Sony Group acquires Beyond Sports to expand sports services

Beyond Sports will bring its expertise in sports data and technology to the Sony Group.

Using its own engine, Beyond Sports can use player tracking data to create photorealistic simulations, some of which are used by professional sports clubs, but the Dutch tech company has carved a niche in rendering graphical representations aimed at younger fans. It can provide an additional layer of data knowledge to Sony Group Corporation teams, especially in the areas of human motion science and modular and scalable applications. These initiatives are platform agnostic, meaning every imaginable output format is ready to use instantly, from traditional television to fully immersive mixed reality headsets.

Japanese conglomerate Sony has announced it has acquired Dutch AI-based data analytics and visualization company @beyondsportsvr. Beyond Sports will become part of Sony’s sports business along with @Hawkeye_view and @pulselive. https://t.co/GOu3cmEXI4

— SportBusiness (@SportBusiness) November 7, 2022

Rufus Hack, CEO of Hawk-Eye (optical tracking provider) and Pulselive (digital media platform), sports business subsidiaries of Sony Group Corporation, said:

We believe that combining the unique capabilities of Beyond Sports with the experience of Hawk-Eye and Pulselive will help us become a strategic partner for the world’s biggest sports leagues. Beyond Sports has an incredible reputation in the sports industry for its ability to provide world-class data and use that data to create exciting new sports content. We are excited to continue expanding the breadth and diversity of our capabilities and believe that Hawk-Eye’s data tracking expertise combined with Beyond Sport’s data visualization expertise will be a winning combination for our customers.

Beyond Sports with Sony: From Data to Digital Interaction

In the Netherlands, Beyond Sports is the developer of the Gameface application, which allows interactive broadcasts of Eredivisie matches. Fans can customize features such as replacing players with toons, recreating a match on Mars, and even superimposing their own face on an athlete. When a Brazilian player scored, the moment was not available in his home country, but the Gameface-created reproduction has been viewed over 300,000 times on social media. Beyond Sports also has its roots in immersive worlds and can create compelling 3D performances in VR and AR, but is not limited to these environments. His creations can be viewed on smartphones or websites or integrated into digital worlds such as