C360, the computer software company that brought technology such as PylonCam to NFL broadcasts, has hired former NBC Universal and AOL Sports executive Carlos Silva as CEO.
Silva’s digital and IT background, as well as his experience as CEO of World TeamTennis and the Professional Fighters League, suit C360, which delivers immersive live video to OTT platforms, direct to consumers and broadcast networks such as than ESPN. , Fox, CBS and NBC. The company also provides streaming and video solutions for leagues such as NFL, MLB, NHL, NASCAR and UFC.
TurnkeyZRG’s Rick Alessandri led C360’s recruitment of Silva, who arrives after serving as president of MDE Sports, owner of the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, esports team Washington Justice, City Paper and the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis.
“I just saw this as a great way to get back to that side of the sport and media equation, around product innovation – and there’s kind of no better time than the explosion of the video landscape to have a software company,” Silva told SportTechie. “Because many people think C360 is a camera company, but it’s not. It’s a software company. We can use any camera. But intelligence is what’s going on in a sort of C360 black box behind it and the ability to create iso-cameras, the ability to create virtual cameras inside that C360 view.”
“It’s like you can almost swim inside the video, like a fish that can swim in all directions. That’s what the software guys have created with all this awesome technology. And I just saw that as a great way to maybe bring in a bit of my background in sports and media to raise awareness for the company and then come up with products that will be the way we all watch sports and entertainment.”
Silva said his vision for C360 is to continue taking cameras where they’ve never been taken before.
“The dream scenario here is not just to have a director’s cut… but also [provide] consumers with a view they want to have,” Silva said. “Whatever that view is. Sometimes you really want to focus on the player and their footwork. And you might have the ability to do that. A person might have the option, during an NHL game or a football game, to create their own iso cameras on the players they want to follow. And, oh by the way, they could also bet on these players.
“And those iso cameras are happening in software without an operator and nobody having to fly them to keep up with the player. That’s what the C360 technology does. And that’s a bit of a game-changer as we think about ESPN+ and Peacock and all these places that have the ability to allow you to have lots and lots and lots of video streams unlike the linear world we’ve lived in for about 30 years so I just think C360 is going to fuel the way which we’re looking at the sport in a way that hasn’t been able to pay off for the last 10 years. That’s why I got excited and jumped in.”
Previously, Silva spearheaded the launch of the NBC Universal Sports Network as COO and President. At AOL, he helped AOL Sports gain traction in the digital space as senior vice president. Recent investors in C360 include SeventySix Capital, Cosm and BlueTree Allied Angels.
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