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.
“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.
In an increasingly tech-oriented sport, the use of the chain gang had become an anachronism and its efficacy a never-ending source of debate. The latest incident came in January, when Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills quarterback and league Most Valuable Player, was ruled short of a first down during the AFC championship game against Kansas City, although replays suggested he had reached a first down. The camera-assisted measurement system would not have necessarily led to a first down in that case, however, because the referees’ spot of the ball remains paramount — and the spot remains at times an imperfect judgment call made by an official.
Hawk-Eye cameras will be installed in every NFL stadium, as well international stadiums hosting NFL games.
The move is in line with a trend of major leagues’ increasingly relying on computerized analysis in hope of reducing human error. Major League Baseball for the first time used a computerized system to determine balls and strikes during spring training this year, although the “robot umpires” are not working the regular season.