In a mammoth deal, TV graphics powerhouse SMT (formerly
known as SportsMEDIA Technology) has acquired its main competitor, Sportvision.
For 18 years, the two companies have competed to provide cutting edge digital
graphics and enhancements for live sporting events. This acquisition will
rebrand Sportvision under the SMT banner, which will allow SMT to expand its
clientele and gain access to Sportvision’s latest innovations.
“SMT’s acquisition of Sportvision is a watershed moment for
us,” SMT CEO and founder Gerard Hall said in a statement. “Although we have
been marketplace competitors for many years, SMT has always had a tremendous
respect for the applied science, the cutting-edge technology, and the creative
innovation that runs through the DNA of the Sportvision team. While other
companies claim to have had a game-changing impact on how sports are presented,
Sportvision enjoys an unparalleled and industrywide reputation for delivering
actual game-changing solutions.”
Sportvision, which was founded in 1998 and has over 70
patents, is known for popular on-screen graphics like the yellow “1st &
Ten” line in football, the “PITCHf/x” virtual strike zone in baseball, and the
“RACEf/x” pointer system in NASCAR. By adding these innovations to its arsenal,
SMT will be able to improve its products while also taking advantage of
Sportvision’s existing partnerships. “They have client relationships and sports
league relationships that are unique to them,” Hall told Jacksonville Business
Journal.
The deal was finalized Oct. 4, and it gives SMT a 100
percent ownership interest in Sportvision. Hall, who founded SMT in 1988, will
remain CEO of the expanded company. The financial terms of the deal were not
disclosed, but SMT used a minority round investment from Eldridge Industries,
Vicente Capital Partners, and Hall himself to help fund the acquisition. The
investment amounted to $13.8 million, according to Triangle Business Journal,
but Hall says the value of the investment is not reflective of the purchase
price. Whatever the price, both sides seem to be happy with the deal.
“I am pleased that Sportvision has found a great acquirer in
SMT. They are a leader in the sports-technology industry, and they have been
very successful across many decades in the business,” Sportvision CEO Hank Adams
said in a statement. “Sportvision has a terrific collection of existing
products and innovative technologies under development. Combining these with
SMT’s capabilities will provide fans, teams, and media companies with
exceptional insights and value.”
One of the most significant technological gains in the deal
is Sportvision’s state-of-the-art player tracking system, which was recently on
display during the World Cup of Hockey last month. The World Cup was seen as an
experiment for the new technology, but the potential for its use in sports and
analytics is huge.
“We see the market for tracking objects in space only
getting bigger, and we now have the best technology in the world to do that,”
Hall told Sports Video Group. “From Sportvision’s image-tracking engine, which
they have heavily invested in, to the infrared tracking technology that
Sportvision just deployed at the World Cup of Hockey to our ultra-wide-band and
RFID-chip tracking and our image-based tracking, we feel like we have created a
truly best-of-breed [offering] under the SMT umbrella.”
This isn’t the first game-changing acquisition that SMT has
made. In 2012, the Durham, N.C.-based company acquired Information and Display
Systems, LLC (also known as IDS), a Jacksonville, Fla.-based company that was
well-known for its scoring and results systems used in tennis. The IDS
acquisition doubled the size of SMT, and the company kept the Jacksonville
office open, rebranding it as the events side of the business. The Jacksonville
office has about 170 employees, while the Durham office has 120.
With the acquisition of the Chicago-based Sportvision, SMT’s
total employee count is now at 370.
SMT will close the Chicago office, but Sportvision’s
technology facility in Fremont, Calif. will remain open.
“It’s no surprise that Sportvision’s technology team is a
big part of the acquisition,” Hall said. “The Fremont, CA, office will stay
business as usual. The biggest thing is to keep our clients happy, so we are
going to make sure the Fremont office stays as efficient and successful as
possible.”
Efficiency is paramount when it comes to developing new
sports technology, and SMT is ensuring its own success by adding Sportvision’s
knowledge and resources. Before any of these deals, SMT was well-known for
creating the first real-time scoring system that could interface with
television. But with the acquisition of IDS and now Sportvision, SMT is almost
guaranteed be on the forefront of live TV graphics and data integration in
virtually every major sport for the foreseeable future.