Special Episode – Pixellot

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. We are here live at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia, and today I’m lucky enough to be joined by Yossi. From Pixellot. Yossi. 

Pixellot: Welcome. Hi, welcome, uh, to Philadelphia too. I’m, uh, first time here. It’s an amazing city, I have to say, and this is an amazing convention.

Matt: Yeah, this thing is my third time at the Coaches convention when it’s been in Philly, and it’s always a good time. You. The Reading terminal market here across the street for lots of good food, uh, when, when you can duck out. And that’s why I’m yawning because too mu too many cheese steaks, right? Yeah, exactly.

Awesome. Well, hey, I really thank you for, for joining. You know, one of the things we hear from, from coaches, uh, college coaches a lot is that the highlight tape is kind of the, the gateway to getting recruited and, and one of the first things that they look at in that, in that intro email. You know, we get parents all the time on Facebook and other places asking, okay, well how, how do, how do we get this video?

What’s the best place to get video? And, and I think it’s really become, uh, commonplace for a lot of clubs and, and high schools and, and, and teams to now really be looking at how they videotape their games. And, and you guys have a, a fantastic product for that, don’t you? 

Pixellot: It’s. Yes. Thank you. So, uh, yeah.

First of all, let me just explain about, uh, uh, who we are and what we do. Yeah. Uh, pixel Today is the world leader in the automated video and analytics, uh, solutions. Uh, because we started this, uh, 10 years ago. Uh, [00:01:30] uh, we are the pioneers of the, of the industry and our technology has been, uh, adopted by, I think it’s already installed in 30,000 venues around the world.

Wow. A lot of them are in the US in the high school market. Uh, we work with the play on sports and the N FHS network. Uh, providing, uh, families and athletes and, um, other, you know, scouts and recruiters, a way to check, uh, the players live and understand what, what they’re doing. Of course, uh, this is, uh, this is huge for us as well.

So basically it peaks lot. We have a camera solution that is, uh, located in, in the middle of the field, capturing the entire field in a panoramic. And on this panoramic view, which is comprised of, uh, two or four cameras, we are basically taking a virtual camera operator to follow the flow of play, the panning, tilting and zooming, allowing the viewer to see the game like they’re used to on tv.

And the cam, we creating a virtual camera operator. And this camera operator allows you to follow the players, follow the field, the, um, the action on, on the field, and also when there is, you know, uh, goals or like tackles or whatever to create those, uh, moments that will, will, that will matter. We’re always, you know, thinking about the highlights for soccer as, you know, goals or shots and goals, but you’re, if you’re a.

Uh, a left back or [00:03:00] you are, uh, in the, uh, goalkeeper, you know, continuous video is something that is, uh, allowing you to, to understand, you know, where the player is, uh, playing well, where is not playing well. That’s why we are providing also a tactical view of all the field players to create this type of bird’s eye view for the coach to understand, you know, the formation.

Because sometimes the player can do very badly because the formation is not good enough for, for them or it. Something that you are, uh, you know, used to. So, um, uh, that tactical view allows you to do that. And everything is then backed up, uh, af after the streaming, after the live streaming. It’s all, uh, it can be behind the paywall.

It can be for free, it can be ad supported, it can be betting supported, depends on what type of model. And what we’re doing also is the analytics. So you are able to get after the game a few hours after the game, the complete breakdown of the. In terms of short charts, heat maps, everything that you need to have, you know, all the analytics that, that you require, uh, as a coach and as a recruiter, you want to see.

And then it can be accumulated, uh, over a season, over, uh, you know, a month or whatever.

Matt: So are those, are those analytics team based or are they individual player based or, or how does that work

Pixellot:? Both. Both. Both. Because you know, it’s very important to understand, you know, how the team is doing. But you know, to develop players, you need to have co.

And standardized data over time to, to understand the development, to understand how [00:04:30] much, you know, where he was all the time, where were, uh, the, the goal, the, the, the shots on goal, et cetera. 

Matt: Now, I know that, that one of your competitors, uh, trace, right, they have a wearable device that, that the players wear to help track some of that stuff.

Do, does, does Pixel have a wearable device or is there something else that’s. Those stats and, and, and things like that. 

Pixellot: We actually are launching in this show a, uh, integration that, uh, dunno if you had a chance, uh, uh, to, uh, to read about. But we just, uh, launched it with player Maker who is the leader in this field, uh, their, uh, wearable devices on the shoe.

And it’s, uh, adopted by, you know, dozens and, you know, I think hundreds of clubs around the world from the Premier League and Olga all over to the college. And the, the fun fact that they are an Israeli company as well, and, uh, we integrated with them. So, you know, after the game, all the data from the shoes, uh, which includes, you know, touches and passing and possession and, and at a later stage we’ll include the other, uh, other information like speed and acceleration and, and, uh, other gate type of, uh, data will be incorporated into our system.

And we’re talking about in. And, uh, we are very excited about, uh, the bait created because we were unaware of the huge need that there is for precise [00:06:00] and standardized, um, you know, data, uh, that is being used and scrutinized by the top clubs in the world. Cause we are working with the top clubs in the world.

There is no. We need to have the most updated, the most service oriented, um, attitude. These clubs are Champions leagues, clubs. We’re working with AFA in Argentina, the World Cup, uh, old holders. Yeah. Barcelona, Al Madrid, Byron Munich, Southampton, all the top clubs in the in, in the world to name a few. In every country we have usually, you know, two or three clubs that are in the top and, uh, we.

Giving them the possibility of having a standardized video at scale. And we’re talking also leagues, for example, all this area clubs are using us, all the League one clubs are using us for, for uh, a tactical and for broadcast view. Now La Liga is coming, uh, is coming. So there is a lot of, of, um, technology knowhow and experience expertise with the top competition, which is now being a.

For the youth and the, and the grassroots, which I think is creating for us a, a better advantage for, you know, all over our competitors because our competitors are great. I mean, I, I, I always, uh, learn from them a lot. Uh, but the experience in expertise, working with Barcelona, Al Madrid, and all those bio, all those top, top clubs is something that, you know, [00:07:30] now available for the youth market is going to change.

It is going to revolutionize it, it’s going to make. More involved. It’s going to make players watch themselves and watch themselves in creating those highlight reel by themselves or automatically. I mean, we can create for them the highlights, but they like to do it themselves. The players are much more engaged with their content because they want cut it themselves.

They don’t want the AI to do it. They want to do it. They want to add those stickers. They want to do the, the sound effect, they want to do it. The editing. Everybody’s an editor now. Everybody’s an influencer. Everybody’s an n i l, content creator type of, you know, ambassador brand, uh, ambassador influencer, everybody.

Uh, and, and youth is creating those thousands and thousands of content creators that we are providing videos for them. And that’s, that’s huge. I mean, I have three boys who are. And after the game, I, I, I won’t rem, I won’t forget this because I remember, uh, my middle, no, my oldest son, Noam, who is now 12, last two years, we’ve, I’ve been, you know, filming their games and they’ve been using our platform.

These are 10 year old, then that was 10 year old. After the game, they are going on a Zoom call with all the players going down, going back on the. and you know, breaking down the play. This, you should have passed me. That’s a great pass. That’s a great block. Why didn’t the back door work here? It’s, it’s basketball, but uh, but [00:09:00] it’s, it’s like that.

And imagine that like 10 years ago, not even 20 years ago when we were kids. Wow. And 30 years ago. . It’s a podcast. We can lie. Yeah. . When you are 15 years old, 10 years ago, , 

Matt: you had the 30 number right the first time. 

Pixellot: That’s okay. So that that, uh, that type of technology was something that you were never even fantasizing about.

It’s, that’s something that you can even think about. No, 

Matt: I think, uh, throughout my high school career, I probably had one game recorded and it was a dad with a camcorder, uh, at the top of the bleachers. So, exactly. 

Pixellot: So imagine things have change. Yeah. Imagine all those moments lost forever. And now because of AI technology, these can actually.

Your memories and these memories will, you know, live them forever on YouTube. 

Matt: Well, e exactly. And, and, you know, you talk a lot about the, the fantastic, you know, federations and, and top clubs that are using your product, but you know, a lot of the folks who listen to this podcast are gonna be, uh, parents and players of, of high school aged children who, uh, you know, may maybe have a few less dollars than the Byron Munichs of.

Um, but they’re obviously still want to have as much at their fingertips in terms of video, uh, because for those who want to play in college, that’s, you know, like we said, that’s the first thing that people are looking at. So, you know, what exactly is pixel lot have for, uh, you know, if you know my daughter’s 14, uh, you know, 2008 girls team, kind of a, a [00:10:30] middle size.

Um, you know, what, what do you guys offer for her team or her club that will help them really collect those game moments and be able to make those highlight videos?

Pixellot: So for this type of market, which is the biggest market, uh, uh, let’s say we have two types of, uh, solution. One is our fixed installation, which is usually in the high schools.

We have work with 10,000 high schools in the US today. Uh, we have, you know, every. Uh, during the season we have upwards of five to 7,000 games every day, and that makes Pixel the biggest production platform in the world. And we are, you know, in 2022 we produced more than 1 billion lab games. So that, that type of scale allows you to understand what type of revolution we are creating in the youth market.

Uh, and for the, for those under, uh, 14 under 10, you know, the clubs that don’t have a permanent location and they’re traveling between fields. We’ve created this, uh, mobile solution, which is called Pixel Lot Air, which you can see here. 

Matt: Uh, it’s not visual, it’s in the podcast, but, uh, that’s right. I, I, I promise everybody it is sitting on the table.

Pixellot: Four pounds. Uh, you lift. On the, on a tripod, uh, and you click on, uh, your mobile phone, connect to it, start, uh, uh, start taping the game. And after that you upload it, uh, to the cloud. And a few hours later you get all the, all the, all the video produced. It looks like a camera operator was actually operating it.

And following the, following the flow of [00:12:00] play, you get, uh, uh, the highlights and, uh, everything is, uh, broken down to you for you. And, uh, you can also work with the video and operate the panoramic view, which allows you to follow yourself. You don’t have to, um, work with a automatic camera. Uh, you can follow all the specific, uh, areas.

Of the field yourself and be your own, um, producer basically. And, uh, break down the game. You can actually upload that to our advanced analytics solution. You, you get that free with the, with the, with the pixel Lot air, and you can break down the game yourself. You can send it to break down for, uh, nomen, like, I think 50 or $55, uh, uh, per game.

Then you get everything, all the stats, analytics that you, that you’re used to and. The highlights, which is the number one, uh, you know, most requested, uh, most requested feature. So you get a highlight reel, which is, which is great, but you also get a highlight reel with our free, with our cloud package.  

Matt: Now, earlier you mentioned livestream.

Pixellot: I’m talking about prices. Sorry about that. Oh, no, ahead talking. Uh, the, the camera is $850. Uh, there’s like a, um, a package with the, uh, with the trip. Uh, now we have also a sale, 30 uh, percent of, uh, during the show, uh, the, the entire month. And then there’s a monthly, uh, or an annual, uh, subscription. And, uh, it’s, uh, it’s something that every club can afford and parents are happy to, [00:13:30] to, uh, to chip in because they get the video, they get the highlights, and it makes them more involved with, more involved with the club, more involved with their, uh, player, develop.

You know, not everyone is going to be a pro, but at least have that, uh, type of attitude, have that type of technology behind that that makes the them, you know, understand that they’re doing something valuable for the kids. Oh, 

Matt: absolutely. Now, earlier you mentioned livestream, can the pixel lot air livestream game.

As well, or no?

Pixellot: Currently it’s available only for our, uh, B2B clients that have the Pixel Show because it’s using the same platform. But we are going, it is, it is capable of, uh, of, uh, of live, uh, of live streaming. We’re not, uh, doing live streaming a lot because, uh, it requires a lot of bandwidth Sure. At the moment.

And, uh, We understood that there is a lot of technical cap, technical problems with, uh, with that we know that we, we’ve done live in places that are really, really rural and there’s like very low, uh, eh, bandwidth in internet. So we know that live is something that on, on paper. In theory, it can happen and we can, you know, you can plug a, you can plug a modem and you can, you can stream.

The parents are, are usually there or the parents are, uh, following. So it’s not that it’s great on paper, but most of the clubs use it once or twice. Sure. And, and they want the recording cause that’s, that’s more important. Cause live [00:15:00] has a lot of challenges. So this device is ready for live streaming. It can livestream.

We’ve been streaming with it in Japan and other places also in the us, but, It’s not the most requested, uh, it’s not the most requested feature. What is the requested feature is again, the highlight?

Matt: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Well, and I think the, the combination of the highlights with the AI and now your new partnership with Playmaker makes it, you know, just a, a very versatile piece of equipment and, and something that, that most teams and clubs are, are definitely hoping to add to their toolbox.

Pixellot: Exactly. And, and in pixel lot we. You know, DNA of the company has always been the democratization of sports, democratization of, of video and data and analytics, and all the opportunities for all the players to have the, the facilities and the technology and the tools of the professionals. So we are an open platform.

The integration with Playmaker is one of many that we have. We are doing integration with the data companies, with analytics companies, with graphics companies that provide, we, we all, we also have like a, an ott, so a club can actually create these own, you know, TV channel, our own, uh, uh, app. And, uh, the parents can, you know, cut the, cut the clips themselves.

We offer monetization opportunity via ads and sponsorship, which is, you know, if one of the comp, one of the parents is, you know, um, has, I don’t know, a hardware, a hardware store or a pizza chain or whatever, it can become a, [00:16:30] uh, he can become, uh, a sponsor and you can have his, uh, his logo on the, on the on.

These types of, these types of, uh, opportunities we’re giving, eh, you know, the, the sports organization in the club is something that was never available before. Now it is. And, and that creates more engagement from the community as well.

Matt: Now I’m gonna, I’m I’m gonna, I’m gonna ask a, a very different question.

Um, so part of my day job, uh, is, is I, I help companies, uh, in, in, in the book manufacturing space. And, and since, since Covid hit, one of the biggest challenges they’ve had is around supply. And if you talk to some of the, uh, uniform manufacturers that are here at the show, uh, they’ll probably tell you the same thing.

So, how has your supply chain been? If you’ve, you’re, you’ve got this great deal running on these pixel lot cameras. If, if, uh, you know, a couple hundred folks listen to this podcast and come to the convention and order cameras, are you guys, uh, a long wait to get, uh, your camera and, and hardware? Or, or when can a, when can a club get started for when they decide that they.

Purchase, uh, the system? 

Pixellot: well, it’s a good question because that was an issue a few months ago. Uh, it’s not an issue anymore. Uh, even when there was, uh, the, the peak of the supply chain issues, uh, we planned well ahead. We understood, we, we remember, we are 10 years in the industry, uh, installing cameras all over the world, 30,000 venues already.

So, uh, we have a very [00:18:00] good supply chain management, tech, uh, capabilities and, and, And when Covid hit, we knew that, you know, uh, we need to stock up. We need to make sure that all the, and, and, you know, these types when you’re, when you’re manufacturing hardware, even if this, uh, I don’t know, bulk or, or one, one cheap.

One true. Yeah. Yeah. One school, one cheap, one, eh, one small element is missing. The entire product is on his shelf and it’s such. A complex way, uh, way of, you know, having everything just in time or everything in, in the stock. Not too much, but not too little, not uh, so everything is, uh, is operational now.

Everything the, the supply chain is, uh, optimized and it’s available for, for, for, for everyone. Um, there’s like, you know, only the, uh, shipping, handling, uh, whatever. It’s, yeah. Awesome. A matter of weeks. You can be a couple of weeks, you can be up and running.

Matt: That’s. Well, uh, and for those who are used to my podcast, I always end them the same way.

And that’s, you know, we talked a lot and covered a lot of ground, but what didn’t we talk about? I, I’ll give you the last word. If there’s anything else you’d like to let us know about, pitch A Lot’s. 

Pixellot: If there’s coaches here, I invite them because we are working with Barcelona and we are part of the Barcelo Bars Innovation hub.

So we are giving, we’re raffling today. Uh, this, uh, this show a, an, uh, a course, uh, which is worth about $700 for video. Uh, so it’s a professional [00:19:30] video analysis course for coaches, part of the Barsa University, the Bara Invasion app. It’s in English, or you can do it in Spanish if they are, uh, uh, Latin Americans.

That will be interesting in doing that in, in Spanish too. So we are, uh, raffling, uh, a course and we are also offering 15%, uh, discount on all the courses that Bara is offering through a partnership with them. Uh, They are incredible partners and it’s so much fun to offer that for the coaches here in the, in, in, in this convention.

So you’re ha you are, uh, welcome to drop by our booth, 9 0 9. Have a cup of espresso, eh, you know, shoot a little bit, uh, bit about, you know, about football. Exactly. Everybody. Soccer, soccer, soccer, soccer.

Matt: Yeah. It’s okay. It’s all well, and, and we’re here in Philly. If you say football, you’re gonna get people doing the Eagles chant, and we can’t be having that.

So we’ll stick to soccer. 

Pixellot: But there’s so many internationals, this joke. Nah, that’s true. I’m, I’m hearing French and Italian and Spanish and Korean and Japanese. It’s an unbelievable, this show has become you. It’s not only United Soccer coaches. 

Matt: Absolutely. Well United Nations. Well, and, and, and you know, they used to be called the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, but have changed to United Soccer coaches because they are uniting coaches from all over the world.

And this convention is one of a kind. And, and I know myself, I’m very happy to be part of podcast Rowe. And, uh, happy to be able to sit down with you and wish you the best of luck in the show. And thanks for giving us. 

Pixellot: Thank you very much and, uh, cause it’s a podcast nobody can see. I hope that, uh, [00:21:00] my hair didn’t, uh, interfere with the microphone too much.

I’m bold. I’m just kidding. And, uh, I, I have to say, uh, this was a, a wonderful conversation and I hope that, uh, uh, a lot of the parents listening, uh, now will be, uh, understand, you know, their involvement and their engagement with their kids. And, and I know that as a parent of, of, you know, three. And, uh, my house is, you know, being wrecked by balls all day.

It’s like my wife shouting, no, don’t play with the ball, don’t talk, play in the ball. The involvement of the parents and is, there is no way to, uh, to explain how important it is for the kids. You know, every game that you go with them, supporting from the bleachers, supporting them. Don’t be a coach, be a supporter.

And, and that’s the number one, uh, thing. I think, you know, this type of convent. Is, is all about.

Matt: Yeah, absolutely. I’m, I’m, as a father of three, my youngest, his first word was ball. So I totally can, uh, can relate to that and, uh, and hopefully, we’ll, we’ll keep in contact and maybe we’ll have, uh, some, some special deals for Discover College soccer listeners, or we’ll, we will be able to link to some stuff in the show notes and, and on the YouTube channel for those.

Looking for more information on this awesome pixel lot camera. And thank you everybody, and we’ll see you soon. Thank you very much for having me. All right. Take care.