5. What does broadcast-derived tracking actually observe, and what does it estimate?

Interview objective: Understand measurement limits before relying on off-ball or physical rankings.

Put to: Hugo Bordigoni, Ty Chin and an independent tracking-validation specialist.

Why it matters to buyers: SkillCorner explicitly describes extrapolation of off-camera player positions. FIFA’s explanation of Broadcast EPTS testing describes assessment against reference tracking and distinguishes concurrent validity from a scientific gold standard. The buyer question is therefore about the scope of validation, not simply the presence of a certification badge. (skillcorner.com)

A strong answer should cover:

• How directly detected positions are distinguished from estimated positions.
• Quality indicators for individual frames, players and derived metrics.
• Treatment of camera cuts, replays, occlusion, substitutions and identity switches.
• The exact product version, footage conditions and measures covered by independent testing.
• Whether error patterns change across the club’s target competitions and intended uses.

Sharp follow-up: Show a low-quality match. Which metrics should we suppress, which remain usable, and how would the analyst know?

Request this artefact: A quality-flag dictionary, current validation report and authorised difficult-match sample. For physical comparisons, ask for metric definitions and threshold policies, including how women’s football is handled; SkillCorner’s current product description specifically advertises women’s thresholds. (skillcorner.com)

The desk’s proposed acceptance principle is to test the metric used in the purchasing decision—not assume that a general tracking assessment validates every downstream recruitment model.

Proposed expert interview; not yet conducted. No expert quotation is attributed.