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Skycam
Skycam is a computer-controlled, stabilized, cable-suspended camera system. The system is maneuvered through three dimensions in the open space over a playing area of a stadium or arena by computer-controlled cable-drive system. It is responsible for bringing video game-like camera angles to television sports coverage. The camera package weighs less than 14 kilograms (31 lb) and can travel at 13 m/s (29 mph).
Skycam was invented by Garrett Brown (also the inventor of the Steadicam) in the early 1980s. The patent for Skycam was assigned to Skycam, Inc. In 2004, Skycam, Inc. was acquired by Winnercomm, Inc. In 2009, Winnercomm was acquired by Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc., parent company of the Outdoor Channel. In 2013, Outdoor Channel was acquired by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, owner of several sports franchises including the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Nuggets.
In 2015, a federal lawsuit was filed by Nic Salomon, the former President of Skycam, claiming intentional interference with contractual relations related to the 2013 acquisition by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The case was allowed to proceed by the court in the Northern District of Texas in August 2017. It was then dismissed in February 2019, weeks before a jury trial. In March 2019, Salomon appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In April 2021, the Court of Appeals ruled in Kroenke Sports' favor.
Despite the dispute, Skycam remains an important technology for the presentation of football content.
While "SkyCam" is a registered trademark, the term "Skycam" is often used generically for cable-suspended camera system, and competing systems like CableCam (invented by Jim Rodnunsky but also a subsidiary of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, LLC), Spidercam and Robycam 3D. Systems like it have been in limited use since the mid-1980s when the technology was first patented, but until the mid-1990s progress was slow due to limitations in computer and servo motor technology as well as cost (a 2001 estimate pegged the cost to use the Skycam at $30,000 per event). All of these systems began seeing more widespread use in the 21st century.
Skycam was first publicly used in fall 1984, at a preseason National Football League (NFL) game in San Diego between the Chargers and 49ers, televised by CBS. NBC debuted the first wire-flown remote-controlled camera used in sports coverage at the 1985 Orange Bowl.
The XFL was one of the first leagues to make extensive use of the Skycam as a primary camera angle for broadcasts when it debuted in spring 2001. Traditional camera angles were used more prominently after the first week of play; the "Xcam" (as it was known in that league's broadcasts) remained in regular use throughout the rest of the season.
ESPN first used Skycam in 2001 for an NFL pre-season telecast and then consistently in 2002 for Sunday Night Football broadcasts. Since then, ESPN and sister-network ABC have made widespread use of Skycam for NCAA football, Monday Night Football, and Super Bowl XXXVII. The networks have regularly offered a Skycam-only internet broadcast of many of its more important sportscasts under the Megacast brand. Amazon Prime Video offers an alternate analytics broadcast of Thursday Night Football branded as "Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats", which mainly carries the Skycam's video in addition to real-time statistical graphics.
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Skycam AI simulator
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Skycam
Skycam is a computer-controlled, stabilized, cable-suspended camera system. The system is maneuvered through three dimensions in the open space over a playing area of a stadium or arena by computer-controlled cable-drive system. It is responsible for bringing video game-like camera angles to television sports coverage. The camera package weighs less than 14 kilograms (31 lb) and can travel at 13 m/s (29 mph).
Skycam was invented by Garrett Brown (also the inventor of the Steadicam) in the early 1980s. The patent for Skycam was assigned to Skycam, Inc. In 2004, Skycam, Inc. was acquired by Winnercomm, Inc. In 2009, Winnercomm was acquired by Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc., parent company of the Outdoor Channel. In 2013, Outdoor Channel was acquired by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, owner of several sports franchises including the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Nuggets.
In 2015, a federal lawsuit was filed by Nic Salomon, the former President of Skycam, claiming intentional interference with contractual relations related to the 2013 acquisition by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The case was allowed to proceed by the court in the Northern District of Texas in August 2017. It was then dismissed in February 2019, weeks before a jury trial. In March 2019, Salomon appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In April 2021, the Court of Appeals ruled in Kroenke Sports' favor.
Despite the dispute, Skycam remains an important technology for the presentation of football content.
While "SkyCam" is a registered trademark, the term "Skycam" is often used generically for cable-suspended camera system, and competing systems like CableCam (invented by Jim Rodnunsky but also a subsidiary of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, LLC), Spidercam and Robycam 3D. Systems like it have been in limited use since the mid-1980s when the technology was first patented, but until the mid-1990s progress was slow due to limitations in computer and servo motor technology as well as cost (a 2001 estimate pegged the cost to use the Skycam at $30,000 per event). All of these systems began seeing more widespread use in the 21st century.
Skycam was first publicly used in fall 1984, at a preseason National Football League (NFL) game in San Diego between the Chargers and 49ers, televised by CBS. NBC debuted the first wire-flown remote-controlled camera used in sports coverage at the 1985 Orange Bowl.
The XFL was one of the first leagues to make extensive use of the Skycam as a primary camera angle for broadcasts when it debuted in spring 2001. Traditional camera angles were used more prominently after the first week of play; the "Xcam" (as it was known in that league's broadcasts) remained in regular use throughout the rest of the season.
ESPN first used Skycam in 2001 for an NFL pre-season telecast and then consistently in 2002 for Sunday Night Football broadcasts. Since then, ESPN and sister-network ABC have made widespread use of Skycam for NCAA football, Monday Night Football, and Super Bowl XXXVII. The networks have regularly offered a Skycam-only internet broadcast of many of its more important sportscasts under the Megacast brand. Amazon Prime Video offers an alternate analytics broadcast of Thursday Night Football branded as "Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats", which mainly carries the Skycam's video in addition to real-time statistical graphics.