ScoreGrid Media puts football on track
As South Africa gears itself up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a South Africa-based Internet startup company recently launched its online football tracking system in beta. ScoreGrid Media has been in “stealth mode” for the past year, after raising US$700 000 in angel funding, according to TechCrunch.
www.scoregrid.com provides live tracking of football matches using a combination of manual input and homegrown software. The data is then interpreted using ScoreGrid's game-visualisation tools and broadcast live.
The site claims to have the first publicly available heat maps of football matches and in-depth statistical graphs on ball possession and territory, as well as a top-down visual of ball movement and events during the game as it's played out.
The company currently covers the Barclays English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League and will be covering the Confederations Cup and World Cup in South Africa in 2009 and 2010.
ScoreGrid is also bridging the gap between print media and broadcast television by creating sports content specifically for the web. Rather than charging publications for the use of the data, ScoreGrid is encouraging sports blogs to use its charts and heat maps.
Asserts founder and CEO Steve Morris, “We have created a unique visual language. Our user base is beginning to pick up that language and use it to express their opinions on the game, which is something we are working very hard to encourage.”
