Press Release: Hawk-Eye inventor to speak at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006 on ‘Innovations in sport and technology’ panel  

Dr Paul Hawkins, the inventor of Hawk-Eye, the award-winning three-dimensional ball-tracking device that has revolutionised cricket and tennis coverage globally, will take part in the opening panel discussion at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, in association with BT Media and Broadcast, on Thursday, 23 February in London.

Hawk-Eye’s principle application has been to enhance television production by using tracking data to resolve controversial decisions, help explain the game and get the viewer closer to the action. Since 2003, Hawk-Eye has been used at almost all major cricket and tennis events worldwide and will be tested at the Australian Tennis Open in January 2006.

The technology will provide a central case study in the panel discussion entitled ‘Innovations in sport and technology’, and will provide inspiration for technology start-ups, keen to enter the sporting arena, as well as offer food for thought for sports rights owners keen to capitalise on new technology.

Hawkins will be joined on stage by leading entrepreneur Chris Akers, Executive Chairman of both Sports Resource Group and the Extreme Group which runs the Extreme Sports Channel. He was famously the Executive Director of Sports Internet Group, the AIM listed sports and bookmaking group which he founded in March 1999 with £25,000 ($46,000) and subsequently sold in July 2000 to BSkyB for £301m, as well as formerly Chairman and Chief Executive of Leeds Sporting, the holding company for Leeds United Football Club.

Another dotcom pioneer will take part in the panel in the form of Jefferson Slack, Executive Vice-President Europe, Marketing of the Wasserman Media Group, whose clients included Juventus and Quintain Estates Development, owner of the land around the new Wembley Stadium. Slack previously managed all the business affairs for Inter Milan football club in Italy as Chief Executive of Inter-Active, a wholly owned subsidiary of FC Internazionale with revenues of €150m and 34 employees. In 2000, he founded PSN.com with private equity firm, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst (HMTF), a Latin American internet sports portal with an initial capital investment of $20m.

Providing a legal viewpoint will be well-known lawyer, Warren Phelops, from Kirkpatrick and Lockheart’s Technology, Sports and Betting & Gaming practice groups. His impressive client list includes the International Cricket Council's commercial arm, Arena Leisure, The PGA European Tour, Ryder Cup Limited, Association of Surfing Professionals (International), Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan, Capital Sports, Hewlett Packard, Lloyds TSB Group, London Irish Holdings, London Welsh RFC Limited, National Greyhound Racing Club Limited, NTL Group Limited, Orange, Rangers, The Press Association, United News & Media (now part of Granada), Wasps Rugby Club and World Wrestling Entertainment.

The panellists are well-positioned to discuss what new technologies need to do to stand out from the crowd and/or protect their IP, debate what types of technology rights holders actually need in order to enhance their properties and to also provide advice to technology and dotcom start-ups wishing to secure investment.

Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, in association with BT Media and Broadcast, will be held at BT Centre, London on 23 February 2006, following the success of the inaugural event in March 2005. The event, which is supported by Aura Sports, Skinkers, Sport Business, SportAccord, Screen Digest, Sports Media Daily and AV Specialist, will follow a discussion-style format with elongated networking breaks and an evening cocktail party with a celebrity charity raffle. In addition, there will be various stands at the event where innovators of new and existing technologies will be showing off their wares.

Tickets are already selling fast and only a few days remain to take advantage of the early bird discount. For further information on the conference and to secure your delegate space at the must-attend event of 2006, please visit http://www.sportandtechnologyconference.com or contact Luke Boyle on +(44) 7904 385207; lboyle@arksports.com

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