Tag: NFL First Down Chains

NFL won’t use electronic first down system during the regular season

The NFL tested electronic first-down tracking during preseason, but the automated system won’t replace chains during the regular season.

The NFL tested electronic first-down tracking during preseason, a method that, once perfected, could replace chains during the regular season.

There’s still a ways to go before that happens, though.

“The league continued to test the system during the just-completed preseason and had left open the possibility of using it during this regular season,” Mark Maske of the Washington Post wrote earlier this week. “Instead, the system will go into regular season use in 2025 at the earliest, according to the person with knowledge of the situation.”

Maske also noted that even if the electronic system does eventually go into full-time use, the 10-yard chains are expected to remain on NFL sidelines as a backup method for measuring first downs.

https://twitter.com/mattmoneysmith/status/1828468937744622040?s=46

So while the chains are often mocked as outdated technology, they are still the NFL’s best method, at least for now. That could change in the future, but it won’t change this season.

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NFL testing electronic first-down tracking that could replace chains

The NFL is testing electronic first-down tracking that could replace chains in the future.

Out with the old, in with the new?

The NFL will toy with innovation this season, testing the idea that electronic first-down markers could replace the human-led first-down chains.

While the testing of the idea will get some experimental usage this year, the league is not expected to roll it out league-wide before the 2025 NFL season.

Per Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith, this innovative idea intends to give officials, coaches, and players a more accurate read on ball placement and potentially cutting down on review time.

“The testing has used technology developed by Hawk-Eye, the computer vision system that assists with video replays in tennis, to precisely determine the position of the ball and players during replay reviews,” according to David Smith.

With the way technology and artificial intelligence shape our world, this innovation could help the sport for years to come. We shall see if the NFL will embrace this idea in 2024 to become a full-fledged launch in 2025.

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