By Benny Evangelista, San Francisco Chronicle
Intel has purchased Replay Technologies, the Tel Aviv startup that created the 360-degree instant replay system used for Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium.
Terms were not announced, but Israeli business business publication Globes said the deal was worth $175 million. Replay also has an office in Newark.
Intel hopes to use Replay’s FreeD format to expand a “new category for sports entertainment that we call immersive sports,” Intel Senior Vice President Wendell Brooks wrote on the company blog Tuesday.
CBS and Replay installed 36 ultra-high-definition video cameras around the Santa Clara stadium for a feature the TV network called Eye Vision 360, which was only used a few times during the Feb. 7 telecast. FreeD was also used during the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto the following weekend.
The technology uses Intel servers and cloud services to process the video. Intel, which has its headquarters near the stadium, plans to add “features like the ability to manipulate and edit personalized content,” Brooks wrote.
“For athletes, coaches, broadcasters and fans, the ability to capture, analyze and share data adds compelling new dimensions to the game,” he wrote. “Technology now plays an unprecedented role in sports and we’re just getting started.”
©2016 the San Francisco Chronicle Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
