The 49ing app provides computer vision and multimodal AI to track players through a 360-degree hockey platform using video provided by Liberty Broadcast Communications for ESPN+.
Flames men’s hockey teams to use 49ing, an AI-based video data analytics app
The Swiss-made sports data mining software will allow Liberty's DI, II, and III teams to make real-time decisions and adjustments based on player stats and game metrics.
Liberty University's men's hockey coaching staff hope to gain an advantage over their competition this season by utilizing the latest technology in data analytics to enhance live in-game decisions and make pre-game and post-game video sessions more effective.
The Flames are introducing 49ing — a sports data mining company offering apps that use computer vision and multimodal AI — to its Division I, II, and III programs for the 2025-26 seasons, supplementing Hudl Instat software used in recent years.
The system, created in Switzerland by 49ing CEO Andreas Hänni, is the official data provider to the National League, Switzerland's top professional hockey organization where Hänni was a defenseman for several years. This summer, the program has been picked up by Hockey East and the Eastern College Athletic Conference, two major NCAA Division I hockey leagues in the Northeastern United States.
In the ACHA, besides Liberty, longtime rival Ohio and North Carolina State, which is moving up to the Division I ranks from the DII level this season, have signed onto the software that automates player tracking from video images and delivers real-time game analysis with advanced stats and natural language video search.
"We are super excited to be partnering with a sports data analytics company specific to hockey to get a more detailed report on our games," Club Sports Recruitment Coordinator Brett Berthiaume said. "It utilizes AI technology in tracking to make sure we get more accurate data pertinent to our success in games as well as giving our players access to each platform afterwards to watch their shifts and interact to see stats."
He said the product is extremely cost-efficient, versatile, and user-friendly.
The 49ing sports data mining app provides stats for players and coaches to review.
"The world is moving toward AI, and it can provide an unbiased breakdown of which is the better team and a synopsis of in-game stats and metrics such as faceoffs won, shots, expected goals, blocked shots, etc.," Berthiaume said. "Through AI player tracking, we will be able to track everything that happens on the ice in real time, which will be really beneficial for us. 49ing is able to hook up to broadcasts and provide live analytics in real time to put specifics — such as players' minutes on the ice and how many times we have given up odd-man rushes — on a graph for us."
Michael Jamieson, the head of sales for 49ing, is a former NCAA Division I player at Northeastern where he served as director of hockey operations and worked in video analysis. He played professionally in Germany, where he now works remotely for the company.
"Michael has been phenomenal about the process (of integrating 49ing)," Berthiaume said. "He is very hands-on, and he has a real heart for what they're doing and passion in demonstrating the product for us. He is willing to work with us and update it as we provide feedback."
Jamieson said the computer vision AI used by 49ing to break down a game in real time is several times better than any other on the market.
"(Computer vision) gives you images 25 times per second, providing that much more insight and in-game data analytics," he said. "It is a 360-degree hockey platform used by the top leagues in the world. I don't know that anyone else is doing what we're doing. Liberty is at the forefront of Club hockey, and it is going to see an immediate impact at all three levels."
"We're blessed to have access to all of these resources at Liberty and to have these types of products available to make it the best program possible," Berthiaume added.
The system, created in Switzerland by 49ing CEO Andreas Hänni, is the official data provider to the National League, Switzerland's top professional hockey organization where Hänni was a defenseman for several years. This summer, the program has been picked up by Hockey East and the Eastern College Athletic Conference, two major NCAA Division I hockey leagues in the Northeastern United States.