In the world of sports, performance on the field has long dictated opportunity. But in today’s digital age, visibility off the field plays a massive role in how far an athlete can go. As developers, that challenge represents something exciting: the opportunity to build a platform that helps athletes own their narrative.
We’re currently developing Player ID — a mobile-first platform built to give athletes the tools to create highlight videos, build digital profiles, and showcase their game on their own terms.
The platform is still in alpha development, but the vision is simple: empower athletes to be their own media brand. And we’re doing it with modern tools, a high-performance tech stack, and a relentless focus on intuitive UX.
Why Flutter?
We chose Flutter for several reasons:
- Cross-platform coverage — From day one, we wanted iOS and Android parity.
- Pixel-perfect UI — Athletes care about how they look; so do we.
- Performance and animation — With advanced features like spotlighting and object tracking, performance matters.
Flutter’s widget-first design philosophy also allowed us to prototype fast and build out complex UI flows like video editors and timeline histories without sacrificing responsiveness.
Firebase: Our Backend of Choice
While we explored options like Supabase and AWS Amplify, we ultimately landed on Firebase for:
- Real-time sync for social features and profile updates
- Cloud Functions to handle media processing and custom logic
- Firebase Auth for seamless login flows
- Firestore for structured, scalable data
- Storage for raw and enhanced video files
The ability to plug into Firebase ML Kit down the line was also a key consideration, especially for AI-assisted video enhancement.
The Tech Behind the Media
Player ID isn’t just another video uploader. We’re building tools for:
- Guided highlight editing (frame-by-frame and smart detection)
- Zoom & pan keyframing
- Head tracking for spotlight follow
- Team history timelines and dynamic stat overlays
- Profile card generation (print and digital)
For media processing, we’re experimenting with FFmpeg, TensorFlow Lite, and custom model pipelines. Our goal? Make video creation so simple that a 10-year-old can do it, but powerful enough that semi-pros will stick around.
AI, Privacy, and Scaling
We’re also designing for a future that includes:
- AI-driven highlight detection
- Face obfuscation for privacy settings
- Voiceover generation with contextual prompts
- Marketplace asset templating
Every decision now is filtered through that lens. It means thinking about scalability from day one — and architecting cleanly, knowing some features (like AI-driven video summaries) won’t launch until v2 or v3.
Keeping Things Vague (For a Reason)
We’re deliberately keeping some aspects of the roadmap private. Sports tech is heating up fast, and we’ve already had our fair share of competitors quietly watching. What we can say is this: we’re solving real problems with software that’s intuitive, smart, and built for the athlete — not the editor.
The Dev Stack in Brief
- Frontend: Flutter + Dart
- Backend: Firebase, Cloud Functions, Firestore
- Media tools: FFmpeg, ML Kit, custom pipelines
- Infra: Firebase Hosting, GitHub CI/CD, Cloudflare
- Design: Figma → Flutter templates
- Other tools: Notion, Sentry, PostHog, Vercel (for promo pages)
Final Thoughts
Working on Player ID has pushed us to think differently about user experience, video tech, and product velocity. It’s more than just building an app — it’s about creating something that might meaningfully shift how athletes show up in the world.
If you’re a developer, designer, or product strategist with an interest in sports, video, or digital identity, follow the journey. We're not fully public yet, but Player ID is coming — and we think it's going to matter.
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