Zebra Technologies Collaborates with NFL and Wilson Sporting Goods to Deliver Unique Insights During 2017 Football Season
September 07 2017 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Zebra Will Again Track All Players and Kicks
Off Tracking Solution in All Game Footballs
Next Gen Stats to be distributed across
NFL.com, NFL Network, and League Partners
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a market leader
in printers, scanners and mobile computers that give enterprises
real-time operational visibility, announced analytics enhancements
will allow fans to gain a deeper understanding of the game by
accessing new visualizations, stats and fantasy recommendations
never available before. In collaboration with Wilson Sporting
Goods, supplier of the Official Game Football of the NFL, Zebra
will engineer and deploy RFID tagged footballs for every game
during the 2017 NFL season. This enables the collection of
real-time location, speed, and rotation data for the footballs.
As the “Official On-Field Player Tracking Provider” of the NFL,
Zebra marks the fourth year of its partnership with the NFL this
season. To enable data collection during NFL games, Zebra and
Wilson attach RFID tags in player equipment to track their
movements and provide enlightening and interesting information. As
part of “Next Gen Stats”, data from the instrumented Wilson
footballs has the potential to be leveraged on media platforms,
such as NFL.com and in-game telecasts, to enhance the fan
experience.
Beyond media platform use, the NFL’s Competition Committee will
evaluate the football data to determine how the NFL Clubs can best
leverage the data in the future. Working with the NFL and Wilson,
Zebra successfully tested the tagged football during all last
year’s preseason and Thursday Night Football games.
KEY FACTS
- The data resulting from this season’s
analytics enhancements will be used by broadcasters as well as
other media partners to enhance the fan experience.
- Zebra and Wilson determined and
validated the optimal size of the RFID tag and location to embed
the tag within the ball to maintain maximum performance while
adhering to the NFL’s specifications for game footballs.
- The RFID tags will measure location and
performance data, captured 25 times per second for every play in
every game for the 2017 season. The ball data is collected at twice
the rate of player tracking data as the ball travels at more than
twice the speed of the players.
- In addition to instrumenting and
tracking the footballs for the 2017 season, Zebra will once again
deploy its Sports Solution on NFL game days by embedding RFID tags
in players’ shoulder pads to track movement, providing metrics such
as player speed, distance traveled, acceleration and
deceleration.
- A growing number of NFL teams use
Zebra’s Sports practice solution, including the New Orleans Saints
who are looking forward to leveraging the new information provided
by the tagged footballs in practice, particularly as it pertains to
our QB and special teams play.
- The Zebra Sports Solution leverages the
same tracking and location solutions technology that Zebra
implements globally for enterprises of all sizes in healthcare,
retail, manufacturing and transportation & logistics to give
visibility to an organization's assets, people and
transactions.
SUPPORTING QUOTES
Vishal Shah, Senior Vice President, Digital Media,
NFL
“We’re excited to build on our partnership with Zebra
Technologies and collectively further the league’s commitment to
innovation. The data gathered by Zebra over the past three seasons
has become an invaluable asset to the NFL, and we’re excited to
uncover new insights through the tagged Wilson footballs.”
Sean Payton, Head Coach, New Orleans Saints
“We are excited to see the continued groundbreaking work by
Zebra Technologies and the advancements fostered by the league’s
commitment to innovation. We use the Zebra Sports practice system
to track our players and monitor their participation and
performance throughout the season. The information provided by
Zebra has proven to be a vital asset to our staff in evaluating and
training our entire squad. Adding tracking capabilities to the ball
will take things to another level for us.”
Kevin Murphy, General Manager of Team Sports, Wilson Sporting
Goods Co.
“We have a rich history of innovation in the game of football
and working closely with the NFL to advance and enhance the game
for players and fans alike. It’s been rewarding and exciting to
collaborate with Zebra and the NFL on making RFID tagged footballs
a reality, and we look forward to putting this technology on the
field this season.”
Jill Stelfox, Vice President and General Manager, Location
Solutions, Zebra Technologies
“We are thrilled to further support the NFL’s mission to enhance
football through cutting-edge technology by continuing to grow the
Zebra Sports solutions portfolio. Tracking the football is the
logical next phase of our collaboration with the NFL, and we’re
eager to continue evolving the game of football for fans,
broadcasters and coaches alike.”
About Zebra
As businesses struggle to digitize in a smarter, more connected
world, Zebra helps them transform into intelligent enterprises. Our
solutions, including printers, scanners, mobile computers and more,
give businesses real-time visibility. Our enterprise-grade devices,
software and services help organizations achieve greater Enterprise
Asset Intelligence to sense what’s happening in their operations,
enables them to analyze the data generated by this new level of
visibility and then take the next best action to make smarter
decisions. For more information, visit www.zebra.com or sign up for
our news alerts. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
ZEBRA and the stylized Zebra head are trademarks of ZIH Corp.,
registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2017 ZIH
Corp. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170907005348/en/
Media Contact:Therese Van RyneZebra
Technologies+1-847-370-2317therese.vanryne@zebra.comorIndustry
Analyst Contact:Caitlin DeRangoZebra
Technologies+1-847-793-5896cderango@zebra.com
Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024