The NFL approved significant changes for the 2025 season, which begins in September, but one of the main innovations will be off the field, as the black and yellow-clad officials who mark with a chain and orange sticks the first downs will give way to “Hawk-Eye” technology like the one used in tennis.
The decision was one of the approved changes at the annual owners’ meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.
Why will the NFL implement the “Hawk-Eye” to measure first downs?
The virtual measuring system allows the NFL to accurately and efficiently measure the distance between the ball placement and the line to gain, thus avoiding controversies like in last season’s playoffs, when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game.
The technology underwent extensive testing during 2024, especially during the preseason.
According with The Athletic, NFL’s agreement with Sony consists of six 8K cameras used for optical tracking of the ball’s position, which will be integrated into the existing replay system and located in the central arbitration center in New York.
The initial ball placement will remain in the hands of the referees, but the “Hawk-Eye” will confirm the accuracy of the placement.
The chain crew will remain on the field but in a secondary role, as reported by the NFL.
Other changes approved by the NFL
But the technological assistance for the first downs was just one of several changes approved by the 32 team owners in Palm Beach. These are the other highlights:
- Each team will have at least one guaranteed possession in the overtime of regular season games, just as it was in the playoffs until 2024.
- Last season, the touchback allowed a receiving team to start the offensive from their own 30-yard line, now it will be advanced to the 35.
- Automatic replays will allow referees to remove a yellow flag if they made a mistake in calling roughing the passer and face mask, for example, but it will not allow referees to penalize these infractions through replay if they did not see it on the field.
- The NFL will broadcast three games on Christmas, which falls on a Thursday: two will be on Netflix and one on Amazon.
However, the most anticipated decision, that of the future of the “tush push”, has been postponed until next month.
NFL team owners had planned to vote on the Packers’ proposal to ban the play that helped the Eagles in their Super Bowl championship campaign, but it will be reviewed in May.
The “tush push” is an action in which the offensive line, looking for the yardage needed to get a new down or enter the scoring zone, overloads shoulder to shoulder to push the quarterback who has received the ball from behind in a scrum-like fashion similar to rugby.
Some teams oppose it for player safety and health reasons, while others do it for sporting reasons. The vote of 24 out of the 32 owners is needed to ban the play.