From the 2024-2025 season, the Premier League will use dozens of iPhone 14 or newer to analyze offside situations to assist referees.
According to Wired, the new system, called Dragon, was developed by sports data and technology company Genius Sports and Second Spectrum. The Premier League will use it in all matches starting this season to replace the VAR system with offside situations.
Dozens of new iPhones will help referees make decisions in offside situations. Photo: DailyMail
The new technology relies on at least 28 iPhone 14 or later phones placed around the field. The devices will be encased in waterproof cases and equipped with cooling fans for long-term operation. The cameras will record high-frame-rate video from multiple angles on the field and transmit signals to the control room. The positions of the Apple phones may vary from field to field, but they will be fixed during the game, avoiding the need to recalibrate the control software.
What makes Dragon unique is its ability to track a huge amount of data for each player. The system can track between 7,000 and 10,000 points on each player, recording details such as body contour, muscle mass and even bone structure. This level of detail helps ensure more accurate offside decisions. The system records at up to 100 frames per second, providing a clearer view of when the ball leaves the passer’s foot or the relative positions of defenders and strikers.
The Dragon system uses iPhones but can track between 7,000 and 10,000 points per player. Photo: Genius Sports
The iPhones send data to AI software that analyzes the footage to detect offside situations. However, even with this advanced technology, the referee will still have the final say. That means Dragon is only an assistant, not a complete replacement.
In addition to improving accuracy and reducing controversy in offside detection situations, Dragon can add many other uses in the future such as creating digital copies of players to analyze actions. They can also be used to support referees in other situations on the field such as blowing penalties and issuing cards.
The company behind the iPhone says it is as powerful as a supercomputer was more than 20 years ago. While other modern optical tracking systems require expensive fiber optic cables, servers to connect them, and computers to manage the data collected, a $1,000 smartphone can handle both tasks quite well on its own.
Genius Sports representative said that the new system is of interest to many other major football tournaments because it is easy to customize, the investment cost is not too large and can be upgraded in the future. The ability to expand or shrink Dragon is the biggest advantage when the group has tested with a system of at least 10 cameras or at most 100 cameras at a stadium but still works quite well.
The Premier League is famous for its wealth, so the choice of Dragon does not necessarily come from its reasonable cost. Genius Sports' solution brings new technology, is easy to deploy and helps replace part of the VAR technology that has been controversial for nearly 7 years of application.