Hawk-Eye Innovations

Hawk-Eye is a camera-based ball-tracking and graphics system. Paul Hawkins, who holds a PhD in artificial intelligence, began developing it at Roke Manor Research in Romsey with funding from the Television Corporation. Hawk-Eye made its debut at a match at Lord’s in London on May 21, 2001; cricket was its founding sport, and Hawk-Eye has been used for cricket officiating since then.⁠[1][2][3]

The company that operates the technology was incorporated in England on July 17, 2001, as Hawk Innovations Limited and has used the name Hawk-Eye Innovations Limited since September 13, 2001.⁠[4]

In 2002 Hawk-Eye was first used in tennis, debuting with the BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry at the Davis Cup.⁠[2]

Hawk-Eye’s Electronic Line Calling system received official approval in 2005 and made its debut at the 2006 Miami Masters, where players could use it to challenge calls. By 2026 it had operated on more than 450 courts at more than 100 tournaments.⁠[5][3]

In 2006 Hawk-Eye was acquired by the Wisden Group, of which Mark GettyMark GettyMark Getty is the co-founder and chairman of the board of the image company Getty Images and oversees Getty family investments; in Getty Images’ 2026 bankruptcy restructuring, Getty family affiliated entities and Koch Equity Development committed new equity and will jointly own the reorganized company.Open the full entry was a director; the group then owned the cricket almanack publisher Wisden and the cricket website Cricinfo. Paul Hawkins remained managing director of Hawk-Eye Innovations. At the time of the acquisition Hawk-Eye was used in international cricket broadcasts and had expanded to major tennis tournaments, including all four Grand Slam events.⁠[6][7][8]

In June 2007 the Wisden Group agreed to sell Cricinfo to ESPN and said it would thereafter focus on its Hawk-Eye sports technology business in cricket and tennis.⁠[8]

Sony acquired Hawk-Eye Holding with effect from March 7, 2011, including all of Hawk-Eye’s intellectual property rights, full-time staff, technology, software solutions and engineering capabilities; Hawk-Eye joined Sony Professional, a division of Sony Europe. The seller was Hawk-Eye’s owner, Mark Getty, who was advised on the sale by Oaklins Cavendish; offers were received from a number of corporations, with Sony emerging as the preferred bidder. Financial terms were not disclosed.⁠[9][6]

On April 11, 2013, the Premier League announced that it had chosen Hawk-Eye to supply goal-line technology for all 380 matches of its 20 clubs; Hawk-Eye was one of four FIFA-licensed providers, and the league said its camera-based design was critical. The system uses seven cameras per goal and signals the referee within a second of the ball crossing the line; it was installed at all 20 Premier League grounds and Wembley Stadium and was first used at the FA Community Shield that August.⁠[10][11]

By 2014 Paul Hawkins had built Hawk-Eye from a start-up into a £30 million business employing about 100 staff, and its technology had been used at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. That November Solent University awarded him an honorary degree.⁠[1]

In 2017 Hawk-Eye launched Hawk-Eye Live, a real-time automated line-calling system.⁠[5]

From 2018 Hawk-Eye deployed its SkeleTRACK skeletal tracking technology, which by 2026 had been used in more than 32,000 matches across football, baseball, basketball, American football and ice hockey; its semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) is built on SkeleTRACK and has been used in more than 900 matches.⁠[3]

The controlling shareholder of Hawk-Eye Innovations Limited changed from Hawk-Eye (Holdings) Limited to Sony Europe Limited on February 9, 2018, and was then moved several times within the Sony group, including to Sony Europe B.V. from March 2019; since March 3, 2025, Sony Europe Limited has held more than 75% of its shares.⁠[12]

In October 2024, following testing at that year’s Championships, Wimbledon announced that it would use Hawk-Eye’s Live Electronic Line Calling on all Championships and qualifying match courts from 2025, replacing the out and fault calls previously made by line umpires.⁠[13]

In July 2026 the Croatian Football Federation signed a five-year video assistant referee (VAR) technology agreement with Hawk-Eye for the 2026/27 to 2030/31 seasons, covering all matches of the Croatian top league, the Croatian Supercup and the Croatian Cup from the quarter-finals, up to 188 matches per season across 10 stadiums.⁠[14]

As of October 2026 Hawk-Eye Innovations was a Sony company, part of Sony’s sports businesses alongside Pulselive and Beyond Sports, with Ben Crossing as chief executive. It was headquartered in Basingstoke, UK, with offices in Atlanta, USA, and Melbourne, Australia, and had more than 1,000 team members across 43 countries; it covered 25 top sports and had delivered more than 100,000 event days in over 100 countries.⁠[15][16][2]

Hawk-Eye’s video review system is known in football as VAR and in cricket as the Decision Review System (DRS); its goal-line technology has been used in more than 35,000 matches at over 250 stadiums in 50 countries.⁠[3][17]

Hawk-Eye Innovations: Official website: https://www.hawkeyeinnovations.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

Sony: Official website: https://www.sony.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

X: Official account: https://x.com/Hawkeye_view (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Official account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hawk-eye-innovations-ltd/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]