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Future research posibilities

In the future the project group could broaden the scope. This could be done by looking at more and different kind of sports where the VAR could be used to further increase the fairness of play. The sports that could make use of the VAR:

- Cricket, tennis, rugby, volleyball, batminton, athletics, etc.

The project group could also broaden the scope by not only focussing on one company (Hawk-eye) but by looking at more companies that provide VAR-systems. 

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5W2H

With the 5W2H a global planning has been made to support and ensure a formal and thorough research. Below, all the aspects of the 5W2H have been indicated: What, Why, Where, When, Who, How (2x)

What​

Technology: Sports technology officiating systems​

​

Context: Hawk-Eye Innovations, a company that delivers systems for video assisting referees in different sports such as: tennis, field hockey, football, basketball, snooker, NASCAR, rugby and jousting. Questions: How can the VAR-systems be used or innovated to add value for the customer? Finding solutions to improve the VAR-systems in MOTE terms to add value to the product. How does the flow of the product work when installed at the customer? What is the market position of Hawk-Eye and who are the stakeholders?​

​

Hawk-Eye is a leading innovator in sports technology. First used as a broadcast tool to analyze decisions in Cricket, Hawk-Eye has now become an integral part of over 20 sports and every year covers 20,000 games or events across 500+ stadiums in over 90 countries. Hawk-Eye is part of Sony and has offices around the world.​

​

Why​

We have the same interest in sports, especially football. The product is quite new for the market, which we find interesting especially with the innovations that are being made each year in VAR. We want to know what the market position is of Hawk-Eye and what stakeholders are involved in the development, sales and implementation of the VAR systems.​

Where​

Companies: SBG sports, Hawk-eye, KNVB, AFAS, ARAG, FIFA TV​

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When + who​

​

Mondag (20sep): Clear plan​

Tuesday (21sep): Final choice + 5W2H, blog post​

Wednesday (22sep): Blog post, ​

Thursday (23sep): Pitch rehearsal, blog post​

Friday (24sep): Pitch, blog post​

How to pitch​

PowerPoint presentation with visuals​

How to blog​

Starting with a summary & conclusion, supported with the in-depth analysis and sources. We will add visuals to give better views on the subject and positions.​

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Video Assistant Referee Explained

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Video Assistant Referee in football

The research is about the Video Assistant Referee in football. This is part of Sports Technology and the context is one of the suppliers of the VAR systems: Hawk-Eye. The main research question is as follows: How can the VAR-systems be used or innovated to add value for the customer?

An important factor for this research question is the customer satisfaction. Within the customer satisfaction multiple stakeholders are assessed in the chain of customers. Other research aspect were: the market position, stakeholder analysis, innovation of the product and technical business processes.

Introduction Video Assistant Referee

The Video Assistant Referee is a referee who, outside the field, assesses situations on the pitch to assist the referee on the field. This is possible with cameras in the stadium, which can show the situation on the pitch in slow-motion and in various angles. The VAR will be put to use in four situations:

- Goal or no goal

- Penalty or no penalty  

- Red card or no red card

- Designating the wrong player with a yellow or red card

(KNVB, 2021)

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VAR is unfair! The ref never agrees with PSV, however Ajax always gets penalty in certain decisions.

A PSV fan

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Sources

Arastey, G. (2019, November 6). Application of video technology in football refereeing - VAR. Retrieved from Sport performance analysis: https://www.sportperformanceanalysis.com/article/application-of-video-technology-in-football-refereeing-var

Dirne, C. (2020). Technology & Engineering - IE&M view. Eindhoven: C.W.G.M. Dirne.

ESPN Staff. (2017, March 30). Video Assistant Referees: Football can learn from rugby, cricket, tennis, NFL. Retrieved from ESPN: https://www.espn.co.uk/football/blog/fifa/243/post/3091640/video-assistant-referees-football-can-learn-from-rugby-cricket-tennis-nfl  

Farrell, M. (2019, April 1). A Brief History (And Defense) of VAR. Retrieved from Duke: https://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/2019/04/01/a-brief-history-and-defense-of-var/  

H.M. Visser, A. v. (2019). Werken met Logistiek. Noordhoff.

Hawk-eye. (2019, July 31). Hawk-eye. Retrieved from HAWK-EYE BRINGS JOUSTING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: https://www.hawkeyeinnovations.com/news/1317863

KNVB. (2018). DOORONTWIKKELING VAR. Retrieved from KNVB: https://www.knvb.nl/11/innovatieprojecten/doorontwikkeling-var

KNVB. (2018). VIDEO ASSISTANT REFEREE (VAR). Retrieved from KNVB: https://www.knvb.nl/themas/sportiviteit-en-respect/video-assistant-referee-var  

KNVB Media. (2016, December 30). KNVB. Retrieved from Het jaar van de videoscheidsrechter: https://www.knvb.nl/nieuws/themas/arbitrage-20/22846/het-jaar-van-de-videoscheidsrechter  

M. van Mensvoort, P. M. (2020). Technology & Engineering - IE&M view. Eindhoven: Fontys.

Premier League. (2020, Jun 1). History of VAR. Retrieved from Premier League: https://www.premierleague.com/news/1293198  

R.D. Samuel, Y. G. (2020, October 30). Implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) as a Career Change-Event: The Israeli Permier League Case Study. Retrieved from Frontiersin: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.564855/full#h6

S. Mathur, S. M. (2010). Advancements in the V-Model. Retrieved from Citeseerx: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.206.3052&rep=rep1&type=pdf  

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Innovation of the product

The innovation of the product for Hawk-eye is to provide better customer satisfaction, in order to achieve this Hawk-eye needs to listen to their customers demands (Hawk-Eye, 2019). 

 

As an example I have listed the demands of the KNVB for their VAR-system. 

The long term goal of the KNVB is to continuously improve the VAR (KNVB, 2018).  

The aspects the KNVB will focus on improving in the short term are: 

- The improvement of the decisions made by the referee  

- The improvement of the communication of the VAR-decisions to the people at home and in the stadium.  

The aspects the KNVB wants to focus on in the long term are (KNVB, 2018) : 

- Automatic detection of offside fouls with the precise tracking of player movement. 

- The development of VAR -light to make the VAR available for competitions or countries that have less budget for a VAR. 

- Improve the fans satisfaction (lower the time spent by referee checking VAR 

moments). 

 

A long term goal for Hawk-eye can be to make referees obsolete by fully automating the VAR process. The only time a referee will intervene is when the VAR-system malfunctions or makes a wrong decision. 

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Technical Business Process

The VAR systems that are being developed, produced and maintained by Hawk-Eye go through the Technical Business Processes by Dirné, 2021. In this post we will go through the different aspects of this process and zoom in on the past and current situation of Hawk-Eye. 

Engineering 

The product is specifically engineered for every sport. Each sport has its own rules and debatable discussions of the referees. Therefor the product for each customer needs to specify in their needs. This makes the VAR systems an Engineer To Order product (Van Goor & Visser, 2004). The order cycle of the product is a collaboration between overreaching sports organizations and Hawk-Eye.  

The development of the system for a new sport takes years before full implementation. In football the idea was born in 2010 by the KNVB, but was first used in an official football match in 2016 between PSV and Fc Eindhoven (KNVB, 2016). Hawk-Eye has the experience to develop VAR systems for sports and can use existing ‘ building blocks’.  

When an VAR system is being used organization would like to develop the system further, as main reason to offer a better viewing experience for the fans. Therefor the reorder cycle of the VAR system is often paired with improvement of elements of the system. Hawk-Eye then starts developing these wishes into functional elements. The development seems to go according to the V-model (Rook, 1986), but Hawk-Eye does not specify using this model. This model can be revisited each time there are new functions needed for VAR systems. 

 

Manufacturing 

The VAR systems cannot have errors and needs to be a complete product before manufacturing can be started. Since the product is being sold and implemented in stadiums and control centers all over the world the manufacturing looks a lot like engineering. However it is different since in engineering is about the development of the system and putting the pieces together for the customer. 

The order cycle for most VAR systems is whenever a new season starts or not prize will be played under VAR assistance. For instance in 2007 was Hawk-Eye first used in tennis (ESPN, 2017). The contracts that are being closed are often closed by the overreaching body of the sport such as FIFA for football. This means that the ordering cycle is known every year ahead, this makes it easier to order at suppliers. 

Maintenance 

The maintenance of Hawk-Eye will be focused on two parts: the manufacturing maintenance and the product maintenace. The manufacturing maintenance is focused on distributing the resources needed to production and the maintaning of technical resources. Within Hawk-Eye this means that the facilities for production such as the buildings, hardware and software need to be maintained. Since the manufacturing and engineering is intertwined at Hawk-Eye this means that maintenance is intertwined for both as well.

Strategy

The strategic impact of the changing market and innovations in the product is quite high. If the strategy does not change Hawk-Eye might lose the customers if other companies get ahead in the market. Continuously making engineering work together with sports organizations to innovate on the product to stay in the lead is important. This does demands that Hawk-Eye can adjust their internal situation on the demands of the customer.

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Market research

To start the market research we need know who are the competitors of Hawk-eye. There are currently just a flew organisations who produce and deliver the VAR technology. The technology also has to be approved by FIFA, so entering the market isn’t as easy as it seems. There are just 15 approved organisations that may deliver the VAR Technology: Broadcast Solutions GmbH, Broadcasting Televisiao Ltda, ChyronHego ApS, Colosseo EAS, Evertz Mircosystems Ltd, EVS Broadcast equipment, Hawk-Eye Innovations, Medialuso & Mediapro, OZ sports, SBG sports Software, Simplylive, Slomo TV, Vieww GmbH, VOGO sport and Worldwide TGI. (FIFA, 2021)  

This also suggests that there are just a few potential new entrants for the market. Because getting a approval by FIFA will be hard. Next to that will the new entrants have to compete with companies that already have deals with the biggest sports in the world. And because it is hard to be innovative in de VAR-market, it will be a competition they will lose.  

Before the power of the suppliers is determined, we need to know who the suppliers are. Hawk-eye gives a total solution for Synchronised Multi-Angle Replay Technology (SMART). It delivers cameras, servers and storage of data (Hawk-eye, 2021). Therefor Hawk-eye needs suppliers of high-tech cameras and servers for the customer satisfaction. FIFA also needs to approve the quality of the offered goods, so the quality must be high. Since Sony is a producent of high quality cameras and technology, it makes sense that Hawk-eye gets their technology from Sony. Which therefor means that the power of the suppliers is low, since they are their own supplier.

  

The power of the customer is estimated to be medium. The reason is that there are just a few providers of the right VAR technology. Next to that, the big leagues in sport demand there is a VAR present at the matches. Therefor the demand is high for a few providers. But when a VAR system is delivered, the customer is satisfied for a period of time. In that time companies as Hawk-eye can only provide services to the customers.  

The threat of substituted products is also low. Since the biggest sports demand a VAR-system, there is only one option and we don’t see it happening that we go back to a referee in person. There is also a limit to what a VAR can do, they can’t fully automate.   

In conclusion the Video Assistant Referee market is highly profitable since the power of substituted products, power of customer, power of supplier is low, but it will be hard to penetrate.

 

The stakeholders of the VAR technology 

The main stakeholders: The big sport leagues, supporters, teams in the leagues, referees, investors, competitors and the board of Directors 

Monitor: 

The stakeholders in this category are defined by low interest and low power. These are the competitors of Hawk-eye. These companies need to be monitored to see if there are any developments. 

Keep informed: 

The stakeholders that need to be informed, are the ones that have low power and a high interest. In this case that are the supporters, referees and the teams in the leagues. They have no power because they can’t change the situation, but a high interest since they need to use the VAR. 

Keep satisfied: 

The stakeholders in this category need to be satisfied because they have a high power but a low interest. In this case that are the investors, they really don’t have interest as long as they have a high return of investment. 

Manage closely: 

The stakeholders in this category need to be managed closely because they have high power and high interest. In this case that are the big sport leagues and the board of directors. They have a high power in the choice of VAR supplier and in the company. 

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Customer satisfaction

To understand to which degree the customers are satisfied, the customers first should be identified. The customers of Hawk-eye are mostly sports broadcasters, federations & events based companies. The table x shows the customers of Hawk-eye.

With the implementation of the VAR in football, more critical errors were indicated. This rate increased because of the introduction of the VAR and therefore indicated more key match incidents (R.D. Samuel, 2020).

Lago-Peña et al. (2019) found that there was a significant decrease in the number of offsides, fouls and yellow cards after the implementation of the VAR in both the Bundesliga and Serie A. This may possibly be due to a less aggressive behavior by players due to additional officiating, as players become more careful with committing fouls, tackles and protesting. The study also found an increase in the number of minutes added to the playing time in the first half. Moreover, the number of goals and number of fouls decreased in Serie A, as so did offsides in Bundesliga and yellow cards in both competitions (Arastey, 2019).  

Besides the decrease and increase in certain aspects of the game, emotional aspects also influence the decision making process in different leagues (Federations & events). Aspects such as crowd noise, social pressure, match status or the history of the clubs (Heuer, Riedl, Strauss, & Rubner, 2015; Unkelbach, & Memmert, 2010).  

Besides the referees who work for the Federantions & events, players and coaches are also influenced. Pauses during video review allow coaches to relay information to players in a more cohesive manner. It provides them an opportunity to have an immediate input in the game, particularly during high stake scenario’s (Arastey, 2019).  

Finally, another study by Anik, L. (2018) evaluated how VAR influences the observers’ perceptions on quality, flow, outcome and enjoyment of matches, as well as the perception on referees’ performance, credibility and authority. In the end the supporters of a club are the end customers. She found that a referee who made the correct call without using VAR was considered more competent. On the other side, the referees’ reputation was negatively impacted when using VAR, even in ambiguous situations where he made the correct decision by overturning the original call. During these debatable situations, a referee was perceived as less competent when choosing to benefit from video technology. A referee’s use of VAR may be only beneficial to hm when he confirms the decision he has already made on the field (Arastey, 2019).

A poll, held by the BBC, shows the following results:

- 36% of supporters aged 18-34 believe VAR has made football better, compared with 29% of fans aged 55 and over.

- 59% of fans aged 55 and over said VAR is making football worse.

- Arsenal fans (44%) are more likely to believe that VAR has made football better, while 37% of Chelsea fans, 34% of Liverpool fans and 32% of Manchester United fans felt it had improved the game.

- Younger fans are split on whether VAR is being applied consistently (35%) or inconsistently (33%) by referees.

The numbers above show that still a lot of (younger) fans believe that the VAR has made football worse. Of course there are still differences between clubs in experiences.  

Conclusion customer satisfaction

In the end the VAR has changed the game since its introduction. Clubs, referees and fans have experienced differences.  

The referee now have less interferences when it comes to the number of offsides, fouls and yellow cards. Players are less aggressive during tackles, fouls and protesting. Also, referees now experience more negative effects during the game. Aspects such as crowd noise, social pressure, match status and the history between clubs are rising.

The VAR now positively enables players and coaches to relay information towards each other when the VAR is checking a situation. This information can directly be given to the player, this can have immediate impact on the game.

Finally, the fans experience negative and positive effects from the VAR. The games are more fair, because the VAR can intervene the decision of the referees. However the intervenes of the referee can influence the reputation of the referee. The game is influenced negatively because the games get more interfered and decreases the pace or flow of the game. The poll by BBC confirms that football made the overall experience worse.