Pre-tax profits at Hawk-Eye jump 200%

Pre-tax profits at the technology company that decides questionable points in top GAA games increased three fold to £19.4 million (€22.46 million).

Accounts for Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd show that the business recorded the 200 per cent increase in pre-tax profits from £6.45 million to £19.4 million after revenues surged by 59 per cent from £37.64 million to £59.8 million in the 12 months to the end of March this year.

The Hawk-Eye score detection technology has become an integral part of GAA matched in Croke Park and, in a note with the accounts, the directors said that the Hawk-Eye business has rebounded since the Covid-19 pandemic as the full schedule of sports events has resumed.

The note said that “further growth was supported by significant new contracts”.

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Hawk-Eye was at the centre of controversy this summer after the system erroneously denied Galway’s Shane Walsh a point during the first half of the All-Ireland football semi-final against Derry, but the decision was reversed at half-time after replays indicated that his shot had clearly gone between the posts.

The GAA suspended the use of Hawk-Eye for the Galway-Limerick All-Ireland hurling semi final and the Dublin-Kerry All Ireland football semi-final before it was restored for the Limerick-Kilkenny All-Ireland hurling final.

The company has enjoyed a surge in business thanks to VAR (Video Assisted Referee) technology at soccer matches around the world.

The accounts for the Sony-owned firm show that revenues for the UK and Ireland this year almost doubled from £7.25 million to £13.7 million

Europe is the company’s largest market with revenues totalling £33.3 million or 55 per cent of total revenues last year.

Globally Hawk-Eye generates the bulk of its revenue from soccer accounting for 74 per cent or £44.3 million of overall revenues.

The income from GAA’s hurling and Gaelic football represents only a small fraction of Hawk-Eye’s revenues and is included in ‘other sports’ where revenues this year increased almost four fold from £427,000 to £1.63 million.

In 2021, Hawk-Eye was used for 22 match days at Croke Park and many of those match days would have been double headers and with a number of triple headers.

Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd this year paid out a dividend of £2.6 million.

Numbers employed by the company this year increased from 327 to 396 as staff costs increased by 36 per cent from £13.93 million to £18.9 million