The Premier League will sharpen its offside decisions this season by using 28 iPhones in every stadium as part of a futuristic technology dubbed ‘the Dragon’.
The team behind ‘El Dragón’ believe they can reduce the average length of a VAR check by 30 seconds – a salve for frustrated fans.
Its technology will track up to 10,000 data points on each player’s body (up from 29 previously) and make decisions quickly.
Genius Sports will initially capture up to 100 frames per second (about double the current total), but will have the capacity to reach 200.
The Premier League intends to introduce the technology after one of the autumn international breaks, which could be in early September or late November.
Premier League to deploy 28 iPhones in every stadium to fine-tune offside decisions
The semi-automated technology will be assisted by technology that captures 100 frames per second.
The phones are capable of combining to track up to 10,000 data points on each player’s body.
VAR decisions on offside have been controversial, either due to controversial decisions or due to a lack of communication by the referees.
The sports data and technology company, together with Second Spectrum, has been working with the NBA since 2018.
Its new technology is scheduled to be implemented later in the 2024-25 season.
Genius Sports’ network of iPhone cameras around a stadium will capture high frame rate video from multiple angles to address difficult offside situations.
Dragon’s artificial intelligence allows phones to communicate with each other and process visual data simultaneously.
“You go from 30, 40, 50 data points on a player to, no, I’m actually going to track the contours of your body,” Mike D’Auria, executive vice president of sports and technology partnerships at Genius, said. Cabling.
‘In many cases, with current technology, the release point cannot be detected. The release point is between two frames of the video: you go from a frame where the ball is not yet on the foot to the next frame where the ball has already left the foot and gone in the other direction.’
The scientists hope to solve this problem by tracking such minute information as muscle mass, differences in skeletal structure and gait.
They claim their technology is the first of its kind and is powered by GeniusIQ, their next-generation data and AI platform.
Phones placed around the stadium will be able to communicate and combine images.
It is believed that technology will significantly speed up the decision-making process.
The semi-automatic offside technology was used at Euro 2024, while Genius has worked with the NBA since 2018
Semi-automatic offside technology was implemented at Euro 2024 with considerable success.
3D modeling helps accurately represent a player’s position on the field at the exact moment the ball is kicked, at least better than current technology.
D’Auria says Dragon can be scaled up to 100 interconnected iPhones if Premier League bosses want to go that far.
“The introduction of semi-automatic offside is an important measure to maintain the flow of play in the Premier League,” said Tony Scholes, Premier League director of football.
‘We are confident that by utilising the latest and most accurate technology available, we will see the time taken for offside decisions significantly reduced along with consistent application of the offside lines.
‘The experience for all participants, including fans, will also be improved through quicker communication and clearer visuals around offside decisions.’
Dragon’s capabilities will be restricted to 100 frames per second initially as the Premier League needs to balance price, accuracy and latency.
It also has the power to anticipate impending events (for example, when a through ball is about to be played while a striker makes a run) and increase its frame rate accordingly.
GeniusIQ can monitor factors such as a player’s center of mass and bone structure.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has admitted the VAR process needs to work faster
Fans will be kept up to date with refereeing decisions this season via an X-based account called @PLMatchCentre, the Premier League has announced.
And Richard Masters, the league’s chief executive, has admitted that VAR needs to be improved.
“Everyone wants to make it better,” he said.
‘The things we need to sort out are the length of delays and the fan experience in the stadium.
“We will be implementing semi-automatic offside at some point this season when it is ready and we are doing other things that we believe will help improve the fan experience.”