Zenith Comment: This is just VERY cool!
Adidas and Major League Soccer today (April 10th) announced that the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game will feature the company's "micoach professional soccer team tracking system."
The technology will be built into the apparel, said Michael Ehrlich, a spokesman for Adidas America, which is based in Portland. (Original version of this post mistakenly said it would be built into jerseys.)
But the company released few other details about the system on Tuesday, saying more would be announced in advance of the July 25 All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
The system, a news release says, "provides coaches with real time performance metrics on the field of play including player position, power output, speed, distance covered, intensity of play, acceleration and GPS heat mapping."
A photo accompanying the news release suggests that the data may be projected for public analysis.
In other words, now fans may have irrefutable proof whether a professional athlete is, indeed, dogging it.
The introduction of the system follows last October's announcement at Adidas America of the micoach SPEED_CELL that can be attached to soccer shoes to record a variety of data. The SPEED_CELL was introduced at the same time as a soccer shoe to carry the device, the adizero f50 micoach.
"Our leading innovations help athletes and coaches on the field of play and we are finding ways to use these innovations to create more immersive sporting environments and experiences that will revolutionize the way we view sports and engage and excite fans," Patrik Nilsson, Adidas America president, said in a news release.
Because it is the officials supplier of uniforms, aka "apparel," for the MLS, Adidas will have no issues with every player -- who has an individual choice of shoes -- taking part in the micoach tracking system.
The team-tracking technology was developed at Adidas AG headquarters in Germany, which presents the intriguing possibility that it could be introduced into apparel worn in the National Hockey League. Adidas AG-owned Reebok is the NHL's uniform supplier.
The tracking system has been tested and developed with MLS and its clubs, multiple
national teams, and clubs in Europe, according to the news release.Following All-Star Game, the new technology will be rolled out globally in the coming seasons.
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