The NFL Is Working On Technology To Eliminate The Chain Gang
What To Expect: Today’s newsletter examines the NFL’s plan to introduce optical tracking to measure first-down yardage, similar to Hawk-Eye technology in tennis. Plus, we discuss Nick Saban’s comments on NIL and the transfer portal, the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight on Netflix, WNBA ticket sales, and Arch Manning’s opting out of the new EA Sports college football video game. P.S. Today’s newsletter is free for everyone. Upgrade your subscription today if you would like to receive 12x monthly essays, prioritized comments, and monthly mailbag questions. Stat of The Day: Michael Jordan is the highest-paid athlete of all time at $3.75 billion in earnings, according to Sportico’s Kurt Badenhausen. The Top 50 ranking includes 12 NBA players, 8 golfers, 31 Americans, 20 active athletes, and 1 woman (Serena Williams). Everyone on the list has made at least $550 million. Today’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By PLUNGE!Plunge is one of my favorite companies. Co-founders Michael Garrett and Ryan Duey got addicted to cold plunging at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but everything on the market was so expensive, so they built their own. Michael and Ryan built the first 20 units by hand out of their garage, and the company exploded as people like Dr. Andrew Huberman exposed the benefits of cold therapy to the masses. For example, cold plunging is proven to reduce joint pain, boost metabolism, optimize digestion, elevate mood, lessen muscle soreness, and more. Plunge has since started building saunas, too, and their products are by far the best I’ve seen on the market. The cold plunge is sleek and stylish. It can be placed anywhere inside or outside. It doesn’t require any plumbing, and it naturally filters itself while allowing you to experience perfectly chilled water (37°F) within minutes. So if you want to start enjoying all the health benefits of cold plunging (without all the hassle), go to plunge.com and get your tub today. And by the way…Plunge is offering all my readers $150 off your purchase when you use code “pomp” at checkout. Enjoy! The NFL is developing an optical tracking solution to measure first-down yardage that could potentially eliminate the “chain gang,” according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The tech-based project was tested in three stadiums throughout the 2023 NFL season — MetLife Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium, and Allegiant Stadium for Super Bowl 58 — and it is similar to the Hawk-Eye system in tennis, which uses 12 cameras throughout stadiums to determine whether a ball is in or out with near 100% accuracy in seconds. NFL referees also wore smartwatches throughout the preseason, buzzing their wrists when the play clock hit zero to assist with delay of game calls. These changes must be approved by at least 24 owners at the annual competition committee meeting later this month. But, if they are approved, it would mark the most significant viewership change we have seen since ESPN debuted its “1st & Ten” computerized yellow line back in 1998. The NFL often gets laughed at for its inability to adopt new technology. The chain gang, for instance, is more than 100 years old and was implemented when touchdowns were 5 points and field goals were 4. Add in the fact that FIFA debuted rechargeable balls at the most recent World Cup while NFL referee Gene Steratore was using an index card to determine first downs and much of this negative sentiment is justified. However, I would argue that the NFL just hasn’t done a good job explaining itself. For example, since 2015, the NFL has worked with Zebra Technologies to implant a chip in every football during practice, preseason, regular season, and playoff games. These RFID chips weigh just 3.3 grams, less than 1% of the football’s weight. They are about the size of a nickel, and they wirelessly broadcast data to recorders around each NFL stadium, triangulating the football’s signal to determine its precise location. The NFL turns each chip on before a game kicks off and then shuts it down after to save battery. Three staff members are in the press box at each NFL game, monitoring all 54 footballs used during the contest. Player movements are tracked throughout the game, too, using RFID chips implanted in their shoulder pads. This is how we get Next Gen stats, like how fast a player ran during a specific play or how high they jumped to catch the ball. But this solution has never been good enough to use for yardage tracking because:
Some of these questions still need to be answered. My guess is the NFL will combine RFID chip tracking with optical cameras located throughout the stadium and only use it in select situations — scoring plays, challenge flags, or after the 2-minute warning. But these things also change over time, and while everyone else seems to be universally celebrating the move, I’m not convinced it’s the best long-term decision. In 2022, the USFL tried a similar process, using an optical system to measure a ball’s placement on the field after the official spotted it. These reviews took several minutes to complete, and many players complained about the ball itself, as the chip made it 4 to 5 ounces heavier and distorted its overall weight and feeling. Data also tells us that the chain gang comes out less than once per game — aka this is a much smaller problem than people realize — and introducing a video review process will almost certainly lead to expansion in the future, similar to what we have seen with video replay today where catches are broken down frame-by-frame each game. That’s not to say it’s a worthless endeavor. The NFL is the world’s most successful sports league and deserves the benefit of the doubt. But introducing additional video review isn’t always a positive, and eliminating human intervention in favor of accurate measurements down to the millimeter could complicate things over time. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends. I hope everyone has a great weekend. We’ll talk on Monday. Join my sports business community on Microsoft Teams. Your feedback helps me improve Huddle Up. How did you like today’s post? Loved | Great | Good | Meh | Bad What I’m Thinking/Reading/Watching…
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