Ball-tracking technology increasingly used in sports around the world is being adopted in American football to replace the almost 100-year-old distance measurement practice.
The National Football League (NFL) said Sony Electronics’ Hawk-Eye technology would be used as the primary method for measuring distances from the 2025 season.
The NFL said crews who have manually measured distances with chains since the 1930s would be used only in a secondary capacity.
Hawk-Eye, consisting of six ultra-high definition ‘8K’ cameras for tracking football, would be deployed across all 30 NFL stadiums and international venues hosting NFL games. It would be operated from the NFL’s central officiating centre in New York.
“The technology, tested extensively last season, will bring a new level of precision and speed to NFL officiating,” the NFL said in a statement.
Distance is critical in American football because the ball must advance 10 yards (9.14 metres) on four "downs" to enable a team to retain possession.
Hawke-Eye Innovations, whose technology has also been adopted by sports such as tennis, cricket, football (soccer), rugby, baseball and badminton since 2001, was bought by Sony in 2011 for an undisclosed price.
NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said the NFL and Sony were integrating world-class on-field officiating with state-of-the-art technology to advance football excellence.
“Combining the art of officiating with Sony’s trusted Hawk-Eye system is a healthy recipe for success in our commitment to raising the standards of accuracy, consistency and efficiency,” Vincent said.
“Replay technology and data-driven insights from Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations aid us in advancing our efforts toward the future of football.”
