Sport – if you want to take each game, league, club, player and organization as a whole – loves technology. It goes hand in hand with broadcasting which has long integrated the best technology available to create engaging, visually-rich programming whether played out on a public broadcaster, regional channel or more recently online platforms.
These broadcast tools like instant replays and the visualising of statistics with 3D graphics have now bled into other areas of sport. Technology-enhanced training aids, officiating tools and medical systems are now common place.
So why there’s still resistance from a few sports or industry bodies to adopt technology to help their referees make better calls strikes me as strange. There are video replay systems now which can give each on-field referee many more pairs of eyes to help them make contentious calls. Far from goal-line or out-of-bound technology, broadcast feeds can now be easily leveraged to give referees the power to replay action from every angle immediately after something happens on the field.
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We’ve seen recent articles in which players have objected to in-stadium screens being used for officiating purposes and some of the more reticent leagues are only now debating the adoption of some video replay technology for incidents.
Without wanting to sound like the prototypical proud American, many US sports have done an excellent job of adopting rules and implementing video replay systems at many levels to cut down the time referees debate calls by removing any doubt.
The NBA has extensive video replay guidelines as to when on-court officials can use a video system on the sideline to make calls on things like last second field goals, last second fouls and shot clock violations. We have even seen the collegiate level sports adapting their rules so-as to make video review a permanent item for usage by their officials in sports like Volleyball and Soccer, and has long been used for Basketball and College Football.
At the same time, as soon as something potentially unexpected happens on the gridiron, Art McNally GameDay Central — the NFL’s officiating command centre, immediately uses its video system to review all available angles and deliver a decision to the on-site referees via a direct link. This isn’t a case of overriding the on-site referee but helping them improve the percentage of correct calls. They’ve also recently approved changes that will give more power to the officials using the video system.
These operations show how important video replay systems are to some of the world’s leading sporting brands and is an indication of the direction the rest of the sporting world will eventually go.
So to the sports, leagues or organizations that haven’t already adopted a video replay system to aid their referees in making tough calls I say, come on. It’s 2016, technology isn’t here to take over our jobs and replace us, it’s here to make us better at those jobs. With these aids, referees can concentrate on the bigger picture of the overall game and not have to worry about the minutia.
Video replays are here to help your referees become the best officials they can be – it’s time to adopt a video refereeing system for good.
James Stellpflug works in product marketing at EVS and has a long-standing relationship with sports teams – specifically how video is used in live sports to enhance the overall viewer and fan experience.
Through the years James has directed in-stadium game day productions Lambeau Field for the Green Bay Packers and has worked with the NFL’s coaching and operations teams.