Synergy Sports Technology
Encyclopedia
Synergy Sports Technology is a technology
company that provides a real-time
, video-indexing statistical engine and online retrieval platform to the sports and entertainment
industry.
Its services are used primarily by professional and amateur basketball teams. For example, every team in the National Basketball Association
uses Synergy’s web-based services for, among other things, evaluating players for the draft, trades and free agency, developing the team’s own players and for scouting opponents. Synergy logs every possession of every basketball game according to team-specified criteria. Resulting data is then interlaced with league-generated stats to produce visual displays that provide intelligence on player and team tendencies.
Synergy’s “ontological” tagging methods (patent pending) provide flexibility and varied workflow functions. Clients can add their own tags to video from remote locations, enabling organizations to synchronously collaborate. At any time, clips can be saved to create custom edits. Once video and/or data is placed into the Synergy video platform, the company provides immediate Internet access to content, while managing the creation of automated and custom edits, stats displays, video e-mail functions, iPod
transfers, and smart phone access as well as a number of consumer-facing applications.
There were two significant corporate developments in 2008. Synergy announced in July 2008 a multi-year licensing agreement with the NBA that will give NBA TV
(the league’s 24-hour network), NBA.com and the league’s television partners access to Synergy products and services. Two months later, Synergy announced its partnership with EA Sports
, which calls for the developer and publisher of interactive entertainment and games software to incorporate data from Synergy into its products.
coaching staff, founded the company as Quantified Scouting Service in 1998. Six years later, the company was renamed Synergy and Barr was joined by co-founder Nils Lahr. Previously, Lahr had developed VXtreme streaming media solutions, which was later purchased by Microsoft
and became a founding technology for Windows Media and MPEG4.
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
company that provides a real-time
Real-time computing
In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
, video-indexing statistical engine and online retrieval platform to the sports and entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
industry.
Its services are used primarily by professional and amateur basketball teams. For example, every team in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
uses Synergy’s web-based services for, among other things, evaluating players for the draft, trades and free agency, developing the team’s own players and for scouting opponents. Synergy logs every possession of every basketball game according to team-specified criteria. Resulting data is then interlaced with league-generated stats to produce visual displays that provide intelligence on player and team tendencies.
Synergy’s “ontological” tagging methods (patent pending) provide flexibility and varied workflow functions. Clients can add their own tags to video from remote locations, enabling organizations to synchronously collaborate. At any time, clips can be saved to create custom edits. Once video and/or data is placed into the Synergy video platform, the company provides immediate Internet access to content, while managing the creation of automated and custom edits, stats displays, video e-mail functions, iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
transfers, and smart phone access as well as a number of consumer-facing applications.
There were two significant corporate developments in 2008. Synergy announced in July 2008 a multi-year licensing agreement with the NBA that will give NBA TV
NBA TV
NBA TV is a television specialty channel that is dedicated to showcasing the sport of basketball in the United States. The network is financially backed by the National Basketball Association , which also uses NBA TV as a way of advertising their out of market package NBA League Pass, and partner...
(the league’s 24-hour network), NBA.com and the league’s television partners access to Synergy products and services. Two months later, Synergy announced its partnership with EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
, which calls for the developer and publisher of interactive entertainment and games software to incorporate data from Synergy into its products.
History
Garrick Barr, a former member of the Phoenix SunsPhoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
coaching staff, founded the company as Quantified Scouting Service in 1998. Six years later, the company was renamed Synergy and Barr was joined by co-founder Nils Lahr. Previously, Lahr had developed VXtreme streaming media solutions, which was later purchased by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and became a founding technology for Windows Media and MPEG4.