Tech Could Be Soccer's Savior

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Could technology firms such as TriQuint Semiconductor(TQNT) play a key role in revolutionizing the world's most popular sport? With the World Cup marred by bad refereeing, calls for goal-line technology are reaching a crescendo, spelling good news -- and a potential multi million-dollar market opportunity -- for a select group of companies.

The World Cup has had more than its share of refereeing blunders, the worst being England's controversial second goal in last week's defeat by arch-rival Germany.

With England trailing 2-1, Frank Lampard's shot cannoned off the crossbar and landed well beyond the goal-line (pictured above). The referee, however, thought that the ball had not crossed the line and waved play on. Germany went on to win 4-1 and dumped England out of the tournament.

Soccer fans sick of blown calls are now urging FIFA, the sport's organizing body, to drag the game into the 21st century. Pressure is mounting to have chips embedded within soccer balls that could confirm whether a goal has been scored or not.

>>Don't Expect FIFA to Move on Video Soon

For chipmakers like TriQuint and rival RF Micro Devices(RFMD), goals could thus present a golden opportunity. Better known for their reported presence within Apple's(AAPL) iPad, TriQuint's chips could do a job on the world soccer stage.

"It takes the human error out," Shane Smith, senior director of marketing for TriQuint's mobile device business, told TheStreet. "If there was a wireless device in the soccer ball and a system set up across the goal, it would have accurately detected that the ball had crossed the line."

Smith, noting that TriQuint isn't yet working on any projects involving goal-line tech, told TheStreet that his company could provide a radio frequency filter -- or chip -- to transfer a signal from a ball-based sensor. "You're pretty much taking tried and proven technologies and implementing them in the sports arena," he added, citing the technology that powers electronic toll collections in cars (known as "E-ZPass" in the Northeast).

Tech companies are no strangers to the world of sports, most notably IBM(IBM), which has provided the technology infrastructure (web hosting, data-mining software) for a slew of major events, from the Olympics to Major League Baseball games to the Wimbledon tennis championships.

TriQuint, which helped build a net sensor for Wimbledon, is just one of a number of tech companies eyeing soccer. Others include U.K.-based Hawk-Eye Innovations, a maker of a camera-based system that is already used in tennis and cricket. German company Cairos is also in the game, working closely with soccer giant Adidas to build a sensor-based goal-line system. (Adidas' U.S. rival Nike(NKE) has not yet responded to TheStreet's request for comment on this article.)