The NFL may finally be moving into the 21st century when it comes to measuring first downs.
The NFL, which has long relied on the “chain gang” to determine whether the football has cleared the first-down marker, will test the Hawk-Eye system used in tennis in preseason games this year ahead of a possible full-scale implementation in the 2025 season.
“We’re in the process of getting it installed in all of our stadiums right now, tweaking and modernizing it,” Gary Brantley, the NFL’s executive vice president and chief information officer, told The Associated Press. “We’re getting closer to making this system as accurate as possible and coordinating it across multiple stadiums. … We have multiple stadiums, different sizes, different ages, so we’re working to make sure we have the infrastructure in place and we have the cameras in place.”
The new cameras track the ball, the players and the referee on the field, and the referee is notified as soon as he spots the ball whether it has reached the scoring line.
The Sony-owned Hawk-Eye system is expected to result in more accurate, time-saving calls by eliminating the need to wait for umpires to carry the chains onto the field, measure them and then run them away.
“We’re dramatically reducing usage time — 40 seconds per use — and it basically makes the game more intense,” Sony president and chief operating officer Neil Manowitz told The Associated Press. “And the system is incredibly accurate, with an accuracy of less than half an inch. We hope our fans love this objective view — at least half of our fans will love it every time they play.”
