The NFL is considering following in the footsteps of several college conferences and letting viewers in on the instant-replay process.
The potential initiative, first reported by Sports Illustrated‘s Albert Breer and followed up by Front Office Sports’ Mark Maske, would dramatically change how viewers see replay reviews in the NFL.
If the NFL’s initiative were to look similar to those being done at the college level, viewers would be able to watch what the replay officials are seeing and hear their discussion in real-time as a decision is being made.
This protocol has become popular in several college conferences, and even other sports. The ACC first began bringing fans inside the replay review process in college football, an initiative that was followed by the Big 12 and Big Ten this season. Reaction to this effort has been overwhelmingly positive, with fans appreciating the added transparency.
“The idea of doing something similar to show the public replay reviews is being discussed, and work is being done to implement something similar to what we’ve seen in college football very soon, potentially in the coming weeks, and certainly (some in the league office hope) before the end of the regular season,” Breer reports.
Fans would presumably be brought inside the league’s replay operation center in New York where a trio of officials — Mark Butterworth, Al Riveron, and Mike Annibale — decide which way to rule on a given call.
Implementing something like this midseason wouldn’t exactly be easy, as the NFL would need to coordinate with all of its broadcast partners and TV crews would need to alter their replay protocols a bit. But with there being a number of controversial calls, and replay reviews, each and every week in the NFL, the league clearly sees transparency around these decisions as being important to its product.
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