Major League Pickleball is set to enhance the officiating experience for its upcoming season by implementing electronic line-calling technology, thanks to a partnership with Owl AI, founded by Jeremy Bloom. This innovative, software-based system aims to provide real-time line calls during matches, replacing traditional human officials while promising significant cost efficiencies.
The decision to integrate Owl AI’s technology coincides with the rising popularity of pickleball, recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing sports. The league emphasizes the need for precise and objective officiating, and Bloom expressed excitement about the potential of this technology to eliminate the subjectivity of line calls, stating it does so “in a really cost-effective way.”
Major League Pickleball has shown remarkable growth over recent years, with sponsor revenue more than doubling, ticket sales increasing by 94%, and overall attendance up by 52%. Commissioner Samin Odhwani highlighted technology’s vital role in this growth, asserting that providing fans and players with data-backed visualizations of line calls will showcase pickleball’s rapid advancement.
Bloom, a former Olympic athlete and ex-CEO of the X Games, has a personal connection to the challenges of subjective judging in sports like skiing and football, which inspired him to develop the Owl AI technology. After successful trials in various sports and receiving significant funding, Bloom has been keen to extend the reach of this innovation to additional athletic disciplines.
Unlike existing systems such as Hawk-Eye, which depend on specialized equipment, Owl AI’s approach utilizes accessible 4K video from cell phones or existing broadcast feeds. This method not only lowers costs but also increases accessibility for leagues and events. Bloom emphasized that their focus on a software-based solution allows for wider adoption, stating, “Our approach is software, not hardware. We can do it with cell phones.”
Bloom envisions this technology as a means to support human judges, providing detailed analytics that enhance decision-making while minimizing costly mistakes that can affect major events. He aims to eliminate any errors attributable to human judgement, thereby ensuring fairer outcomes in competitions.
As discussions for potential Olympic integration commence and interest in the technology grows across various sports such as figure skating and snowboarding, this collaboration between Major League Pickleball and Owl AI could represent a transformative milestone for the sport and officiating in general.
Leave a comment