Hego Taps Into Sports, US Market

The Sports Video Group is pleased to welcome Hego as a corporate sponsor.

Formed in 1969, Hego has established a highly regarded reputation in live-event production. The company began by providing electromechanical timing devices for sports events, developing one of the first timing clocks for live TV. Over the past 40 years, Hego has grown in expertise, scale, and technical ability, taking on some of the most demanding timing and sports-information-system needs for major international events, including the Olympics and Formula 1.

The company continues to be a technology innovator and service-delivery expert in real-time sports-data collection and management, live broadcast graphics, and a range of differentiated sports-TV production enhancements.

“With our mutually shared focus on sports, choosing to join SVG is a natural fit,” says Kevin Price, president of Hego U.S. “The market SVG reaches is well-defined, focused on decision makers and technology leaders that all share a common passion for this market. Typically, sports production has driven much innovation that typically is picked up in time by the mainstream broadcast market. The linkage between sports broadcast and team/player analysis is becoming stronger and driving further innovation as we are witnessing with the potential of second screen or over-the-top companion Web production.”

Headquartered in Stockholm, Hego has subsidiaries in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Spain, UK, and Chile. Recently, the company decided to establish a direct presence in the U.S. as the best way to service this growing demand and opened a New York office to serve the North and South American markets.

“SVG is in the right place, and its membership reads like a who’s who of leaders and innovators,” continues Price. “SVG is exactly the right place for Hego as we establish our presence in the U.S. and as SVG grows into Europe.”

From its New York office, Hego U.S. will develop its target markets by bringing core technology from the company’s European development centers and develop solutions specifically suited to market needs.

Hego is committed to reducing the cost of high-quality sports productions through the application of innovative technologies and techniques. According to the company, this commitment not only helps professional broadcast operations but also empowers the televising of high school, college, and second-tier games.

Hego’s portfolio of technologies and products includes high-performance real-time broadcast-graphics, video, and touchscreen engine; advanced computer vision-based virtual graphics; live-sports-TV enhancement tools for greater insight into the game; telestration tools with built-in tracking and chroma-keying; 3D real-time player and ball-sports tracking system; and full sports-information–management solutions for leagues and large tournaments.