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Dartfish CEO, Victor Bergonzoli talks to Sports Activated about how his company is changing the way we think of video content in sport- one frame at a time.

The video content industry in sport has traditionally been very uniform, with instant replays and real-time animations that have become common place for viewers. Over the past few years, however, video technology has advanced the sporting experience not only for fans, but has become an integral instrument for coaches, athletes and teams. This expansion has been accelerated by Dartfish, the world’s leading provider of cutting-edge online and offline video solutions. Victor Bergonzoli, CEO of Dartfish, spoke to Sports Activated about the Dartfish platform and its impact on the world of sport. “Dartfish empowers its users to create, enrich, publish, and monetize video content. Dartfish makes the power of video accessible to millions and sets the video standard across industries such as sport, education, and healthcare.” says Bergonzoli. “Dartfish is the world’s leading organization, trusted by thousands of sport organizations, to create and distribute video content. Its video platform is the trusted choice today of elite organizations, federations, and corporations from around the world.”

But where does video delivery go from here? Surely video technology has reached it pinnacle. As Bergonzoli points out, there’s much more to be done. “Technology will never reach its pinnacle. Hardware (remember that the iPad was not here less than 24 months ago), web solutions, software, and increased processor speed all continue to evolve. As we advance, we are able to create solutions that take into account the latest developments.” he explains. Bergonzoli highlights the precipitous evolution of traditional video format in recent years used for analysis beyond broadcasting into areas such as biomechanics. “A user can now capture hours of game footage on a memory stick. In the past, numerous tapes were needed with a much longer and complicated process to import and edit. We are the world leader in 2D video analysis for biomechanics, being used today by many of the leading biomechanics experts and university programs across the nation. We are constantly evaluating how to improve the experience and process.”

A balanced approach to the use of video technology in sport is important to the services provided by Dartfish. Bergonzoli emphasizes the importance of recognizing the customer’s application of the technology. “The key is to understand workflow and processes and then to define/develop solutions that will make the workflow highly effective. A good example is the video replay solution we provided the World Taekwondo Federation. This included the uploading of all videos with proper metadata to a Dartfish.tv web channel for review by fans, athletes, and coaches. Another example is how we integrate state-of-the-art IP camera technology with data capture and video integration for a powerful baseball solution.”

This understanding of how Dartfish’s technology is applied to fans of sport has not been ignored. This was most apparent during the past Olympic Games, where the Dartfish technology changed the way fans viewed live broadcasting worldwide. “We deal with several types of fans. TV viewers enjoyed Simulcam and StroMotion, one-of-a-kind Dartfish Technologies when watching the Olympic Games.” says Bergonzoli. “This provided an unparalleled viewing experience of events otherwise impossible to observe.” Dartfish has successfully identified and capitalized on the use of the internet to add additional value for customers and fans. While providing a platform for web publishing of video content, Bergonzoli says that Dartfish customers now have the ability to capture, catalogue and share with their fans. “Cheersport with their numerous competitions (www.cheersport.tv) is a prime example. In one week-end, at their National Championship, they uploaded 1,800 videos in near real time to their online channel. Fans from around the world had easy access to videos, not previously at their disposal.”

In the world of technology, the primary goal in any industry is to efficiently streamline workloads and overhead.

Dartfish’s services effectively require the installation of hardware and software for the analysis of any given athlete. In this light, how does Dartfish’s technology create more efficiency in sports performance measuring? Quite simply, “95% of North American Olympic medals won in Vancouver were by Dartfish users.” says Bergonzoli. “The results speak for themselves. A video is worth a million words in communicating.” The solutions provided by Dartish cover a number of areas, which can be seamlessly integrated into the user’s processes and workflow, and places customers in a much better position to succeed.

There has been much discussion in recent years toward instant replay as an increased aid for referees and judges in sport. Dartfish’s innovations play an important role across various sports associations that use video technology to aid in the training of referees. The Umpiring Committee and the Hockey Rules Board of the International Hockey Federation utilized Dartfish to create a Hockey Video Library. This library enables the IHF to present video clips that exhibit their interpretation of the rules of hockey. Dartfish has also provided a platform for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), to display videos showing various game-play scenarios as an online educational tool for high school soccer officials. “UEFA recently started using Dartfish.tv as well,” says Bergonzoli. UEFA uses the online platform to educate all their referees. The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has developed WTF-Taekwondo Web TV, utilizing Dartfish’s video services to reach fans of the sport worldwide. This has allowed the Federation to produce videos generated by their instant video replay system to post them on them online. Bergonzoli says that Dartfish will maintain its position as a global leader in video technology. “We will continue developing solutions that will make the creation and publishing of videos even easier. The online (web and mobile-based applications) component of our offerings will play a very important role, even more so than today.”

He adds, “Our ultimate goal is to democratize the use of videos at levels where time and knowledge have been a barrier. Dartfish sets the standard and that will be true at any level in the future.”

Originally published in Sports Activated magazine: http://www.sportsactivated.com/March2011