For the first time this preseason, the NFL is publicly testing a virtual measurement system meant to replace—at least partially—the chain crews that have existed for most of organized football’s existence.
The league recently announced an expansive partnership with Sony that includes using the company’s Hawk-Eye technology to determine whether a ball achieved the yard-to-gain necessary for a first down. The setup is similar to automated line call tools in tennis, although the increased scale of NFL fields and operations brings additional complexity.
But so far in the 2024 preseason, Hawk-Eye tests have also consistently pointed toward the system’s remaining room for improvement.
Primarily, onlookers have critiqued the time needed for virtual measurements. On Sunday, for intance, one distance check took more than 60 seconds from the end of a play during a preseason game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.
“I hope to see it looks a little quicker than this [in the future],” Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira said when the review ended. For a league that has been laser-focused on not extending the length of games, every second counts.
“After preseason, we will take a moment to really revisit all of the testing we were able to accomplish,” NFL SVP of football business and innovation strategy Kimberly Fields said in an interview. “And then we will continue, most likely, to test in the background for the regular season.”
Fields expressed confidence that the system will ultimately be both faster and more accurate than the existing analogue method. In tennis, Hawk-Eye cameras are accurate within four millimeters, but the NFL system was closer to 12 millimeters of expected potential error heading into this season.
“Our general philosophy around any innovation is it really has to improve upon the process that we currently have,” Fields said. “[Otherwise], we’re not going to roll it out or test it.”
Notably, the current tests do not include digitally identifying where the ball should be placed, but only determining whether that spot is sufficient to achieve a first down. However, Fields added, the league sees a world where it can sync camera tracking with ball location data to accomplish that goal. “We have to do this in steps,” she said.
Not every NFL stadium has the required hardware for Hawk-Eye testing, though the league plans to change that by the end of this season. (Six 8K cameras are reportedly required.)
In the meantime, tests are meant to improve the review process, including allowing officials and broadcasters to sort out their role in the new order of things. That process has even involved formalizing where players should stand while the cameras and computers do their work.
At the same time, the league is expanding its testing of smartwatches on ref wrists that notify them when the play clock runs out. Previously, officials have had to bounce between watching the clock and the ball. Additional cameras have also been added to monitor boundary lines and add new angles for officials to consider during replay reviews.
“With the full installation of cameras … plus the wearables, there’s so many things we could potentially do,” Fields said. “Hopefully we’ll get to a point that every official is receiving objective information for their specific position that will help them make their decisions quicker.”
In a world of shrinking attention spans and growing sportsbooks, both speed and objectivity become paramount.
However, the iconic plastic posts and chains aren’t going anywhere soon. Even if the virtual measurement system is instituted on a full-time basis, the markers will likely stay to help players and in-stadium fans who can’t see the TV’s yellow line keep track of their relative position.
For now, football’s literal links to the past are sticking around.
