Sports technology leader consolidates marketplace to
accelerate innovation, enhance client services, and expand product portfolio.
DURHAM, N.C., October 5, 2016 – SMT (SportsMEDIA
Technology), the best-in-class provider of live data integration, real-time
graphics presentation, and video enhancement solutions for live sports
telecasts and live entertainment productions, today announced that it has
acquired Chicago, Ill.-based Sportvision.
The acquisition gives SMT a broader and deeper reach to a
host of new clients and sectors in the highly competitive global sports and
broadcast services industry. In addition, the acquisition provides SMT with
complementary state-of-the-art technology components that will facilitate and
accelerate SMT’s plans for developing its next-generation products for the
sports broadcast and sports event industries.
SMT acquired a 100 percent interest in the Emmy award-winner
and will rebrand Sportvision as SMT. The
acquisition agreement was approved by shareholders of both companies on
September 20 and the transaction formally closed on October 4.
“SMT’s acquisition of Sportvision is a watershed moment for
us,” said SMT founder and CEO Gerard J. Hall.
“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 has been awarded more than 70 patents for its
technical innovations and is best known for its Emmy award-winning Virtual
Yellow 1st & Ten line; its MLB pitch and strike-zone tracking system called
PITCH/fx; its NASCAR tracking and pointer system; and for providing data
insights for player development, analytics, coaching and recruiting. Sportvision’s innovative technologies are an
inseparable and integral part of how televised sports are presented and
consumed in the U.S.
“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 this business,” said Sportvision CEO
Hank Adams. “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.”
Emmy award-winning SMT enjoys a global reputation in the
broadcast and live event production industries as a pioneer, innovator, and
best-in-class provider of live sports data integration and real-time graphics
enhancements. SMT is currently developing platforms and paradigms for the
seamless use of live, real-time, object-tracking technology in sports
production, visualization and analytics.
In addition, SMT has designed, has developed and currently supports the
official scoring systems, the official statistics systems, and the official
on-site live presentation systems for the NBA, the NHL, the PGA TOUR, NASCAR,
the CrossFit Games, all four golf majors and all four tennis slams, including
the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, and the Australian Open.
SMT’s acquisition of Sportvision builds on the strategic
growth plan SMT has been executing over the past several years and follows on
the heels of SMT’s recently announced hiring of 30-year ESPN veteran Jed Drake
to lead SMT’s emerging technologies initiatives.
“I am very pleased with the market momentum that SMT has
been building recently. In particular, I am excited about the long-term,
mutually-beneficial partnership opportunities that this momentum represents for
current and future SMT clients,” added SMT’s Hall.
Gerard J. Hall, who founded SMT in 1988, will remain CEO and
controlling shareholder of the expanded SMT. The transaction was unanimously
approved by SMT’s Board of Directors and was financed through a minority round
investment by Eldridge Industries, Vicente Capital Partners, and SMT CEO Gerard
J. Hall. Eldridge Industries invests in businesses across multiple industries
with a focus on finance, media, sports and real estate. Its media investments include Dick Clark
Productions, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard and it is led by Chairman and
CEO Todd Boehly, a principal owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Vicente Capital Partners, a current SMT
investor dating from their initial minority investment in 2010, is a Los
Angeles-based private equity fund specializing in providing equity capital to
privately held growth companies across North America. Lazard Middle Market provided SMT with
financial advisory services throughout the transaction. Pepper Hamilton of Philadelphia, led by Matt
Adler, provided legal services to SMT for all aspects of the financing and the
transaction. SMT’s current banking
partner, Fifth Third, based in Raleigh, NC, was also instrumental in the
funding of the acquisition.
SMT is a privately-held company with headquarters in Durham,
N.C., and operations in Jacksonville, Fla., and London, England. Financial
terms of the transaction are undisclosed.
About SMT
SMT is the best in class provider of live data integration,
real-time graphics presentation and video enhancement solutions for live sports
telecasts and live entertainment productions.
SMT provides clients with scoring, statistics, virtual insertion and messaging
for broadcasts and live events. SMT
solutions have been used at the world’s most prestigious live events including:
the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the World Cup, NBC Sunday Night Football, all
four major golf and tennis grand slam events, the Indianapolis 500, the NCAA
March Madness Tournament, ESPN X Games, the NBA on TNT, all NASCAR race events
and the NHL Stanley Cup. SMT’s clients
include major broadcasters as well as regional and specialty networks, organizing
bodies, event operators, sponsors and teams. For more information, visit
smt.com
About Sportvision
Sportvision, Inc. ® is the nation’s premier innovator of
sports and entertainment products for fans, media companies and marketers.
Sportvision solutions have enhanced experiences for fans and marketing partners
of the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, the Olympic Games, NHL, PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, NBA,
NCAA, WTA, MLS, IRL, X Games and other sport events on-air and online. As sports fans demand richer and fuller entertainment
experiences, Sportvision delivers a heightened sports-viewing experience across
all forms of media. For additional information, please go to
www.sportvision.com.