About Us
"As a player, and now as a TV commentator, I always dreamed of the day when technology would take the accuracy of line calling to the next level. That day has now arrived.”
Pam Shriver.
First developed in 1999, Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd. has used the expertise gleaned from five years of broadcasting (honours include two BAFTAS, one Emmy, one Logie, three Royal Television Society Awards and a recognition as “Best Technology” by the British Computer Society) to remain at the cutting edge of sports technology and broadcasting. The company continues to grow and develop and Hawk-Eye recently created a system for the BBC’s snooker coverage and is currently developing a goal-line football system for the English FA. The possibilities are endless….
Hawk-Eye now has 40 full-time employees, together with numerous experienced freelance operators. The company is based in Colden Common, near Winchester in the UK, but its operators travel to high profile tennis and cricket fixtures all over the world. The dates below demonstrate just how quickly the company has grown; creating a brand that is instantly recognisable around the globe.
August 2008
Hawk-Eye's brother company, Pulse makes its debut at the 2008 US Open. Pulse provides fans with a live and truly interactive experience of the tournament by giving users the opportunity to express their opinion, track player and tournament progress, improve their tennis knowledge and best of all predict the game-by-game outcome of the match. Play Pulse www.pulselive.com
October 2007
The MCC World Cricket Committee announces that Hawk-Eye will be used in trials to determine a new Player Challenge System in Test Cricket. Read more>>
September 2007
Hawk-Eye sends three units to the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 Championships in South Africa.
August 2007
Hawk-Eye's football goal-line technology passes the first stage of testing by the FA Premier League at Reading FC's training ground. The system will now be installed at a Premiership ground (venue TBC). Read more>>
July 2007
Following the sale of Cricinfo to ESPN by the Wisden Group, Hawk-Eye is demerged from Wisden to become an independent company under
June 2007
Hawk-Eye is used officially at the Wimbledon Championships, the third Grand Slam event to implement the technology. Players on Centre Court and Court Number One are allowed three incorrect challenges per set, with an additional challenge if the set goes to a tie break.
February 2007
The IFAB (International Football Assocation Board) gives its approval for Hawk-Eye's football development work.
January 2007
The Rod Laver Arena boasts new video boards as Hawk-Eye is used officially at the Australian Open. Players are allowed two incorrect challenges per set, with the benefit of an additional challenge if the set goes to a tie-break.
January 2007
Hawk-Eye agrees a contract with the English Premier League to develop goal-line technology for football (soccer).
Summer 2006
Hawk-Eye is used officially at the 10 US Open Series Events and the World Team Tennis Tour throughout the United States. The company’s four units culminate in the first Official Challenge system to be used at a Grand Slam Tennis Event: the US Open.
June 2006
Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd. becomes part of the Wisden Group.
March 2006
Hawk-Eye is used officially at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami.
December 2005
The Hawk-Eye Official Review Tennis system makes it debut in the Champions Tour at the Royal Albert Hall.
October 2005
Hawk-Eye passes stringent ITF tests; correctly calling more than eighty balls fired on the Arthur Ashe Court in New York.
2004
Hawk-Eye wins “The BCS Technology Award” for “Enhancement to Television Production”.
September 2004
Jennifer Capriati's 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over Serena Williams at the U.S. Open thrusts tennis line-calling into the media spotlight. The USTA acknowledged that chair umpire Marina Alves' overrule against Williams in the opening game of the final set was incorrect.
January 2003
Hawk-Eye makes its Grand Slam television debut at the Australian Open.
2003
Hawk-Eye wins an Emmy for "Outstanding Innovative Technical Achievement".
February 2002
Hawk-Eye is first used in tennis as part of the BBC’s Davis Cup coverage.
September 2001
Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd. is launched as a separate company. The tennis system receives a new impetus of development expertise.
2001
After eighteen months of development, Channel 4 use Hawk-Eye in their coverage of the Ashes, winning a BAFTA for “Sports Innovation”.
Hawk-Eye wins the Royal Television Society Award for “Technical Innovation”.
1999
Research begins at Roke Manor Research Ltd., a company with over thirty years of vision processing expertise. Led by Dr. Paul Hawkins and funded by The Television Corporation, the concept of “Hawk-Eye” is born.
