by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
In the early 1980s, tennis fans could only guess how fast the ball traveled, golf fans had no idea how likely a player standing on the tee box was to hit the fairway and fishing fans waited torturous hours to find out whether the 10–inch bass just pulled out of the water weighed enough to put their favorite angler over the top.
That all started to change in 1984 when two friends with a knack for sports and statistics started Information and Display Systems, L.L.C. on the Southside. Originally created to keep score at tennis matches, co–founders Rallis Pappas and Jim Ingalls have developed IDS into one of the world’s leading providers of information and display technology for the sports industry. Originally a two–man operation, IDS’ Deerwood Center headquarters now employs 100 people.
IDS feeds the fan’s bottomless appetite for information. For instance, its stat–tracking software allows National Basketball Association broadcasters to keep track of shots missed, made, steals, assists; even types of dunks from alley–oop to reverse. Once compiled, the GameStats program packages the information into easily digestible graphics for the home viewer.
“We specialize in the collection, storage and distribution of statistical information,” said Bill Burkett, the company’s marketing manager. “We want to get data to people that’s a quick read, simple and explains what’s going on.”
IDS worked with a Colorado company in 1989 to introduce radar to tennis broadcasts. Using the same technology the police use to catch speeders, the on–screen, mile–per–hour graphic let fans know when favorite players cranked up their serves to top speed.
“One of the great things about what we do is we help people who might not be as knowledgeable to understand what’s going on. The viewer looks at the screen, sees a serve going 140 miles per hour and thinks, ‘good luck returning that one,’ ” said Burkett.
A new system currently in development for Jefferson Pilot Sports will allow the regional broadcaster to track shots for its Atlantic Coast Conference basketball games, then display the information through a shotchart graphic.
Regional broadcasts rarely display shotcharts, said Burkett, because they don’t have the manpower. The IDS system will allow a single JP employee to track all the shots from a laptop computer, and the information will instantly transfer to a broadcast–ready graphic, bearing the name of a JP sponsor. The software will put JP’s broadcast on a par with the national networks, said Burkett.
“On a regional broadcast, you don’t see a lot of bells and whistles,” he said. “Something like this could move them ahead of some of the big broadcasters. You can watch CBS and not see a shotchart.”
IDS has become a fixture in viewers’ living rooms, but Burkett said the company was also seeking to branch into sports venues. IDS installed its Maestro system in Alltel Stadium during last year’s expansion. Maestro essentially allows Alltel to become its own broadcaster. When games on display in the stadium’s Bud Zone or Terrace Suites cut away to commercial, Maestro lets the Jaguars run their own graphics or ads over the national feed.
Further, the system allows the Jaguars to run different ads in different parts of the stadium. Ads run on the Bud Zone sets can target a different demographic than those in the high–end Terrace Suites.
“Different advertisers really want to get in front of different clientele,” said Burkett. “Maestro allows you to segment your demographics and hit the market any way you want it. Alltel can tell Budweiser: ‘Send us your ads, and we’ll ensure that the right people see them.”
Burkett said he was talking to several other NFL teams about installing Maestro and would target minor league baseball franchises in the future. He said he already was in negotiations with the Memphis Redbirds and said he would speak to the Jacksonville Suns in the future.
Suns General Manager Peter Bragan Jr., said Burkett might find a willing listener inside the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
“We’re always looking for ways for our sponsors to get their names in front of potential customers,” said Bragan.
Bragan said his stadium had about 50 televisions, and said he would be interested in using them to boost his advertising revenue. He said he doesn’t currently show ads on his sets.
“We want to keep a major league look inside the stadium with green, padded walls instead of a lot of ads in the outfield. I want to leave it that way, but it makes it tougher when you think, ‘I could have sold that space to a sponsor.
“Sure I’d be interested in finding a way to increase our advertising while making my fans happier.”