GAA helps Hawk-Eye’s global profits rise 20%
Hawk-Eye has posted a rise in profits of almost 20%, helped by contracts such as the one struck with the GAA, writes
Global profits increased by 19.5% to £4.47m (€5m), as revenues rose 19% to £22.4m, in the 12 months to the end of March last year.
Hawk-Eye, which is owned by Japan’s Sony Corp, was used for Championship games in Croke Park and Thurles in recent years, while a slightly amended version was trialled at the All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals held in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last year.
The main growth in the firm’s revenues was from outside the UK, according to the accounts.
Sales in the “rest of world”, which includes the GAA, increased by over 20% to £18.55m.
First used in cricket and tennis, Hawk-Eye is now used by more than 20 sporting authorities, covering 7,200 games or matches in over 450 stadiums in about 65 countries.
At Croke Park, the technology involves eight high-speed cameras. The position of the ball or sliotar is triangulated using four cameras at each end of the park.
It is also used by the Premier League in England, Serie A in Italy, and Germany’s Bundesliga.
Staff costs at the Sony firm, which employs 133 people, increased to £6.8m from £5.1m. Accumulated profits totalled £15.9m, while the firm’s cash pile increased by £1m to £3.3m. After paying UK corporation tax of £1m, the firm had an after-tax profit of £3.42m.
