NFL to use cameras, not chains, to determine first downs in 2025

During the 2025 season the NFL will determine whether teams have reached a first down by using Sony’s Hawk-Eye system of six, 8K cameras that will optically track the position of the ball.

The NFL has decided that the chain gang no longer measures up.

During the 2025 season, the NFL will determine whether teams have made first downs by using Sony’s Hawk-Eye system of six 8K cameras placed around every stadium, which will optically track the position of the ball. In announcing the change Tuesday, the NFL said in a news release that the technology was tested “extensively” last season.

The chain gang, the nickname of the team of officials who walk onto the field in critical moments to measure whether the ball has gone 10 yards, will “remain on the field in a secondary capacity,” the league said. But they will remain background players as the cameras judge the difference between where the ball is spotted and the line to gain.

Referees measure for a first down during a game between the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019.Rick Osentoski / AP file“As on-field officials are notified of the measurement outcome, virtual recreations of measurements are produced in real time for the in-stadium and broadcast audience,” the league said.

According to the NFL, the Hawk-Eye system will be operated from its centralized, New York-based officiating center, where it will be integrated with the league’s existing system for evaluating replays. Measuring using the Hawk-Eye system takes around 30 seconds, which the league claims saves up to 40 seconds from using the traditional method.

https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/nfl/nfl-use-cameras-not-chains-determine-first-downs-2025-rcna199157

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