Sports Technology Research
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group at the University of Loughborough, which is the owner of the world’s largest
university-based Sports Technology Research Group, emphasises that technology in
football and the system needed would be fairly complex and many factors needed to be
explored before a final working product could be finished. He underlines that “you will
recognise that the technology is one part of the equation but also politics and the costs
are all big factors within FIFA and other organisations, enthusiasm for the technology
[…] We had a fairly substantial role albeit in a narrow area but we have a very active
interest in goal-line technology”.
To conclude, it is no doubt that goal-line technology in football would only
champion the game, however, it accentuated that the choice of implementation
of a specific technology is more an imperative issue than that whether or not to
incorporate technology into the football. Anyhow, all the general public will witness
to the final decision based on the rigorous testing procedure of both systems to be
made on 2 July 2012.

5.3 Commercialisation and implications of emerging technologies

The sports event as a product include the event as a whole and also all the various
components that it can consist of. These include goods, services, information, technologies
and the media, places, people and also new ideas (Pitts and Stotlar, 2002). It can be said
that its commercial strategy has to result in an offering that is customer-focused (Petrović
and Zarić, 2013). Moreover, this involvement of the customer in the production of a sports
event is very unique – someone who pays (the customer) also provides a service (the
atmosphere) having bought related products. The consumer is thus active, not passive
and this is one of the key factors which make sports events specific, Desbordes (2012)
emphasises. In other words, sports and football in particular, is a different kind of product
to other products. It has unique and distinctive features, which means that marketing in
sport is distinct from other forms of marketing (Chadwick, 2012). In this context,
according to Beech and Chadwick (2006), it is an ongoing process through which contests
with an uncertain outcome are staged creating opportunities for the simultaneous
fulfilment of direct and indirect objectives amongst sport customers, sport business and
other related individuals and organisations.
Over the years, sport has acquired high level of professionalism and
commercialisation, helping it becomes deeply embedded in the fabric of society,
a fact that only serves to increase the pressure to win. It is this pressure that feeds
the need for continued application and the search for new technologies that will assist
the athlete in achieving better results.
Although decisions to pursue particular areas of innovation or to commercialise
particular technologies are made by individual companies, these decisions are
influenced by factors external to the company that are often beyond their control.
Successful innovation requires the coordinated action of numerous actors who play
 vastly different roles, from creating new science, to financing, to developing standards Technologies
and regulatory regimes. In general terms, the higher the technological level of an and sports
innovation is, the lower its marginal contribution. The latest innovations generate the
most value in the top levels of sport practice, where existing rivalry and resource
events
availability make the application of those innovations profitable.
Commercialisation is an attempt by a company to profit from innovation by
incorporating new technology into products, processes and services used or sold in the 187
marketplace. Successful commercialisation hinges on many factors. Generally
speaking, companies must be able to: finance new technology ventures; hire and
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train skilled scientists, engineers, managers and production workers; protect their
innovation from imitators; acquire or access complementary skills and technologies
required to make an innovation useful; and gain market acceptance (OTA, 1995). The
availability of standards, existence of regulatory approval and/or governing bodies and
the relative ease of new business formation and intercompany collaboration influence
the ability of companies to commercialise new technologies.
Innovator companies face different obstacles in developing and marketing new
products and must proceed through a different set of steps to successfully bring a new
invention to market. Not only do differences in specific industry structure and the nature
of markets impose different constraints on the innovation process, but science, technology
and innovation are linked in different ways in different industries. These observations
suggest that innovators follow many different pathways through the innovation process,
and that attempts to facilitate innovation and the commercialisation of emerging
technologies must take different forms.

6. Conclusion
The sports industry is continually looking for ways to deliver differentiated experiences
and maximise the use of venues all year round. Innovative technology solutions help to
fuel new experiences and growth by connecting sports contests, teams, fans and the
broader community in entirely new ways, very important for the future of sports events.
The basic criteria in selecting and implementing commercial available software analytical
tools is simple implementation of a camera and a semi-automatic generation of optimal set
of relevant information that are presented to users through an effective (numerical and
graphical) interface. Integrated analytical systems are based on a fixed set of networked
synchronised cameras or individual TV footage.
The issue of video technology in football is currently one of the most pressing matters
in sport, and the constant arrival of new cases concerning “incorrect” decisions only adds
fuel to the controversy. The football governing bodies have recognised that the game
has to be responsive to the concerns and suggestions of its customers; therefore, the final
decision after the Test Phase 2, based on the rigorous testing procedure of the Swiss
Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology – EMPA of both, Hawk-Eye
Officiating System based on optical recognition with cameras and GoalRef that uses
a magnetic field, will be made on 2 July 2012.
Future development and implementation of systems to support accurate, practical and
reliable decision making during the contest, is the basis for further increase in commercial
value of sports. Commercial success of systems will depend as much on the ability of both
companies to establish and protect a proprietary advantage in the marketplace as it does
on their ability to generate new scientific and technical advances. The task of governing
bodies is clearly not just to make use of events as showcases and as opportunities to see
and try, but also to ensure there are technological possibilities that convert experiences
 SBM into long-term participation. This necessitates a new way of thinking for authorities,
5,2 officials and organisers, as well as technology companies that need to showcase their
initiatives in order to completely realise the full potential state-of-the-art technology can
provide within the context of professional sports events. However, in order to derive value,
the strategic decisions need to be considered with a view to sustainability – in other
words, the extent to which these investments can both improve the quality and experience
188 of the sports events enhancing the potential to achieve future economic, social, and
other benefits.
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About the authors

Lidija T. Petrović, PhD, MA Dipl. Ing. is Assistant Professor at the ALFA University in Belgrade
at the Faculty of Trade and Banking and the Faculty of Management in Sport. She holds a PhD in
Strategic Management from the European Center for Peace and Development of the United
Nations University for Peace (ECPD UPEACE). Both of her MA and BSc were awarded by the
Faculty of Organizational Sciences of the University of Belgrade. As the sole author or a
co-author she has published 23 scientific papers in the field of management, strategic
management, sports event management and marketing, technology and innovation management,
including a chapter in the International Monograph Entitled Event Planning: Principles and
Practices. In general her research focuses on business economics, management and applied
management disciplines, sport business management and economics of sport, as well as global
strategic management. Petrović is a Serbian Native Speaker, fully proficient in English and with
advance knowledge of French.
 SBM Dragorad Milovanović, MSc EE, is a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering,
at the University of Belgrade, where he received Dipl. Ing. and Master of Science Degree. He was
5,2 a Research Assistant at the Department of Electrical Engineering, where his research interest
included analysis and design of digital communications systems. Also, he worked as R&D Engineer
for DSP Software Development in digital television industry. He is a Lecturer and ICT Consultant in
Implementation of Standard-based Solutions in television and medicine. He participated in several
scientific projects (FP6, TEMPUS, FP7), published more than 200 papers in domestic and
190 international journals as well as conference proceedings and co-authored three textbooks (published
by Prentice Hall, Wiley and CRC Press) in the field of multimedia communications.
Michel Desbordes, PhD, is a Full Professor at the University of Paris South (Université
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Paris-Sud), France. He is a Specialist in sport marketing; his research focuses on the management of
sport events, sports sponsorship and marketing applied to football. He has published 23 books
(Elsevier, UK; Editoral Piadotribo and INDE Publications, Barcelona, Spain; Economica and Les
Editions d’Organisation and PUS, France) and numerous academic articles (International Journal of
Sport Marketing and Sponsorship; European Sport Management Quarterly; International Journal of
Sport Management and Marketing, etc.) in this field. Since January 2009, Professor Desbordes is the
Editor of the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship. Professor Michel Desbordes
is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: desbordes_michel@orange.fr

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