Dixon Sports Computing Helps Manage Sports Assets

The Sports Video Group is pleased to welcome its newest sponsor, Dixon Sports Computing, a leader in the field of non-linear video-replay and highlight applications for the sports and entertainment industries.

Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Long Beach, CA, Dixon Sports Computing provides state-of-the-art, broadcast-quality video replay, highlight systems, and digital-asset-management systems for stadiums, arenas, and broadcasting companies, as well as video coaching systems for professional and collegiate sports teams across North America.

Prior to the 2009 MLB season, Dixon Sports teamed with EditShare to provide the Cincinnati Reds’ Great American Ball Park with a new HD-production workflow. Fully integrated, EditShare’s Storage Series shared storage and Dixon SAM sports-management software provide an HD-ready shared-storage environment that centralizes media ingests and automates metadata logging. With detailed metadata capture and centralized content catalogue, editors can perform enterprise searches of all game media (past and present) and share project files, regardless of size or format.

“During the game, we can be on an edit station selecting hits and strikeouts and putting the highlight package together in a hurry based on information in Dixon,” says Dave Storm, production manager for the Cincinnati Reds. “Then, a month later, somebody can look at that same data from a completely different angle, referencing the same metadata via the Dixon software. We’re using the same tools for completely different purposes, and that’s very powerful.”

The Anaheim Angels have been using Dixon Sports technology since 1996. The PC-based system allows the team to meticulously compile and access detailed information on all its players for each and every game.

The system provides two different angles for hitters and pitchers to review. Players can access the information in the team’s video department or in the batting cage. During the game, the Angels log every pitch. When the game ends, the data is uploaded to a server from which the information can be accessed on any of five computers available to players and coaches. General Manager Tony Reagins and Assistant General Manager Ken Forsch can also access the information from their offices.

“It is tremendously advanced,” says Angels Senior Video Coordinator Diego Lopez. “What makes this system so good is that [former Bench Coach] Joe Maddon and [Manager] Mike Scioscia helped develop it. The people at Dixon are very flexible in making adjustments to better fit our needs.”