Interview with Patrik Olsson, CEO at Sports Video Recording Solution: Spiideo

Patrik Olsson

We are a Sweden-born advanced video recording solution that enables sports organisations and teams around the world to automatically stream, record, and collect data on live sporting events and performances.

Due to the exponential growth in sports broadcasting and performance analysis in recent years, and the global shutdown providing ample opportunities to create alternative revenue streams and fan engagement strategies, we have become an essential partner to teams, leagues, federations, and media partners connected with a wide range of sports at all levels.

Among our 2000+ clients are some of the world’s most recognisable football teams, including Juventus, Inter Milan, AS Roma and Premier League 2015-16 Champions, Leicester City. Our users also include the French Football Federation, more than half of the teams currently playing in the US MLS (Major League Soccer), NHL, NBA, as well as an even wider array of football, rugby, ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse and basketball teams based all around the world.
 
 
Home - Spiideo
 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
The eureka moment happened back in 2012 during a group conversation involving one of Spiideo’s co-founder’s sons. As a professional high jumper he demonstrated to us the difficulties he, and competitors across other individual sports, experienced when recording training sessions. Without a teammate or coach to hold the recording device, he would have to prop-up his phone in a singular static position while he trained. This gave us the inspiration to create a solution: a camera that could be mounted and autonomously track and film the athlete’s movements and technique.

Following a second conversation, this time with a coach at Malmö FF, we realised this concept of automating recording and analytical processes could also be applied more widely to field sports, such as football, basketball and hockey.
 

 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
There was a period last year when our capacity to sustain exponential growth was put under threat due to the uncertainty around our customers’ financial welfare and their ability to pay fees.

However, we adapted and identified an opportunity within the adverse conditions created by the pandemic to engage more with our user base. With our customers spending more time at home working we were able to connect with them on a more frequent basis through a series of webinars set up by our marketing department. Through these interactions, we were able to inform our customers about developments in our products and learn about their changing expectations and needs.

Despite the economic climate, we found ourselves in, our ability to pivot and evolve enabled us to maintain our year-on-year growth rate by doubling our annual turnover between 2019 and 2020.
 

What can we hope to see from Spiideo in the future?

 
We feel we have the most robust camera system offering on the market, allowing for teams – no matter their level or sport – to record in any situation. Whether that’s the training ground, arena, indoor, outdoor, away or home. More specifically, our recently launched Spiideo Portable SmartCam will enable teams to have access to our technology wherever they go.

Our Spiideo Perform technology has some very exciting new features. Data Explorer, for instance, enables coaches and analysts to “live” in Spiideo by acting as a search engine for both data and video footage captured through Spiideo.

Spiideo Play is also opening up so many possibilities for teams of all levels to live stream their games with a professional quality. It only takes a matter of minutes to schedule a broadcast and no camera operator is required. Users can set up graphics, sponsors and more either on-site or remotely. This makes it easier for teams to generate more revenue and unlock more and more of the sports ecosystem that has typically been reserved for top-tier teams.