NFL swaps first-down chains for Sony’s 8K cameras

Starting with this year’s football season, the NFL will use Sony’s Hawk-Eye cameras to measure the line to gain — a process the chain crew has done manually for decades. The 8K cameras will use virtual measurement technology to quickly and accurately determine whether the ball traveled 10 yards for a first down.

The Hawk-Eye system is made up of six 8K cameras that use optical tracking to determine the ball’s position. When officials receive a measurement, the system will create a digital recreation of the measurement that the NFL will show inside the stadium and on TV.

The NFL says Sony’s technology will offer a more “efficient” alternative to using sticks and a 10-yard chain to track the ball’s position. Measuring the ball with Sony’s Hawk-Eye system takes around 30 seconds, which the NFL says is 40 seconds less than the chain crew takes.

But this doesn’t spell the end of the chain crew, as the NFL says they’ll still “remain on the field in a secondary capacity.”

The NFL began testing Sony’s Hawk-Eye technology last year. It will be deployed in all 30 US NFL stadiums and international venues. Sony already works with the NFL to power Synchronized Multi-Angle Replay Technology (SMART), a system that combines up to four live video feeds at once to help officials determine the outcome of a play.