SportsMEDIA Technology, or SMT, is headquartered in Durham. The company partners with the National Hockey League as the official statistics provider. They are making hockey more accessible and improving the watch party experience for fans at Lenovo Center.
By Monica Casey, WRAL News
Jun 9, 2026
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Many of the virtual graphics and analytics you see on your screen while watching an NHL game are produced closer to home than you may realize.
SportsMEDIA Technology, or SMT, is headquartered in Durham.
The company partners with the National Hockey League as the official statistics provider.
They provide real-time puck and player tracking, power play clocks, and virtual shot speeds.
SMT also works with arenas around the country on cameras, video boards and other fan experience elements.
CEO and founder Gerard J. Hall explained one of the statistics that has historically been in missing in hockey is who has the puck and for how long.
“With the advent of our algorithms and AI technologies, we can infer that if this puck is moving at this speed, and this player is moving at that same speed, and they’re moving in conjunction with one another, we have algorithms that are self-training now that can determine who’s in possession of the puck,” Hall said.
While puck and player tracking makes the game more accessible to fans, it also improves analysis by broadcasters.
SMT’s control room is filled with operators monitoring the game, suggesting different replays and graphics to NHL producers.
“The instant that puck goes in the net, we’ve designed our system so 20 different graphic replays are instantly available,” Hall said. “The system already knows who shot it, who was the goal scorer. The technology never gets tired. We’re always tracking the players and the puck.”
SMT can show projections on the ice of where the shots have been, including where goals have been scored.
“You can see some stories being told just by the way that data is presented,” Hall said.
It’s not just the fan and broadcasting experience that’s improving because of puck and player tracking.
It can also change the play calls by coaches.
“Think of all the different tools that data can inform for coaches making decisions of, ‘Which line is performing well, Which line is not performing well, How might I change things dynamically?’ That’s a big thing in the modern world of sports,” Hall said.
Improving the watch party experience
While Canes fans enjoyed Games 1 and 2 at home, with Games 3 and 4 being played in Las Vegas, many flooded into Lenovo Center to watch the matchup surrounded by other fans.
As the broadcast plays on the jumbotron above the ice, fans watching Games 3 and 4 are treated to a unique experience on the ice as well.
SMT is using internal technology called SPRITES to transform watch parties.
“We created an app that gives us the ability to have a 2 dimensional view, looking down on the ice, all the players, those little circles moving around, and the puck moving as well,” Hall said.
SMT is now connecting that app to the lasers at Lenovo, projecting on the ice where players and the puck are, a real-time visualization of game action.
Hall calls it the ultimate second screen experience, giving fans a view into a unique part of hockey that the broadcast often doesn’t show: real-time player substitutions.
“It’s really a powerful thing because television broadcast generally will follow the puck. They’re kind of obligated to, like where’s the puck? Typically in hockey, they dump the puck in the zone while they’re doing a line change, the camera pans to where the puck is, and what people don’t see at home is people coming onto the ice,” Hall said.
The SPRITES technology allows fans to see where the players are, regardless of what the broadcast is focused on.
Hall explains the SPRITES technology is so fast—accurate to 70 milliseconds—that it beats the broadcast.
“If you’re holding the app on your phone, the game’s being played in Las Vegas, you are getting the data on your phone within 70 milliseconds of live. Virtually instantaneous,” Hall explained. “The trouble is the broadcast goes up to the satellite, down from the satellite, gets processed. It’s about 30 seconds behind live. So, we had to delay our application to put it on the ice to synchronize it with what the watch party’s showing.”
The broadcast and the SPRITES will line up for Tuesday night’s watch party at Lenovo, and the fans are hoping the Canes’ Game 4 performance lines up for them as well.