How Technology Benefits the NFL
With the 2023/24 NFL regular season now just around the corner, fans of the sport are already anticipating the opening snap of action as well as the potential postseason matchups and even Superbowl encounters featuring the best teams in the NFL today and all the lively star power that such a competition provides its worldwide audience.
Every team in the NFL will surely look give it their all to meet or exceed their often lofty expectations to potentially reach the sports’ most distinguished stage, with fans of the NFL now being able to check out all the latest Superbowl odds.
To further enhance and improve the overall presentation of the NFL for all future contests, the league has incorporated several impressive pieces of technology and digital additions which has greatly impacted the way that football is played within the game’s greatest league.
To give a greater insight as to how technology has dictated the way that the NFL is played and presented, here’s some of the greatest technological incomings that have improved the game for the better:
- Microsoft Surface tablets:
One of the best and most ingenious methods that the NFL has introduced to allow players and coaching staff to prepare for a game as well as talk over any potential plays for the next possession is the addition of Microsoft Surface touch screen tablets.
Whenever a player is on the sidelines, a coaching member can head across to the player and discuss the next potential play calls that they could look to incorporate for their possession or that the opposing team could also look to utilize as a means to counteract their next upcoming play call.
This is a convenient method of preparing for a game or adjusting to any contest depending on the score, with these tablets being a great way for coaching staff to present their drawn-up plays for athletes to use rather than just talking out a potential play or using the old-fashioned clip board method.
- Official Review:
Alongside these tablets being available for coaching staff and players, they can also be utilized for referees whenever they are unsure of a certain outcome on the field or if the coaching staff may proceed to use their challenge flag if they believe that they made the wrong decision in the other team’s favor.
Refs can now call a timeout and head over to the sidelines to a monitor where they can watch and discuss the play with other officials to determine whether there should be a change of the call upon review.
This is a factor that has been incorporated into various other sports such as VAR in soccer and a similar format in the NBA with the replay center which also allows refs to discuss the play call with other officials whilst watching a replay on a monitor, ensuring that a fair consensus is met, and the correct decision is made.
- Improvement in communication with players and coaching staff:
In order to ensure that players and coaches can communicate when on the sidelines or across the field in front of a usually packed audience, the NFL has equipped helmets with speakers that now offer a much-improved external soundproof feature.
NFL coaches now solely rely on the many impressive additions that the Bose Headsets now offer to help strategize some of the many play calls that may help give their team an advantage when on offense or defense.
These noise cancelling headphones offer players and coaching staff a full rundown of communication between plays that excludes the atmosphere which may often dilute or even distract player from their calls between the touchline, which makes this a truly groundbreaking addition to the NFL.
- Cameras and goal line lasers across the pylons:
One of the best pieces of recent NFL technological advancements comes with the addition of HD cameras and lasers across the goal line from the pylon which will further help determine whether a team has successfully scored a touchdown in the endzone.
These were incorporated into the 2017 NFL season and have since been merited with a great deal of success as a means to correctly call an offensive play as a potential score in the endzone.
- In-Stadium Wi-Fi:
While the NFL strides on improving the technological production of their product on the field, they also strive to increase the viability of fan interaction and investment, with most stadiums now including the much-welcomed addition of in-venue broadband to help keep fans entertained during intervals and timeouts.
Many of the NFL’s new and more modern venues now have their own Wi-Fi system that is utilized for any spectators entering the stadium which allows fans to react across social media for any of the action-packed plays to a wider range of audience members which can help improve the NFL as a product to a renowned group of sports fans who may be interested in taking up an interest in one of the world’s most beloved sports.