Swansea City AFC integrates Ross Video’s Piero into its daily workflow

RossVideo‘s Piero sports analytics graphics tool Piero has been implemented by Swansea City AFC soccer team during their 2021 season.

Piero uses image recognition and graphic overlays to augment sports content with visually appealing and informative effects. This solution is used by broadcasters and sports clubs around the world. Its latest release, v 16, included a number of enhancements and features including support for 4K-UHD and HDR over SDI workflows.

Steve Rands, Swansea’s head of performance analysis, sees Piero as a vital day-to-day tool: “I have been using telestration tools since 2015 when I was working with the City Football Group, but the product I was using wasn’t really keeping up with my needs. When I saw Piero, I knew it was going to be the right tool for us and so I signed a deal to bring Piero to the City Football Group, which administers several clubs including Manchester City, New York City, Melbourne City and Girona.”

Steve subsequently moved to Derby County Football Club and then Swansea City, and has chosen Piero as his analysis tool of choice each time. “We’re currently having daily meetings and every meeting with the players, be it as a group or individually, features Piero. It’s definitely getting a lot of use and it has helped us improve performance in some key areas. As an example, the season before I joined Swansea the club conceded twenty-four goals from set pieces – the worst record of any club in Europe’s top six leagues – but we have completely turned that around and Piero has been a massive part of that journey.”

Used by broadcasters

Swansea’s performance manager believes that the fact that Piero is also used by broadcasters attests to the quality and robustness of the solution: “The top broadcasters use Piero for their football shows and it’s great that we can give our players an identical experience, so they’re working with the same tool they see on their TV screens every week. I’ve seen firsthand that if the analysis tool is low quality, players simply switch off, so it’s important that we use the best we can. It really helps with engagement, and I’ve had players asking me to create best practice analysis of the world’s top players in their position using Piero – that’s when you know you’re doing something right!”

Vincent Noyer, Director of Sports Analysis Graphics at Ross, is delighted to see Piero playing its part in Swansea’s success: “Promotion to the English Premiership can make a huge difference to a club in terms of revenue and fan attendance, and it’s understandable that Swansea want to take that next step, especially having just missed out last season. With a prize that important at stake you need every advantage you can get, and it’s great to see Swansea putting Piero at the heart of the team.”