You may see Microsoft’s Surface tablet in use during NFL games much more frequently next season.
During Sunday’s Pro Bowl, the NFL tested a bevy of new applications with the Surface tablet, including a replay review system for referees and the ability for players and coaches to watch video of recent plays on the sideline.
The NFL said it received “positive feedback” from coaches, players, and officials who tested the technology on Sunday. A league spokesperson noted that it “was a good proving ground on how we may deploy these technologies in the future.”
The tests could lead to expanded use of the Microsoft Surface next preseason, and perhaps the regular season after that, if it’s approved by the NFL competition committee.
.@NFL may adopt some of these technological advances — or none of them. The league puts every technological advance through its paces.
— Troy Vincent (@TroyVincent23) January 23, 2015
Thanks to Microsoft’s $400 million, five-year contract with the NFL, players and coaches this season have used a custom ruggedized Surface Pro 2 tablet with an application that lets players and coaches look at screenshots on the device. The idea is to replace the traditional paper black-and-white images of plays to review previous possessions, and instead use the waterproof tablets that allow for annotations on each photo with the Surface Pen.
On Sunday, though, players and coaches were also using two Surface Pro 2 tablets at a station that had marked video of every recent play from both endzone and sideline cameras.
Video testing on @surface at #ProBowl2015 pic.twitter.com/v38tWYsbsB
— MichelleMcKennaDoyle (@nflcio) January 26, 2015
Example of coaches using video on the sideline as part of our technology experiments. #NFLFops pic.twitter.com/jVZsFEAPuW
— NFL Football Ops (@NFLFootballOps) January 26, 2015
Go behind the scenes of GameDay prep for sideline technology with @Microsoft @Surface tablets. #NFLOpsBTS cc:@NFLCIOhttps://t.co/Cm4AfPak8N
— NFL Football Ops (@NFLFootballOps) January 25, 2015
As far as the replay reviews, officials used a Surface Pro 3 to watch previous plays instead of going “under the hood.” An NFL staffer wearing a backpack filled with wireless radios for communication met the referee on the field with a pair of Bose headphones (Bose is another NFL sponsor).
#NFLInstantReplay testing new sideline technology with @surface during the #ProBowl. pic.twitter.com/xuylWiJtyU
— NFL Football Ops (@NFLFootballOps) January 26, 2015
#NFLTech: We’ll test having referees use a tablet to view a play during challenge rather than going under the hood. pic.twitter.com/oCoyKZp7zW
— Troy Vincent (@TroyVincent23) January 23, 2015
The league also tested a new IP-based intercom for replay reviews instead of its traditional analog system, in addition to a new wireless system and new equipment for encrypted coach-to-coach communications.
#NFLtech: During #ProBowl, we'll also test wireless connectivity that provides full coverage on the field pic.twitter.com/KzWjntEGnK
— Troy Vincent (@TroyVincent23) January 23, 2015
#NFLTech: During #ProBowl, we’ll also test new equipment for encrypted coach-to-coach communication pic.twitter.com/4jnebwVOSh
— Troy Vincent (@TroyVincent23) January 23, 2015
Finally, the NFL also set up a “Twitter station” that allowed players to tweet from the sideline. Given the relaxed Pro Bowl environment, players had time to tweet, but don’t expect this in a regular season or playoff game:
.@PatMcAfeeShow uses the @twitter station to tweet from the sideline at #ProBowl. #TeamCarter #NFLOpsBTS pic.twitter.com/JicqO9peKY
— NFL Football Ops (@NFLFootballOps) January 26, 2015
Check out all the new technology the NFL is testing out here.
