May 2002

Pinnacle Systems - Team Sports Division Establishes National Training Center At SUNY Cortland

SUNY Chancellor Robert King recently joined SUNY Cortland President Judson Taylor and Pinnacle Systems - Team Sports Division General Manager David Glover for a national public announcement of a SUNY Cortland - Pinnacle Systems Partnership that will create a first of its kind in the world Sport Technology Learning Center at the SUNY Cortland campus.

Pinnacle Systems provided a major gift to the SUNY Cortland's sport management program of software, hardware and training valued in excess of $5 million to develop a unique state-of-the-art digital classroom and two digital editing studios. The new Sport Technology Learning Center will be used by Pinnacle Systems - Team Sports Division as its national training center.

Pinnacle Systems - Team Sports Division is the world largest provider of digital solutions for the sports industry. Pinnacle's clients include professional team sport franchises in football, basketball, baseball, and ice hockey, as well as Division I intercollegiate teams. More than 90% of the teams in the National Football League use Pinnacle software. New York clients include the Buffalo Bills, NY Giants, NY Jets, NY Mets, NY Knicks, and universities such as Syracuse, Colgate and Buffalo. Located in Lowell, Massachusetts, it is a division of California-based Pinnacle Systems, a top provider of broadcast solutions featuring video boards, servers, editing systems and software.

Cortland's sport management program is the only one of its kind in the country that directly infuses sport-specific information technology into its business-based curriculum. "We could have picked virtually any college in the country to partner with," said Glover at the announcement. "After a great deal of due diligence we chose Cortland. As a global company we were looking for a strategic partner that would give us technology skills as well as thinking, problem-solving and knowledge skills. That's what brought us to Cortland. There is no other lab like this in the world, and we're delighted to partner with SUNY Cortland to create a whole new business model for higher education."