The next big step for American Soccer and the MLS!

Sportec Solutions plays a central role in the development of American soccer.

As a technology partner and service provider, Sportec Solutions plays a central role in the development of officiating in Major League Soccer (MLS), as Mark Geiger, General Manager of the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), emphasizes in an exclusive SPOBIS interview.

By creating a state-of-the-art, centralized operations center in Arlington, Texas, Sportec Solutions laid the foundation for a perfect and professional working environment for MLS match operations. With a total of 15 professionally equipped VAR rooms, Geiger and his team of referees have an innovative and flexible working environment at their disposal. Uniform technical standards in hardware and software create the perfect conditions for efficient workflows between the referees on the field, the video assistant referees in the operations center, and the system operators from Sportec Solutions. The entire technical setup was individually tailored by Sportec Solutions to the needs of Geiger's team.

In addition, MLS Next Pro (Pro-2 league) serves as an ideal testing ground for new technologies. New rules are tested there, for example in the areas of time penalties or off-field treatment, but also new VAR formats, or "video support." This has made MLS a pioneer in the introduction of VAR announcements in soccer stadiums. The announcements also provide fans in the stadium with a high level of transparency and understanding of VAR decisions.

Sportec Solutions has succeeded in minimizing the technical footprint in the stadiums. Only a reduced hardware setup had to be installed in all MLS stadiums. The entire production chain on match day is handled remotely from Arlington: A 15-member technology team from Sportec Solutions ensures that match day runs smoothly every week.

In collaboration with Major League Soccer medical experts, the Medical Sideline Program was also centralized for the first time. During each game, a medically trained operator monitors the action from all angles using Sportec Solutions' proprietary Medical Spotter software.

An additional 50 workstations are available for recording event data such as tackles, shots, etc. This data is used by AppleTV, the official broadcasting partner of MLS, the Apple Sports Mobile App and all clubs for game analysis, among other things like the MLS Website and Mobile App.

The Operations Center Arlington laid the foundation for the ambitious technical development of Major League Soccer.

Read here the full article with Mark Geiger