Top Sports Video Tagging Software

15 minute read

In the world of sports entertainment, viewers may have observed individuals sitting with laptops in dugouts or stadium booths during games. These individuals, known as analysts, provide necessary information to coaching staff for making tactical choices to win games. A key method used by analysts is known as 'video tagging'. Video tagging is a process to break down an entire match into several short clips.  For example, one can see all shots taken by Real Madrid in a particular match or all fouls committed by Los Angeles Clippers in another match very quickly from tagged videos.

In the past 10-15 years, video tagging has become a fundamental tool for most sports teams. By tagging videos, coaches and athletes can obtain top-quality data to study their own performance, understand match-ups and enhance their preparation for upcoming games. While video tagging started as an analyst's tool, it is also used today to generate scores, statistics and highlights during and after broadcasts. This blog post will explore various prevalent video tagging software and their unique features.

Before we get into video tagging, lets first understand the typical workflow of a sports video analyst, which is provided in the infographic below.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Features in a typical video tagging software

3. Video tagging software

       1. BanyanBoard

       2. Sportscode

       3. Longomatch

       4. NacSport

       5. Metrica

       6. Once.de

       7. DartFish

Most sports fans would have seen advanced graphics (step 5 in above infographic) in post-match shows and social media posts. Companies that have mastered the sports graphics domain include Tactic Pro, Tracab CoachPaint, KlipDraw and Metrica. The strength of these solutions lie in visual storytelling. Visuals are retained by the human brain 3-6x longer than words, hence visual storytelling tools for sports have been successful in fan-engagement, game analysis with athletes, strategic planning etc. 

Beneath the visual graphics layer, however, there is another advanced software program for 'video tagging' (sometime also referred to as 'coding' - but we will stick to 'tagging' in this article). Video tagging typically precedes graphics generation in a sports video data analyst's workflow. The category of video tagging software is not well understood outside sports. A quick look at G2's sports performance analysis webpage, shows less than 20 reviews even for the most reviewed software. In this post, we will cover some of the features of video tagging software and well-known companies in this domain. We will be covering software with a focus on formation sports like football, basketball, field hockey etc. There are other software which historically have focused largely on a specific sport, such as PitchVision for cricket, which we are not covering in this blog post.

​​​Features in a typical video tagging software

Some fundamental features of video tagging software are listed below:

1. Customizable template designs for tagging a game based on pre-designed strategy

2. Clips/presentation generation after completion of tagging

3. Statistics and visuals from tagged data

4. Selective playback of filtered events post tagging

5. Keyboard shortcuts for fast tagging

6. Flexibility to choose the length of a tagged event

7. Grouping actions/adjectives for easier analysis

8. Exporting tagged data to other software for performance analysis

​​​Video Tagging Software

When looking at solutions to highlight in this blog, we looked at the following criteria to pick video tagging software for more analysis in this blog:

1. Ability to use product independently without subscribing to professional services or needing proprietary hardware

2. Ability to customize tagging templates

3. Ability to create clips after completion of tagging

4. Ability to generate statistics from tagged data

Solutions that specialize in this domain are Hudl Sportscode, Longomatch, NacSport etc. Let us get to know about video tagging by exploring these solutions in brief.

​​​1. BanyanBoard

BanyanBoard provides cloud-based multi-analyst tagging of sports games. BanyanBoard was founded in 2021 in Bengaluru, India. In addition to tagging events in a match, BanyanBoard also allows users to quickly create highlights and easily analyze multiple games over the course of a season. Additionally, BanyanBoard also has options to analyze games using collaborative boards, graphics and player telestrations.

BanyanBoard is entirely cloud based, and runs on both Windows and Mac systems inside web browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox etc. All tagged data is available instantaneously to others in the club, which is advantageous in situations like half-time adjustments. Further, analysts need not sit in the same venue as the game, and could be tagging games from half-way across the world (!) using broadcasted video feeds. BanyanBoard's hallmark is simplicity of use, with minimal user training. The free tier provides full access to nearly all features of BanyanBoard, for analysts to check out before making a purchasing decision.

Main features

• ​Free trial
• Self sign up
  
• Cloud based tagging (no need for high end laptops)
• Multi-analyst simultaneous tagging
• Tag online streaming videos (eg: Youtube)
  
• Game statistics linked to corresponding video moments
• Statistics across multiple games
  
• Generation of video playlists and highlights
• Video transcoding and compression
• Embeddable in customers' websites (white-labeling)
• Easy to start with minimal training
• Permissions management system

Sportscode was one of the earliest software created for sports video analysis. Applications of Sportscode can range from athlete and team analysis to highlights creation and more. The initial version of Sportscode was released in 1999 by the Australian outfit Sportstec. 16 years later, Hudl acquired Sportscode and is still used by coaches, analysts and athletes all over the world.

Sportscode is a desktop software that has to be installed locally. The tagged data created via Sportscode can later be exported as XML or synced with other parts of Hudl such as Hudl Studio . Sportscode supports live video capture and tagging. Sportscode made interesting innovations in 'activations' and 'scripting' -  which offer flexibility to analysts in creating more in-depth analysis. However these advanced features require a learning curve.

Main features

Hudl Sportscode offers the following features to its users:

• User options to customize the button layout in a coding template
• Game statistics linked to corresponding to video moments
• Statistics across multiple games
  
• Activation, deactivation and exclusive links for quicker tagging
• Scripting capabilities for specialized analysis of games
• Variety of button types to support simple and complex tagging
  
• Configurable output dashboards to show statistics and launch relevant videos
  
• Creation of video highlights and relevant playlists
• Ability to live tag games or independently tag and record games
  

​​​3. Longomatch

Longomatch is another powerful sports video analysis software that has a free download option. Founded in 2008, it was originally developed for football(soccer). It has since expanded to other sports like basketball, American football and volleyball to name a few. Though not as feature-rich as SportsCode, Longomatch is popular with coaches and analysts for its simplicity of use, free-tier and adequate feature set. High-end users can select multiple camera angles while performing analysis. Longomatch was acquired by Fluendo in 2016.

Longomatch is a desktop software that has to be installed on user's machines locally. In Longomatch, users have to create an 'Analysis Dashboard' before tagging a game. Paid plans can create an unlimited number of dashboards. After a game is tagged, users can see the events' list on the top left of their screen. From this events list, they can export video clips to the local disk.

Main features

These are some of the features available on Longomatch:

• Zooming in and out of certain parts of the video (in higher versions)
• Navigating video footage frame by frame
• Produce video playlists and highlights for presentations
  
• 14-day free trial for higher versions

​​​4. NacSport

NacSport is a video analysis tagging software that was developed in 2008 by a Spanish company, New Assistant for Coach Sport; hence the name NacSport. It is designed to be customizable and easy to use. Like Longomatch, NacSport has also been developed with multiple sports in mind, some of which include football, hockey and basketball.

NacSport is a desktop software that has to be locally installed on users' machines. NacSport has an intuitive interface and it offers dashboards that can be customized. The NacSport interface assists users to create and share presentations, reports, highlights etc. with coaches, players, and other stakeholders in an easy manner. Advanced versions of NacSport allow for users to create a limitless number of templates.

Main features

NacSport offers the following features to its users:

• Multiple camera angles to analyze games
• Variety of video input acquisition options
  
• Graphics descriptors to capture XY coordinate of events

• Activation & deactivation links
• Statistics across multiple games
  
• Customizable tagging layouts with multiple windows
  
• Customizable output dashboards
• Create presentations through video playlists
• Customizable looks for backgrounds, buttons etc.
• Integration with KlipDraw for drawing and commenting

​​​5. Metrica

Metrica is relatively new to the realm of sports video tagging software, though they are well known for player tracking. Metrica is intended to be an all-in-one sports analysis system, including capabilities such as video recording, analysis, and tagging, as well as tactical analysis and game preparation tools. Metrica offers a self-serve free tier for both their tagging and tracking software.

Metrica offers both desktop based software for manual tagging and a cloud based version for automated tagging. Metrica recently added the 'CodePad' to increase the flexibility of tagging using activations and deactivations.  Metrica supports tagging of live games as well as post game tagging.

Main features

Metrica has some of the following tagging features at its disposal:

• Fully customizable button template 
• Free 7-day trial offered for the most advanced version
• Live tagging or full post match analysis via presentations

• Activation and deactivation links

• Insertion of images into the background of buttons
• Auto-tagging with AI

​​​6. Once

Once is another sports video software that can be used for tagging games. The company was founded in 2011 and has its headquarters in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. Along with video tagging, Once also specializes in creating graphics heavy content for visual story-telling during game analysis. The tagging features of Once are not as rich as some of the above software.

Once is a desktop software that has to be installed locally in users' machines. Once has the capacity to be utilized for tagging as well as drawing, thus removing the need for two separate software for analysis. Once can be used for live tagging as well as post game tagging. 

Main features

Once offers some of the following tagging related features:

• Tag both live and recorded games
• Statistics from multiple games

• Integrated drawing software
  
• Produce action filters and mark them as good/bad/favourite
• Graphic generation for tactical analysis
• Export statistics and highlights
• Analyse multiple games

​​​7. DartFish

DartFish is a major sports software that is used for tagging events in a match. It is based out of Fribourg, Switzerland and was founded in 1999. DartFish covers a variety of sports including football, basketball, handball and ice hockey to name a few. DartFish specializes in performance analysis for athletes and teams, especially using biomechanics.

Tagging in DartFish is done through a desktop software that needs to be installed on users' machines. The 'Tagging Panel' provides choices to a user to tag videos, and is highly customizable. DartFish allows users to import and integrate data from third-party software like Sportscode, Opta and InStat to name a few.

Main features

DartFish offers some features listed below:

• 15- day free trial available

• 4 cameras available for a single recording

• Integrate data from third-party apps
• Live collaboration/real-time tagging
• Generate presentations and playlists of videos
• Easy export of tagged data in multiple formats

​​​Technical terms used in tagging sports videos

There are several common features between the above tagging software, which are central to the act of splitting a video with the smallest possible time and cognitive load for the video analyst. Below, we describe five popular features that are used by analysts and how each software calls these features.

1. Template

Definition: A template is an overview of all possible choices available to an analyst for tagging games.

Example 1: An example team level template could feature attack, defence and transitions as categories within the template.

Example 2: A player level template could feature the list of players as categories.

Nomenclatures for template:

BanyanBoard: Template

SportsCode: Code window

Longomatch: Analysis Dashboard

NacSport: Template

Metrica: CodePad

2. Primary Category

Definition: A primary category is always attached to any given event in a match. Due to this, it is often mandatory to possess primary categories in a tagging template.

Example 1: A team level football/soccer template could consist of goals, assists, shots, etc., as the primary categories.

Example 2: For individual analysis, players could serve as primary categories, i.e., player 1, player 2 are primary categories.

Nomenclatures for primary category:

BanyanBoard: Primary category

SportsCode: Code button

Longomatch: Category

NacSport: Category

Metrica: Code button

3. Label

Definition: Labels add information to an event that has already been tagged with a primary category. While adding labels is not compulsory unlike primary categories, labels play an important role in providing multi-dimensional and in-depth analysis.

Example 1: In a template, where team actions could be primary category (like attack, defence, transition), players could be tagged as labels - meaning its optional to add a player tag.

Example 2: In a basketball template, if players were used as primary categories, the actions made by them such as defensive rebounds, steals, blocks, etc. could be used as labels - meaning its optional to create an action tag.

Nomenclatures for label:

BanyanBoard: Label

SportsCode: Label

Longomatch: Tag

NacSport: Descriptor value

Metrica: Tag

4. Secondary Category

Definition: It is often beneficial for analysts to group the labels for further analysis. This is where secondary categories come into the picture. Unlike primary category, which is directly attached to an event, a secondary category  is attached indirectly by choosing a label in its group.

Example 1: Labels such as shot off-target and shot on-target can be grouped into a single secondary category called 'shot attempts'. Similarly, labels such as left corners and right corners could be part of a secondary category called 'corner kick'.

Example 2: In basketball, the secondary category 'field goal' could consist of lables such as successful 2-pointer, missed 2-pointer, successful 3-pointer and a missed 3-pointer.

Nomenclatures for secondary category:

BanyanBoard: Secondary category

SportsCode: Label group

Longomatch: Subcategory

NacSport: Descriptor

​​​Proprietary (in-house) video tagging software

While the previous section looked at products that are available to use independently, there are other solutions that require professional service subscriptions or proprietary hardware; hence they are not available to try easily. Some of these include Hudl Wyscout, Hudl InStat, StatsBomb, BePro11, Pixellot VidSwap, Fulcrum Technologies, Opta,  SportsMechanics, Ellipse Data, PitchVision, Spiideo, etc.

​​​Emergence of automatic tagging with AI

Over the last few years, Artificial Intelligence has made rapid strides especially in computer vision. AI in sports technology is no exception. Some software that use AI based tagging of events include Metrica and Veo. Automated tagging is currently able to identify corners, goals, entries into attacking box etc. with good quality videos. Automated tagging is only going to grow as the quality of feeds continue to grow and the cost of AI continues to trend downwards. This is a space worth watching.

​​Final Words

At BanyanBoard, we realized there was a need for a user-friendly affordable tagging software with high-end capability and simplicity of use, akin to Canva for design. While the biggest teams can still afford expensive tagging software, the subject of how a 10-year old can tag a game is one that we are trying to address. Watch this space for more as we will continue to update our progress in the world of video tagging.